In
tonal music, a
pedal point (also pedal tone, pedal note, organ point, or pedal) is a
sustained tone, typically in the
bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e.,
dissonant harmony is sounded in the other
parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "
non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside
suspensions,
retardations, and
passing tones. However, the pedal point is unique among non-chord tones, "in that begins on a consonance, sustains (or
repeats) through another chord as a dissonance until the
harmony", not the non-chord tone, "resolves back to a consonance."