pedal note

In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts.

A pedal tone has the pitch of its harmonic series' fundamental tone. Its name comes from the foot pedal keyboard pedals of a pipe organ, which are used to play 16' and 32' sub-bass notes by pressing the pedals with the player's feet.

Dominant pedal points are typically used to prepare a sectional cadence (a progression marking the ending of a section); in the sonata form, for instance, the dominant pedal often appears in the passage preceding the return to tonic harmony at the beginning of the recapitulation section.

A pedal point is a technique where different notes are played around one stationary note. This stationary note is referred as the pedal note or also called the pedal tone. In guitar playing, this pedal note is often an open string.

The most common pedal point is the tonic, which is the first note of the chord that the scale is named after. For example, if you're writing a song in C major, you're using the C major scale (CDEFGABC). The first note of the chord is, of course, C. That's your pedal point.

It's really a very simple concept: a single, sustained note or tone. Pedal notes can be upper or lower. Upper pedal notes are high-pitched and are generally above any other movement of melody or harmony; lower pedal notes (or drones) are low-pitched – in the 'bass' – and remain beneath the melodies and harmonies.

The two main notes used to make pedal points or pedal notes are the tonic and dominant notes. Tonic notes are the first notes in a musical key. For example, the tonic note of the key of C minor is C.

Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal).

There are three pedals on the grand piano – they are named, from left to right, the una corda, sostenuto, and damper pedal. The purpose of the pedals is to change the tone of the piano in some way.

Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal). Some pianos omit the sostenuto pedal, or have a middle pedal with a different purpose such as a muting function also known as silent piano.

The first way is with the “ped” and asterisk symbols. The “ped” marking indicates that you should press the pedal down, while the asterisk indicates that you should release the pedal. Alternatively, a line below the staff also indicates when to depress and release the pedal.

three pedals Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal).