Pedal Point Harmony

Harmonic Density

In this lesson we will briefly discuss Pedal Point harmony, which has been used in Jazz since about the 1960’s. But first, I want to discuss a simple but important concept which can be stated as follows:

Put simply: the more notes you play in your chord, the more notes there are for your solo to clash with (by playing a dissonant interval over one of the chord tones)

• If you play a chord with 7 notes, there are 7 notes with which the soloist can clash
• If you play a chord with 2 notes (i.e. a shell voicing), there are 2 notes with which the soloist can clash
  • Bebop Pianists often played Shell Voicings to leave more room for the harmonically complex solo.
• If you play a chord with 1 note, there is 1 note with which the soloist can clash (this is called a Pedal Point)
• If you play a chord with 0 notes (i.e. silence), there are 0 notes with which the soloist can clash

Pedal Point harmony gives the soloist as much room as possible to improvise whilst still providing a tonal centre to resolve to and some kind of harmony or accompaniment (rather than just silence).

Freedom!

The trend in Jazz since its creation in the early 20th century has been towards freer and less restrained improvisation. Very generally, Jazz has progressed from:

• Tonality = When soloing over a tonal song, your solo must adhere to a particular chord progression by tracing out the chords
• Modality = When soloing over a modal song, your solo must adhere to a particular scale or mode
• Pedal Point = When soloing over a pedal point, you can use all 12 notes but your pedal point acts as a root note to which you occasionally have to resolve
• Atonality = When soloing over an atonal song, you can use all 12 notes freely and there is no root note to resolve to

Pedal Point Harmony

Pedal Point Harmony occurs when the rhythm section:

• Does NOT play a strict, written out chord progression
  • Instead, both the solo AND the chords are improvised, both resolving to the pedal point occasionally.
• Plays a single pedal point or ostinato pattern that clearly outlines the tonal centre/root note

This is what I would call ‘pure’ Pedal Point harmony. There are also songs which combine actual written out chords with a Pedal Point, but these are just a combination of Pedal Point and Tonal or Modal harmony.

The use of pedal points and drones reflects the influence of Indian Music in Jazz. Pedal points were used often in more modern genres of Jazz including: Free Jazz, Post-bop, and Fusion.

Have a Listen to

• Lonely Woman ~ Ornette Coleman
• Miles Runs the Voodoo Down ~ Miles Davis
• In a Silent Way ~ Joe Zawinul/Miles Davis
• Shhh/Peaceful ~ Miles Davis

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