Thread: Pedaling

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'&#39 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....

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'&#39 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.

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 :P. 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

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.

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.

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?