Pedal Point

Lesson Goal: To understand the concept of Pedal Point… and to start applying this understanding in your practice and performance…

Prerequisites

Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.

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Pedal Point Defined

A Pedal Point is a sustained tone, usually the lowest bass note, over which the changing chords in a chord progression are played. The pedal tone is usually the tonic (Do) of the prevailing key, but So is also common.

Pedal Point derives its name from organ music, where the organist can plant a foot on one of the organ pedals, sustaining a low note indefinitely while the hands are free to play the keyboards. Such is an easy, but very effective way to create harmonic interest (as you will see in the examples below) by generating more harmonic tension than the chords alone (without the pedal tone) can provide.

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Pedal Point Examples

Pedal points are used all kinds of music: classical, folk, pop, rock, and jazz. With just a little experience, you will instantly recognize when you hear or read one.

To that end, here are some noteworthy examples to get you started. In each case, notice the tasty dissonance that is created when the pedal is played under the tension chords and the satisfying release when the tonic chord returns.

Note: The “slash” notation “/” for the chord symbols, where the letter name after the slash defines the pedal tone.

Invention Number 8 (Bach)

In the key of F major… with an F pedal (Do) under the chords F, Bb, E°(Edim), and F (I-IV-vii-I)…

music notation for the pedal point used in bach prelude number 8 in f

As you play these, it’s important to hear and feel how the pedal tone creates a background that keeps “pulling” the harmony back towards a full resolution in the overall key center.