Bass pedals

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Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument. Analogous to the keyboard on keyboard instrument, they consist of a set of pedals for each semitone in the octave, laid out in the traditional pattern of black and white notes. Most pedalboards contain either one, two, or two-and-a-half octaves' worth of pedals. The pedals are played with the feet, and are usually set to play notes in the deep bass register.

Electronic bass pedals are based on the pedal boards which formed part of pipe organs. In the early 20th century, electromechanical organs such as the Hammond and Farfisa were developed, and these too usually included bass pedals. By the late 1960s, some manufacturers began to build stand-alone electronic bass pedal units. These were intended to be much more portable than large organs, and could be used under a separate keyboard or keyboards.

Several progressive rock groups (for instance Yes and Genesis) incorporated bass pedals into their instrumentation, often played by the group's bass guitarist whilst in a standing position, meaning that they could only use one foot at a time to play, rather than play sitting down with both feet as organists traditionally had.

One of the most famous makes of bass pedals were the Moog Taurus.