Foot-Chording Chords

April 7th, 2022
jammer, music, tech
As part of my rhythm stage setup, I have four pedals which I primarily use for heel-toe drumming. When playing mandolin, or holding a baby, however, I can instead use these pedals to play bass notes or chords. I tell it what key and mode I'm in, and then can choose one of the four chords I'm most likely to want. For example, if I'm playing in C Major I have:

Am (vi)      G (V)

 C (I)      F (IV)

In showing this to Ruthie, however, we realized that more options are possible if you use multiple simultaneous pedals. I am unreasonably excited to be "chording" to play chords.

Rough demo, since I only just figured this out:

If you use all the combinations this gives you eleven more options, but for now I've just added two: the left pair and the right pair. In major I've set these as ii and iii, so C Major is:

Am (vi)     G (V)
Dm (ii)     Em (iii)
C (I)       F (IV)

Here are the three other modes I currently have configured, with C as an example key:

Minor:

G (V)       Cm (i)
F (IV)      E (III)
A (VI)      Bb (VII)

Alternate minor:

Bb (VII)   F (IV)
Ab (VI)    G (V)
C (i)      E (III)

Mixolydian:

Bb (VII)   G (V)
Ab (VI)    E (III)
C (I)      F (IV)

In each of these, I'm using the two "chorded" options to bring in extra options I would use occasionally.

At some point I may use some of the other combinations, probably starting with the two toes and the two heels, but for now this is confusing enough. I will probably also change around what the pedals do, since I feel like I don't have a great system right now: it works, but there isn't that much logic to it so it's hard to remember and extend.

Referenced in:

Comment via: facebook, lesswrong, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

Yesterday, I made a Christmas wreath. Here's how to make one. First, find an evergreen tree near your house. Clip off a few branches from the tree. Try to have as many leaves or needles on the branches as possible. Next, bring them home. What I usu…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts December 6, 2025

Live with Linch

A recording from Ozy Brennan and Linch's live video

via Thing of Things December 5, 2025

Against the Teapot Hold in Contra Dancing

The teapot hold is the most dangerous common contra dancing figure, so I’ve been avoiding it. The teapot hold, sometimes called a "courtesy turn hold,” requires one dancer to connect with their hand behind their back. When I realized I could avoid put…

via Emma Azelborn August 25, 2025

more     (via openring)