Sustain Pedal
The sustain pedal can make the piano sound smooth, connected, and beautiful. It can also turn everything into a giant muddy mess. 😄 The trick is learning how to connect your sound without letting the old notes hang around too long.
What Does the Sustain Pedal Do?
You may also hear it called the damper pedal. On an acoustic piano, pressing it moves the dampers away from the strings so the notes are allowed to continue vibrating after you release the keys.
That's what creates that beautiful connected sound — but it also means the pedal has to eventually come back up so the old notes can stop sounding.
You're Trying to Avoid Two Things
Good pedaling lives somewhere between these two extremes.
The Mushy Sound
Leave the pedal down too long and old notes begin blending with new notes that don't belong together. Pretty soon everything becomes mud.
The Break in the Sound
Release the pedal at the wrong time and you can hear a little hole between chords. Instead of flowing from one harmony into the next, the music suddenly feels disconnected.
Clean...but Connected
That's really the goal. You want enough pedal to connect the sound, but you also need to clear the pedal often enough that the harmony stays clean.
Practice With Your Ears
Play two different chords slowly and listen to what happens when you leave the pedal down through both of them. Hear the notes beginning to pile up?
Now experiment with clearing the pedal as the harmony changes. Your ear is ultimately what tells you whether you have too much pedal, too little pedal, or just enough.
Listen For This
- Chords connect smoothly.
- Old harmony doesn't pile up.
- The music still has clarity.