# AI Wiki - Music - Sustain Pedal ## What It Does The sustain pedal (also called the damper pedal) is the right-hand pedal. Pressing it lifts **all the dampers** off the strings, so notes keep ringing after you release the keys. Because every string is now free, the undamped strings also vibrate in sympathy with what you play, which gives the piano its rich, resonant tone; the pedal has been called "the soul of the piano". It has two jobs: 1. **Resonance and colour**: a fuller, warmer sound, even on a single chord. 2. **Connection**: joining notes that the fingers can't connect (big leaps, a left hand jumping from bass to chord, wide [[AI Wiki - Music - Arpeggios|arpeggios]]). History in one line: early pianos used a hand stop, then a knee lever (Germany, around 1765), and foot pedals appeared in England in the 1770s. Beethoven left nearly 800 pedal markings, a sign of how central it became. ## The Three Pedals - **Right: sustain (damper).** The one this article is about, and the only one most [[AI Wiki - Music - Pop Music|pop]], [[AI Wiki - Music - Rock Music|rock]] and beginner music needs. - **Middle: sostenuto** (on many grands and some uprights). It holds up only the dampers that were already raised when you pressed it, so you can sustain a bass note while the rest of the hands stay clean. On many uprights the middle pedal is a practice mute instead. - **Left: soft (una corda).** Changes the timbre and softens the sound. On a **digital piano**, a basic pedal is an on/off switch; better pedals are continuous and send partial positions, which allows half-pedalling. Check which kind came with your instrument before trying the half-pedal techniques below. ## Foot Technique - Heel on the floor, the ball of the foot (or the big toe area) on the pedal, foot at a slight angle. - Keep the foot in contact with the pedal. Press and release quietly; no tapping or stamping. - The motion is small and quick, and the release must go **all the way up** so the dampers actually stop the old sound. ## Direct (Rhythmic) Pedalling The pedal goes down **with** the notes and comes up **with** the release. It gives separated chords more resonance and can add accents or rhythmic punch. Easy to coordinate, but it can't join two chords: there's always a small gap. ## Legato (Syncopated) Pedalling The core skill. The pedal changes **just after** each new chord is played, so the old harmony is cleared and the new one is caught without a gap: | Step | Hands | Foot | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Play chord 1 | Press the pedal just after the chord sounds | | 2 | Hold, or let go and move | Stay down: chord 1 keeps ringing | | 3 | Play chord 2 | Lift the pedal *as* chord 2 sounds | | 4 | Hold chord 2 | Press again immediately: chord 2 is now caught | The foot is "off the beat" relative to the hands, which is why it's called syncopated. Many teachers drill it with the phrase **"play, up, down"**. First exercise: play middle C with the thumb, then press the pedal. Play D with the second finger, then quickly lift and press again to clear the C. Continue up C-D-E-F-G. Listen: there should be no gap and no blur between notes. Then do the same with left-hand fifths (C-G, D-A, E-B…), then with whole chords. ## Applying It: One Pedal per Chord The simplest rule for pop, ballads and most accompaniment: **change the pedal on every chord change**. Under I-V-vi-IV in C with the right hand playing the inversions from [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]] and the left hand playing roots or a root-fifth-octave pattern ([[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]]): ```chord instrument: piano columns: 4 --- symbol: C pitches: C4 E4 G4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: C (change pedal) --- symbol: G pitches: B3 D4 G4 fingering: 1-2-5 title: G/B (change pedal) --- symbol: Am pitches: C4 E4 A4 fingering: 1-2-5 title: Am/C (change pedal) --- symbol: F pitches: C4 F4 A4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: F/C (change pedal) ``` ```chords {title: Pedalling drill: I-V-vi-IV in C} {key: C} {time: 4/4} {comment: Play the chord on beat 1, lift the pedal with it, press again just after} {comment: LH: root on beat 1, or root-fifth-octave in quarter notes} [C]1 2 3 4 [G/B]1 2 3 4 [Am/C]1 2 3 4 [F/C]1 2 3 4 ``` Then the same in G (G, D/F♯, Em/G, C/G). When a bar holds two chords, change twice. When the melody moves by step over a held pedal, the notes overlap and blur; if it sounds muddy, change more often or use less depth. ## Reading Pedal Marks Pedal markings sit below the bass staff ([[AI Wiki - Music - Reading Standard Notation]]): - **"Ped." and an asterisk (✻)**: press at "Ped.", release at the asterisk. A new "Ped." without an asterisk before it means change (release and press again) at that point. - **Bracket lines**: the line starts where