{"id":50,"date":"2021-06-05T18:11:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T18:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicalpursuits.com\/?p=50"},"modified":"2024-01-16T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T15:46:59","slug":"piano-pedals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicalpursuits.com\/piano-pedals\/","title":{"rendered":"Piano pedals: The Ultimate Guide (2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Piano pedals transform the sound of the piano in such a way, that even an inexperienced person while pressing them, would capture your attention immediately while playing. They are crucial for piano, just as guitar pedals are for guitar, but let’s see exactly what types there are, what they do, and compare these pedals from different pianos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do piano pedals do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Foot-operated levers that change the sound. Usually having three pedals on piano ( una corda, sostenuto, and sustaining pedal) they have their own big roles in music. Some remove the middle pedal on the piano or have it do a completely different role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These pedals have evolved since the early days of the pianoforte, continuing into the latter half of the 19th<\/sup> century, going through multiple configurations from 1 to 6 pedals until arriving at the modern 3. So if you want piano pedals explained more in-depth, you have to understand one thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All types of pedals have been invented either by the pianoforte maker himself, Bartolomeo Cristofori or by descendant piano makers which took his designs and upgraded them, such as Steinway, who perfected and patented the sostenuto pedal, which was the last piano foot pedals to be added to the modern grand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fun fact: on the modern upright\/vertical piano, the left pedal is not a true una corda as it doesn\u2019t move the action, the strings running at such an oblique angle that the hammers would probably strike a note on a wrong string. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Piano pedals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So what do piano pedals do? The pedals on the piano give the player the opportunity and technique to enhance some sounds. Modern pianos have 3 piano pedals with names such as: Soft or una corda, sostenuto and sustain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All these pedals give different timbres to the instrument and have special piano pedal markings on the lead sheet. Let\u2019s take a look at the piano pedals names, their functions, and how they came about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soft pedal (una corda, left)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The una corda pedal or soft pedal, was invented by the pianoforte inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori as the first mechanism to modify the piano sound. We can see it in use today as the left pedal on piano (both grand and upright). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name is somewhat of a misnomer as it doesn\u2019t completely describe what it truly does, and what it does is modify the timbre, not just the volume of the instrument. On Cristofori\u2019s pianofortes, the soft pedal was operated by hand, a knob on the side of the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When activated (the knob on the side), the entire action shifts to the right to play one string ( una corda) instead of the usual two strings (due corde). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sostenuto pedal (middle)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The middle pedal piano. The last pedal to be added to the modern grand was the Sostenuto or the middle pedal. Initially called the \u201ctone-sustaining\u201dpedal, which better describes what it does, i.e. the sustainment of a single tone or group of tones. It is also referred to as the forte pedal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presented at the Industrial Exposition in 1844 in Paris, the design was taken by A.F. Debain and Claude Montal, and built this type of pedal in 1860 and 1862. Patented and perfected by Albert Steinway in 1874, it was publicly advertised in 1876 and soon was included on Steinway grands and uprights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with almost everything in music, the term sostenuto is a misnomer, as in Italian it means sustained, aka it presents it as doing the same thing as the damper pedals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sustain pedal (damper, right)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The most used pedal on a modern piano, the rightmost pedal, and it has the job to sustain the notes, by moving the dampers away and allowing them to vibrate freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All notes and chords played with this damper pedal engaged will continue until the vibration naturally ceases or until the pedal is let go. Pianists use this to accomplish legato passages which, otherwise, aren\u2019t possible as the technique doesn\u2019t exist for this instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other techniques for the use of the piano damper pedal include something called half-pedaling, which means that the pianist can press the pedal and it will just slightly raise the felt dampener and thus obtain a different sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n