1.1.4

Harmonic Devices

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Pedal Notes

Harmonic devices include pedal notes, suspension, modulation, and ground bass.

Pedal notes

Pedal notes

  • A pedal note is one of the most common harmonic devices used in music and is simply where a single note is held or repeated whilst the rest of the harmony changes.
  • There are two main types of pedal note:
    • Tonic pedal.
    • Dominant pedal.
Tonic pedal

Tonic pedal

  • Tonic pedal:
    • When the held or repeated note is the first note of the key scale (e.g. C in C major).
    • This sounds very stable and ‘rooted.’
Dominant pedal

Dominant pedal

  • Dominant pedal:
    • When the held or repeated note is the fifth note of the key scale (e.g. G in C major).
    • This sounds less stable and feels like the music has ‘lifted’.
Set works

Set works

  • Pedals occur in many of the set works.
  • Perhaps the most obvious one is in the Allegro (first subject at bar 11) of the Beethoven set work.
  • This is a tonic pedal (octave C quavers in the key of C minor).
  • See if you can spot some further examples of pedal notes in the set works.

Suspension

Harmonic devices include pedal notes, suspension, modulation, and ground bass.

Suspension

Suspension

  • A suspension is a special musical effect that can be used in chords.
  • There are three stages to a suspension:
    • Preparation.
    • Suspension.
    • Resolution.
Example

Example

  • Let’s take this 2 chord sequence - F (FAC) to C (CEG).
  • If you were to use a suspension here you would take a note which belonged to the first chord but not the second.
  • So F, for instance (preparation).
  • This would then be held over to the C chord (the suspension) and then would move DOWN to a note from the C chord - in this case E (the resolution).
Diagram
  • It would look something like this:
Set works

Set works

  • The set work Defying Gravity by Schwartz has many suspensions in the accompaniment.
  • Try to get used to spotting suspensions by listening to them as they are not always easy to identify in a score!

Other Harmonic Devices

Harmonic devices include pedal notes, suspension, modulation, and ground bass.

Ground bass

Ground bass

  • A ground bass is a bass line which repeats continuously throughout a piece of music.
  • Although the bass part stays the same, the music above it changes with each repetition and often includes the layering of several melodies.
Set works

Set works

  • Ground bass was very popular in the Baroque period.
  • The most famous example is Canon in D by Pachelbel.
  • The set work which uses ground bass is Music For A While by Purcell.
  • This uses a 3 bar ground bass made up entirely of quavers.
Modulation

Modulation

  • A modulation is where a piece of music changes key, usually to change the mood or to give the music some variation.
  • Modulations can be found on a score in one of two ways:
    • By a change of key signature.
    • Or by adding accidentals which belong to the new key.
Set works

Set works

  • Modulations can be found in the set works:
  • A change of key signature e.g.:
    • At bar 137 of the Beethoven sonata (C Minor to C Major).
    • Bars 20 to 22 of Defying Gravity (B Major to F Major).
  • By adding accidentals which belong to the new key e.g.:
    • Bar 14 of Music for a While by Purcell (A minor to E minor - shown by the addition of an F# and D#).
Jump to other topics
1

Musical Elements

1.1

Organisation of Pitch

1.1.1Melodic Pitch1.1.2Melodic Devices1.1.3Harmonic Pitch1.1.4Harmonic Devices1.1.5Harmonic Progressions
1.2

Tonality

1.2.1Major & Minor Tonality1.2.2End of Topic Test - Musical Elements
2

Instrumental Music 1700–1820

2.1

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major

2.1.1Concerto No. 5 in D Major2.1.2Structure & Melody2.1.3Instrumentation & Texture2.1.4Harmony2.1.5Wider Listening
2.2

Beethoven: Sonata ‘Pathétique’

2.2.1Piano Sonata No. 82.2.2Structure & Melody2.2.3Other Features2.2.4Wider Listening2.2.5End of Topic Test - Instrumental Music 1700–1820
3

Vocal Music

3.1

Purcell: Music for a While

3.1.1Music for a While3.1.2Other Features3.1.3Wider Listening
3.2

Queen: Killer Queen

3.2.1Killer Queen3.2.2Other Features3.2.3Wider Listening3.2.4End of Topic Test - Vocal Music
4

Music for Stage & Screen

4.1

Schwartz: Defying Gravity

4.1.1Defying Gravity4.1.2Other Features4.1.3Wider Listening4.1.4End of Topic Test - Defying Gravity
4.2

Williams: Star Wars Episode IV

4.2.1A New Hope4.2.2Structure & Melody4.2.3Other Features4.2.4Wider Listening4.2.5End of Topic Test - Star Wars Episode IV
5

Fusions

5.1

Afro Celt Sound System: Release

5.1.1Release5.1.2Other Features5.1.3Wider Listening
5.2

Spalding: Samba Em Preludio

5.2.1Samba Em Preludio5.2.2Structure & Melody5.2.3Other Features5.2.4Wider Listening5.2.5End of Topic Test - Fusions

Practice questions on Harmonic Devices

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    Tonic pedal:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    Dominant pedal:Fill in the list
  3. 3
    The three stages to a suspension:Fill in the list
  4. 4
    Which set work has many suspensions in the accompaniment?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Which period was ground bass very popular?Multiple choice
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Harmonic Pitch

Harmonic Progressions