EN pedal point compositionTechnique core term Support my free tools
sustained or repeated bass note
What is it?
A pedal point is a sustained or repeated note, usually in the bass, held while the harmony above it changes.
What does it do?
Hold one tone — usually in the bass — and let the harmony move over it, accepting that the upper chords will clash with the held note before resolving back to consonance. The note that carries real weight is the tonic or the dominant. A dominant pedal is the classic tension-builder: park on the fifth and pile changing chords above it, and the music strains to resolve down to the tonic — exactly what Bach does before the final return of a fugue, where it's common to close over a tonic or dominant pedal. The name comes from the organ, where a foot holds a pedal note indefinitely (hence the old synonym 'organ point').
Suspense and gathering pressure: the held note pulls the harmony toward home while the chords above pull away, and that tug-of-war reads as anticipation. A dominant pedal makes the eventual resolution feel earned and almost physical; a tonic pedal grounds and stabilises, like an anchor under shifting weather.
In context
A pedal point is a sustained (or repeated) tone, typically in the bass, held through changing harmonies that may clash with it before resolving. Only tonic and dominant pedals carry real harmonic weight; a dominant pedal builds tension before a return, as at the close of Bach fugues. Named for the organ's sustaining pedal (organ point).
Equivalent terms
- DA orgelpunkt
- DE Orgelpunkt
- IT pedale
- FR pédale