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."

Pedal points "have a strong tonal effect, 'pulling' the harmony back to its root." When a pedal point occurs in a voice other than the bass, it is usually referred to as an inverted pedal point (see inversion). Pedal points are usually on either the tonic or the dominant (fifth note of the scale) tones. The pedal tone is considered a chord tone in the original harmony, then a nonchord tone during the intervening dissonant harmonies, and then a chord tone again when the harmony resolves. A dissonant pedal point may go against all harmonies present during its duration, being almost more like an added tone than a nonchord tone, or pedal points may serve as atonal pitch centers.

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (/ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn/ ING-vay MAHLM-steen; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing style in heavy metal. Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that, "Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s."

Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, as the second child of a musically-talented family. At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix, an event which had a profound impact on his musical path. Malmsteen, however, has stated that Hendrix had no musical impact on him, but on 18 September 1970 he saw a TV special of Hendrix, where he smashed and burned his guitar, and Malmsteen thought: "this is really cool". To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".

At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, slightly changed it to Malmsteen, and Anglicised his third given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Malmsteen created his first band "Track On Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums (Armin). Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violinist composer Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence. Ritchie Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth are also cited as being significant influences, as is Brian May of Queen.

Thijs Van Leer (pronounced: /tɛis vɑn lɪər/; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch musician, singer and composer, best known for heading the Dutch progressive rock band, Focus, as primary vocalist, Hammond organ player, and flautist. He also yodels and whistles. In his later years, Van Leer went on to release many solo albums which were also classical music and jazz-based.

Van Leer was born in Amsterdam, and received his first flute at the age of eleven from his father, a classical flautist. He studied History of Art at Amsterdam University; after when he began studying flute and composition at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. He received a degree for flute from Geneva Conservatoire and also studied piano, orchestration (with Rogier van Otterloo) and organ (with Anthon van der Horst).

While still at school, van Leer led a jazz group on piano. He went on to play the flute and sing with the Shaffy cabaret group. In 1969 he joined Martijn Dresden (bass) and Hans Cleuver (drums) to form a trio that covered songs by Traffic and backed other Dutch musicians, as well as playing their own material. Later in the year guitarist Jan Akkerman joined, completing the initial line-up of Focus. They released several albums in the early 1970s.

Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.

Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own brand of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of jazz.

Mingus focused on collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, Mingus looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists whom he assembled into unconventional and revealing configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.

Keith Wyatt is a Los Angeles-based guitarist, educator performer, teacher, writer, and developer of music curriculum and educational media. Since 1996, Wyatt has toured and recorded with renowned LA-based “American Music” group The Blasters and is featured on 4-11-44 (Rainman Records). He has also worked with a variety of other groups and artists including Albert Collins, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Robben Ford in Los Angeles and internationally as a solo performer.

In 1978, after graduating from the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in Hollywood, California, Wyatt joined the faculty and assisted in curriculum development under the direction of GIT founder Howard Roberts. After serving for a decade as Director of the Guitar program in what had become Musicians Institute, he was named to his current position as Vice President of Programs with responsibility for overseeing curriculum development for the institution. He also maintains a regular teaching schedule at the school with a specialty in blues guitar.