pedal point

noun

, Music.

1. a tone sustained by one part, usually the bass, while other parts progress without reference to it.
2. a passage containing it.

pedal point

/ ˈpɛdəl /

noun

1. music a sustained bass note, over which the other parts move bringing about changing harmonies Often shortened topedal

Word History and Origins

Origin of pedal point¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Soon, though, a series of downward-sliding melodies in the violins begins to tug the music away; the pedal point returns, but feels slightly less fixed.

From New York Times

Queyras’s cello has a sweet, tenor-like sound, and it sang with a seemingly endless variety of colors, from resonant pedal points and dramatic chords to fanciful ornaments and delicate phrase endings that dissolved into air.

From Washington Post

Others have seen it as a picture of the Trinity, with the pedal point of the Father, the suffering discord of the Son, and the shimmering motion of the Holy Spirit.

From The New Yorker

The first piece opens with a gesture one recognizes from the composer’s symphonic style, a low pedal point over which a grand descending motif suggests a melancholy sense of stormy, wide-open spaces.

From Washington Post

As the others join in harmony, Milica settles on a blurted high pedal point, which gave Ms. Valiquette a final triumph of another sort.

From New York Times