The piano pedal — and what it does to the sound
Five cases to listen to. On the right the same passage is written out every time: as long as it really sounds under the pedal.
The foot plays too. Pressing the right pedal lifts the dampers off every string: a note that has been struck no longer stops when the key is released, but only when the foot lets the pedal go. Not a single note changes in the notation — in the sound everything changes.
That is what this page makes audible. On the left the passage stands without pedal: four quarter notes, each as short as it is written. On the right the same notes are written out, each notated as long as it really sounds under the pedal. Both versions can be played, and the difference is not a report but something you hear.
Why written out instead of simply marked? Because the engraving on this page sets the pedal mark but does not play it. If the right-hand picture carried only the mark, it would sound exactly as short as the left one, and the page would quietly claim that the pedal does nothing. It does something, and this is it.
Pedal mark
Under the staff stands the word Ped., and where the foot lets go, a star. The notes above stay what they are: four quarter notes. On the right the same four notes are notated the way they sound under the pedal — the first holds to the end of the bar, the second a little less, and at the close all four stand together. It is not different music, it is the same music written out.
The pedal line
Same passage, same pedal, different way of writing it. Instead of word and star, a bracket with two hooks runs under the staff: the first says where the foot goes down, the second where it comes up, and between them you see at a glance how long the pedal stays down. In modern editions this is the usual form, especially where the pedal changes often.
The pedal change
Two harmonies one after the other. The hook in the middle of the line means: release and press again in the same instant. On the right you hear what that does — the first harmony sounds to the barline and is then gone, the second begins cleanly. The change sits exactly on the beat where the new harmony arrives, not before and not after.
Pedal held across the change of harmony
The same two harmonies, but the pedal stays down. On the right the notes of the first bar hang into the second by ties and keep sounding while the new harmony is already playing. By the end eight notes stand in the room at once. Sometimes that is exactly what is wanted; usually it is the fault you hear first in your own playing and cure last.
The left pedal: una corda
The left pedal shifts the action: the hammer meets fewer strings, and the tone becomes quieter and duller. It is written as a word, una corda, and cancelled with tre corde. Pitch and duration do not change, which is why the two recordings here sound the same — what changes is the colour, and colour is the one thing this recording does not have.
What is in the picture and what is in the sound
There are two ways of writing the same thing. The older one puts the word Ped. where the foot goes down and a star where it comes up. The newer one draws a bracket line under the staff exactly as long as the pedal is held — it is the more precise of the two, because you see the end instead of hunting for it.
When to change is decided by the harmony. Holding the pedal across a change of harmony lets both harmonies sound at once; the fourth example lets you hear it. That is why the pedal change is almost always written exactly on the beat where the new harmony arrives: release and press again in the same instant, so that the new sound is caught and the old one is left behind.
The left pedal is a different matter. It shifts the action so that fewer strings are struck; the tone becomes quieter and duller, but not longer. It is written as a word, una corda, and cancelled with tre corde. In the recording on this page you will hear nothing of it — it knows pitch and duration, but not tone colour.
What stands next to it
The note values and their lengths: Note values. How to read notation from the beginning: How to read sheet music.
Music symbols · Pedal mark · Music notation glossary
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See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.