# Pedaling



## Daniel

Pedaling...also a topic which can't be answered in general, and also a question of taste. But i think you can make a tendency:

For myself i use pedaling only rare in baroque music. I think in more choral like music it is necassary.

Classical epoche, i use it also very rare. Romantical epoche and later on, i use it more, but also quite restricted. I don't like the only pedaling tones, so unclear often.

Left pedal, also a nice thing: There are few pieces to use it proper. Like in Moonlight sonata (1st part). I like to use it also in some baroque pieces like Rameau to simulate a harpsichord. So when you have a repition i play first time "normal" and second time with left pedal. (8'' and 4'')  I dont do that only, but i like that kind of experimentation.

Also another important point i think: Pedaling depends rather much on the piano! A Steinway must be different pedaled than a Bechstein....


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## 009

> *Left pedal, also a nice thing: There are few pieces to use it proper. Like in Moonlight sonata (1st part). I like to use it also in some baroque pieces like Rameau to simulate a harpsichord. So when you have a repition i play first time "normal" and second time with left pedal. (8'' and 4'') I dont do that only, but i like that kind of experimentation.*


I like to use the una corda(left) when there's a need to alter the tone colour, esp. in Romantic, repeatitive passages or partial returns of themes but perhaps in a more 'subdued' tone . Brahms later works esp...
The harpsichord idea is really interesting and refreshing. U mean u alter the tone and yr manner of playing to stimulate that sound?
hmmm...Daniel, have u played a type of piano cum harpsichord type of instrument. I can't remember the brand of that manufacturer. But this special instrument looks just like a piano, but has tiny metal pins lined up along the hammers. So when u press the left pedal, it becomes a harpsichord, and when u realease, it goes back to being a normal piano. The tiny pins will strike the strings and produce that kind of 'tingy, dry' sound. It's excatly the same tone u get out of a harpsichord, except that the action of a harpsichord is through plucking, not striking downwards like a piano.
I have played the harpsichord b4. It's really fascinating and fun to experimant with, and they are great pieces of artworks. The sceneric paintings on Harpsichords are breathtaking.


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## Daniel

> * U mean u alter the tone and yr manner of playing to stimulate that sound?*


Exactly! (but not always)



> *hmmm...Daniel, have u played a type of piano cum harpsichord type of instrument. I can't remember the brand of that manufacturer. But this special instrument looks just like a piano, but has tiny metal pins lined up along the hammers. So when u press the left pedal, it becomes a harpsichord, and when u realease, it goes back to being a normal piano. The tiny pins will strike the strings and produce that kind of 'tingy, dry' sound. It's excatly the same tone u get out of a harpsichord, except that the action of a harpsichord is through plucking, not striking downwards like a piano.
> I have played the harpsichord b4. It's really fascinating and fun to experimant with, and they are great pieces of artworks. The sceneric paintings on Harpsichords are breathtaking. *


That must be an interesting instrument, but i think for changing the sound during a piece quite strange . My piano teacher has also a harpsichord, so i can play it sometimes, i love it :wub: And must practice on our school harpsichord more  The paintings oh yeah! I got a book about Harpsichord, spinets, clavichords...Full size pictures!!!!! WOWOWOW


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## 009

> * I got a book about Harpsichord, spinets, clavichords...Full size pictures!!!!! *


WoW!!! Where did u get it? Direct me to the web, if there's one.


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## Harvey

I've never played a harpsichord before  Never found one.

I never pedal in Baroque music. I don't ever feel the need for it. I like leaning over the keyboard and using sostenuto once in a while, not hunched over like Glenn though. What's up with him? :blink: Well I guess he liked it.
I only use the sustain pedal when playing Romantic. I rarely use the whole pedal, since it gets blurry fast. I don't think my strings are "fanned out" enough. I only use the whole pedal on "special occasions" like the opening three chords in Rach's C-sharp minor u-no-wat.

So, in the end, I use the sostenuto pedal more than anything else. Followed by sustain, I don't ever remember having to seriously use the una corda.


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## 009

> *I rarely use the whole pedal, since it gets blurry fast. I don't think my strings are "fanned out" enough.*


I hate it when the pedal gets very heavy and wet. Usually if that happens, I'll loosen the nut/screw in the pedal trapwork. U can try doing that. It works like a miracle. So in other words, u can control how 'damp' u want the pedals to be.


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## Harvey

Hmm...sounds like you have a deep pedal.
Mine's very shallow, about a centimeter, so I have to make it so the slightest movement moves the felts. If I loosen it any more, the pedal will be half-down before the felts even budge.


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## 009

> *Mine's very shallow, about a centimeter, so I have to make it so the slightest movement moves the felts.*


Aiyaya... I dread using shallow pedals.
Do u get conscious about the control of the foot then? Will it affect your playing? Or u have gotten used to controlling it that way?


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## Harvey

Of course. I've had that piano for...about three years.


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