AP® Music Theory · Unit 6 · Topic 6.3
Pedal Points
A pedal point is a bass note held through a series of changing chords, consonant with some and dissonant with others, while the chords above keep their own identity regardless.
A pedal point works because harmony and bass line are allowed to disagree for a while. One voice, almost always the bass, holds a single pitch while the upper voices move through a progression as if that note weren't there. The pedal survives because it starts and ends locked into the harmony: the first and last chords it supports normally contain the pedal pitch, so the whole passage is framed by consonance even though the middle gets rough.
The typical shape is consonant, dissonant, consonant. Say the bass holds G under I, IV, and V in C major. Under I (C-E-G) the G belongs to the chord, so it's consonant. Under IV (F-A-C) there's no G in that chord, so the held G clashes: that's the dissonant middle. Under V (G-B-D) the G is back inside the chord, so it resolves to consonant again. The dissonant stretch is tolerated because the ear tracks it as a held tone waiting to be absorbed back into the harmony, not as a wrong note.
Because the upper voices are doing their own independent harmonic work, you label the Roman numerals from what they spell, ignoring the pedal entirely. A IV chord above a G pedal is still IV, even though the G makes it sound tense. The pedal only affects consonance and tension, never the chord's identity. This same idea can flip: a pedal in the soprano instead of the bass, called an inverted pedal, holds a high note while the harmony shifts underneath, common in hymn-like textures and codas. Pedal points sit near suspensions and other embellishing tones in this unit because all of them create notes that resist the chord before settling back into it.
Key terms
- Pedal point
- A sustained or repeated note, usually in the bass, held through a series of changing chords.
- Inverted pedal
- A pedal point placed in an upper voice, often the soprano, instead of the bass.
- Consonant pedal
- A pedal tone that belongs to the chord currently sounding above it.
- Dissonant pedal
- A pedal tone that does not belong to the chord sounding above it, creating tension until the harmony returns to a chord containing that pitch.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does a pedal point start consonant, turn dissonant, and become consonant again?
- Worked exampleFind where the pedal point turns dissonant when the bass holds G under I, IV, and V in C major.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't a pedal point change the Roman numerals of the chords sounding above it?
- Going furtherWhat changes when the pedal point sits in the soprano instead of the bass?
Check yourself
End of topic.