Songs which use pedal notes

So, I've been noodling and have fallen upon a nice little ditty.  Trouble is (maybe it isn't?), it uses a pedal note throughout on the A string, while the chord tones (just the 3rd and 5th) change between D^, C^, Bm, Am and G^.

To me it sounds alright, I quite like it, but I'm worried that hanging on to the A pedal/bass/whatever it actually is, is completely boring.

I can't think of any for myself, but are there any well known songs which hang onto a pedal throughout?  Are there any which use a pedal for a significant part but change partway through?

Would be interesting to research how writers far better than me handled it.

TIA

Errr....every djent song ever?

digitalscream said:

Errr....every djent song ever?

Hmm, no disrespect to djent, but it’s not the kind of stuff I’m ever likely to hear. 

There are some fairly epic pedals on the violins in this:

Can’t think of anything specific but there’s quite a few of Led Zep’s more acoustic stuff that’s quite pedally- particularly if in an alternate tuning. Can’t think of a song that maintains it throughout, there’s usually a move to the 4 or 5. 

Haych said:

digitalscream said:

Errr....every djent song ever?

Hmm, no disrespect to djent, but it’s not the kind of stuff I’m ever likely to hear. 

Anything slightly more folky maybe?

No no, by all means - disrespect away.

Although on second thoughts, I'm not sure it counts as "pedal notes" when there are no other notes in the song.

The Beatles' "If I Needed Someone" has a pedal note through the verse (I think it's in A), but changes for the middle eight.  

Here is a good demo.



.

Kashmir
Jump
Smoke on the Water (that low G)
Wonderwall (top G and D)
Al di Meola - Song to the Pharaoh Kings (when the bass kicks in - it’s a pedal tune rather than note)
Everybody wants to rule the world
Mr Brightside - pedal in the vocals
Bon Jovi - Dead or Alive (the D)
New Model Army - Here Comes The War

Does thunderstruck qualify?

Have a listen to  Mississippi hill country players such as Robert Belfour and RL Burnside. There are a lot of tunes which just stick to one chord with a pedal bass throughout the whole number, such as John Lee Hooker's Boogie Chillun..and of course as done by ZZ Top with La Grange. Here's my take on the Robert Belfour classic "Hill Stomp".

 ?si=P1d86WPYE66raoaE

Yep

What is a pedal bass?

Bellycaster said:

Here is a good demo.

.

Thanks @Bellycaster, that was very informative.  Appreciate everyone else's input too, thank you.

We Built This City by Starship uses one I think in the verse. Builds a nice tension then releases it in what's probably the pre-chorus.

Most traditional Southern African music uses pedal tones, most often with the vocal lines over the music (think of Wimoweh), but in many instances in the guitar playing.  Listen to Under African Skies by Paul Simon as a kind of modernised example of that African style.  It's played in Eb and most people would just play a I, IV, I, V loop, but I hear it differently with a pedal note either being played or being implied as the melody dances around that note.  Transpose it to E and start with the open A form full barre chord at the 7th fret where the B note on the high E is ringing and make a point of catching that with upstrokes. Go to IV chord (open E form barre) at the 5th fret, but instead of playing the ordinary major chord move your pinky down to the 1st string, 7th fret (A9) so that it keeps the B note ringing as you catch it with staccato upstrokes.  Back to E again and for the V chord play it as the open E form barre chord B or B7 and keep catching that B note on the 7th fret of the 1st string.  That may not be the way either guitar plays it, but that's the sound I hear in my head as it is all put together with vocals and bass.  It can sound a little dissonant but it's fleeting and is the essence of syncopted and slightly dissonant Southern African music that I grew up hearing.

Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure utilises a pedal D based riff in the intro and first half of the verses (if you're including a bass guitar providing the pedal note). The bass then follows the descending major scale on the second half of the verse down the octave, more melodically underpinning the chord changes. Very effective!

Simple Minds - Waterfront. The keyboards and guitar change chords but the bass stays on the same repeated D note the whole way through.

Back of my hand by the Jags has a pedal note in the into motif.

On this basis, I think Journey's 'Separate Ways' may also be an example, both the intro and some of the verse or am I wrong?

hammeringthecramps said:

Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure utilises a pedal D based riff in the intro and first half of the verses (if you're including a bass guitar providing the pedal note). The bass then follows the descending major scale on the second half of the verse down the octave, more melodically underpinning the chord changes. Very effective!

UP is a beautiful progression. Hammer To Fall is another nice obvious one where the open A pedals through both the verse riff and the chorus riff - don't think it changes up until the bridge and it's so dramatic because of that.

Mr Brightside has an upper pedal in the vocals

Haych said:

So, I've been noodling and have fallen upon a nice little ditty.  Trouble is (maybe it isn't?), it uses a pedal note throughout on the A string, while the chord tones (just the 3rd and 5th) change between D^, C^, Bm, Am and G^.

To me it sounds alright, I quite like it, but I'm worried that hanging on to the A pedal/bass/whatever it actually is, is completely boring.

I can't think of any for myself, but are there any well known songs which hang onto a pedal throughout?  Are there any which use a pedal for a significant part but change partway through?

Would be interesting to research how writers far better than me handled it.

TIA

Hands All Over by Soundgarden- in dropped D, the open 4th string D is droned and pedalled throughout 

She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult. If there is a point that open D string isn't being played I can't remember it.

Hitch a Ride by Boston pedals the "A" note on the intro and verses. It's probably one of my favourites on that album.

Isn't putting in pedal points what your looper pedal is for if you want to accompany yourself?

borntohang said:

hammeringthecramps said:

Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure utilises a pedal D based riff in the intro and first half of the verses (if you're including a bass guitar providing the pedal note). The bass then follows the descending major scale on the second half of the verse down the octave, more melodically underpinning the chord changes. Very effective!

UP is a beautiful progression. Hammer To Fall is another nice obvious one where the open A pedals through both the verse riff and the chorus riff - don't think it changes up until the bridge and it's so dramatic because of that.

Add Tie Your Mother down to this list

Mull of Kintyre - Wings...pretty much anything based off bagpipes has pedal tones.  Although technically there are two in the chorus.


Black Mountainside - Led Zep, quite a few folk songs have pedal tones.


Black Mountainside was based on another song by Bert Jansch called Black Waterside.