# Does pedal override rests in piano score?



## Steven Brown

I'm creating a score for my composition for piano, and I wonder if it is necessary to show the exact duration of each note by using tied notes, instead of using rests to simplify the notation and to make it easier to read. I know that an arpeggiated chord is often notated as a succession of eighth or sixteenth notes with the pedal indicated under the staff as depressed, instead of notating the actual duration of each note as various combinations of tied notes, for the sake of clarity. Obviously the pedal overrides rests in the mechanism of the piano, but I wonder if a rest will make the pianist lift the pedal to attain the duration of the note as it appears in the score. Is it safe to rely on the pedal notation to ensure notes have the intended duration, or do I risk the pedal notation being ignored where it appears to conflict with the score?


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## Fenestella

Look at it this way: when pedalled, a quaver on paper is likely a crotchet or a minim acoustically. By the same token, a rest on paper is buried in the sound of the pedal-sustained note(s).


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