you press and ends where you release; a notch (an upward peak in the line) marks a quick change. - No markings does not always mean no pedal: in Romantic music and pop songbooks, pedalling is often left to the player's ear. ## Advanced Techniques - **Half pedalling**: pressing only partway, or lifting only partway between chords, so some resonance stays (often the bass) while the upper blur clears. Needs a continuous pedal on a digital piano. - **Flutter pedalling**: very quick, shallow touches during fast scales and runs, for a little shimmer without blur. - **Pre-pedalling**: pressing before the first note for a fuller attack, useful at the start of a piece. - **Finger pedalling**: holding notes slightly longer with the fingers to create a pedal-like overlap without the pedal. ## How to Practise 1. Learn new pieces **without pedal first**, until fingering and finger legato are secure ([[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Fingering]]). 2. Drill legato pedalling on single notes, then fifths, then [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads|triads]], then the progressions above, slowly. 3. Add it to a real piece, one pedal per chord, then adjust by ear. 4. [[AI Wiki - Music - Recording Yourself|Record yourself]]: blur and gaps are much easier to hear on playback. 5. Treat the foot as a third part to coordinate: add it only once the hands are together ([[AI Wiki - Music - Hand Independence]]). ## Common Mistakes - Pressing the pedal **at the same time** as the new chord: it catches the old chord's tail and blurs. - Holding the pedal through chord changes: mud. - Not lifting fully, so the dampers don't stop the old harmony. - Tapping or stamping, and noisy pedal mechanics. - Using the pedal to hide poor finger legato; the fingers should do most of the connecting. - Too much pedal in Baroque music (written for harpsichords and organs, which had no sustain pedal) and in fast passages. - Pedalling by rule instead of by ear: "a little sustaining pedal goes a long way". ## Key Points - The right pedal lifts all dampers: notes sustain and the strings resonate in sympathy. - Direct pedalling: down with the notes, up with the release. - Legato pedalling: lift *as* the new chord sounds, press *just after* ("play, up, down"). - Default rule: change the pedal with every chord change; adjust by ear. - Learn pieces without pedal first; fingers make the legato, the pedal adds resonance. - Half pedalling needs a continuous pedal on a digital piano. ## Open Questions - **Answered** ([[AI Wiki - Music - Digital Pianos and MIDI|Digital Pianos and MIDI]]): Does my digital piano's pedal support half-pedalling (continuous) or is it a switch? Check the pedal model (bundled pedals are often switches; Roland DP-10 in continuous mode or Yamaha FC3A are continuous), then press it slowly with `aseqdump` or a DAW's CC 64 lane open: only 0 and 127 means a switch, values in between mean half-pedalling works. The test on his own piano is still to do. - How do pianists pedal in styles with walking or stepwise bass lines without blurring them? - When does a pop ballad deliberately hold the pedal across chord changes for effect? ## References - Wikipedia, "Piano pedals": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_pedals (mechanism, sympathetic resonance, history, sostenuto and soft pedals, digital half-pedal sensing, Beethoven's pedal markings) - Melanie Spanswick, "The Sustaining Pedal": https://melaniespanswick.com/2018/06/15/the-sustaining-pedal/ (foot position, direct and legato pedalling, the C-D legato exercise, half and flutter pedalling, common mistakes) - Melanie Spanswick, "Perfect Pedalling": https://melaniespanswick.com/2015/05/19/perfect-pedalling/ (timing, pre-pedalling, practising without pedal first) - notat.io forum, pedal notation discussion: https://www.notat.io/viewtopic.php?p=988 (Ped./asterisk and bracket notation, notated pedal changes) ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Fingering]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Hand Independence]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reading Standard Notation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Keyboard Layout]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Ergonomics and Injury Prevention]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Melody and Phrasing]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Technique and Posture]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Voicings]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Playing from Lead Sheets]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Keyboards]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Digital Pianos and MIDI]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Improvisation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Tips and Tricks]]