Your favorite musical may be full of vamps and pedal points. But you don’t even know what they are? So what are vamps and pedal points? And how do they change musicals? In this episode of Scene to Song, Shoshana and Willian Forrest discuss how vamps and pedal point function as storytelling tools in musical theater. Vamps are repeatable, utility-driven units. Pedal points are a sustained pitch that anchors a changing harmony to create tension and allow dissonance without losing the listener. Music Featured: “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along “Everybody’s Talking” by Harry Nilsson “One Day More” from Les Miserables “Nothing” from A Chorus Line “Stay Alive” from Hamilton “Someone in a Tree” from Pacific Overtures “Another Hundred People” from Company “You’ll Never Get Away from Me” from Gypsy You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com and consider supporting on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scenetosong . Theme music by Julia Meinwald.