When you pedal a bicycle, you push down on the flat platforms where your feet rest, making the wheels turn and the bike move forward. Each push creates motion through a chain connected to the back wheel. The harder and faster you pedal, the faster you go.

The foot platforms themselves are called pedals too. A piano has pedals at the bottom that change how the notes sound when you press them with your feet. Cars have pedals for the gas and brake. Any machine you operate with your feet uses pedals.

When musicians talk about a pedal tone, they mean a note that stays constant underneath changing melodies, kind of like how your feet keep a steady rhythm while pedaling.

Don't confuse pedal with peddle, which means to sell things, often by going door to door. A person who peddles newspapers is selling them, while someone who pedals a bicycle is riding it.