pedal point

American  

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.

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pedal point British  

/ ˈpɛdəl /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of pedal point

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Even the pedal point of a Bach cantata has a drone going through it.

From New York Times • May 9, 2011

Mr. Johnson set up a droning pedal point, over which Mr. Feldman and Mr. Abercrombie fashioned loosely intertwining strands of melody.

From New York Times • Oct. 13, 2010

Elsewhere the spirit of the time is evoked in wistful, gently melodic passages, played over a pedal point, or repeating bass note.

From New York Times • Aug. 8, 2010

Today, U.S. cities have their street musicians: modern minstrels who weave their fragile melodies over the pedal point of trucks and subways, amid a chorus of honking horns and an obbligato of blaring transistor radios.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ground bass, or pedal point, and singing in parts, as well as bands of harpers and pipers, were in vogue in Ireland before the coming of the English.

From The Glories of Ireland by Lennox, P. J.