How many pedals does a piano have

Older acoustic pianos have two. Here we explain the effect that each has on the sound, the proper technique for using them and where you can find them in musical notation. Consider an acoustic piano. The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, allowing notes to ring out for longer, even when the keys are not held down anymore. See Chapter 1 - Choosing a Piano or Keyboard for more on choosing a sustain pedal. Most strings in an acoustic piano are grouped in threes, with each group tuned to the same note.

When played normally, the hammer strikes all three at the same time giving a full, bright sound. On a grand piano, the una corda pedal shifts the entire mechanism to the right, so the hammer only hits two of the three strings. The resulting note is softer. Also, since the strings are hit by a different part of the hammer, the sound is muted and less bright.

On upright pianos, pushing the pedal moves the hammer mechanism closer to the string, making it softer but without altering the tone. This is similar to a sustain pedal.

The key difference is that it only holds notes that are already being played at the moment when the pedal is pressed down. Any notes that begin after the pedal is down are not affected, allowing for selective sustain without blurring the sound. Since the sostenuto pedal is a relatively recent addition to the piano, it is rarely required for pieces before the late 20th century.

Even so, many pianists use it when playing the work of earlier, more progressive composers like Debussy and Ravel. The middle pedal is not included on older pianos. But even if your piano does have three pedals, the middle pedal may not be a sostenuto pedal. They often have a locking mechanism so you can practice without bothering people quite so much.

You may also choose to use it if you are playing your music in a quiet setting. Instead, use the pedal when you are already playing softly to soften the sound even more.

The middle pedal on a piano may vary from piano to piano. Generally, there are three options about what to expect from a middle pedal. When the middle pedal is a true sostenuto pedal, it functions similarly to the sustain pedal with a couple of important differences. First, it only sustains notes from Middle C and lower. And second, it only sustains notes that you are already playing when the pedal is depressed.

No other keys on the piano would sustain while the sostenuto pedal is down unless you are also using the sustain pedal. A lot of piano repertoire had already been written before it was available. Any time your left hand needs to be sustaining a chord and simultaneously playing another voice would be an excellent time to try it out! When it comes to actually using these pedals, make sure you are sitting far enough back from the piano.

Never allow your foot to rest continuously on the sustain pedal unless called for in the music. Pianists often get in the bad habit of using the sustain pedal as a crutch to cover mistakes or play with sloppy technique.

Be careful not to fall into this trap. It can make your music sound too heavy and messy. We hope you now understand why the pedals on a piano are there and are excited to try a few of them out! Make sure to grab the sheet music for your favorite piano pieces at Musicnotes. Username or Email Address.

Remember Me. Stay Connected. The damper pedal always has the same main job: to sustain sound. It allows sound to continue long after your finger stops pressing a piano key. On acoustic pianos, when you press the pedal, it raises the dampers that sit on top of the strings. The job of the dampers on a piano is to stop the sound. When you press a piano key with your finger, the damper is raised, allowing the string to resonate.

When you let go of the key, the dampers fall onto the string and stop the sound. When the damper or sustain pedal is used, the piano strings are free to continue to resonate without the help of you holding down a key. If you do use the sustain pedal the sound will continue until you let go of the pedal or until the strings stop vibrating naturally. When you lift all the dampers up the strings vibrate to produce a specific frequency for each note.

The overtones are produced at a specific mathematical pattern discovered long ago by Pythagoras. As the strings continue to vibrate they begin to react to the vibrations of other strings creating ripples of overtones. The multitude of various combinations of the acoustic overtones is unparalleled and cannot be recreated in a digital sound. It is simply impossible to calculate every scenario with different note combinations and dynamic levels of each note.

This is also something that the piano players of the highest level do: they can change the timbre of the sound while playing the same exact notes by applying different pressure on different keys. The sustain pedal allows for a truly vibrant sound on the acoustic piano and because of that, piano players use it almost all the time. If you look inside an acoustic piano you will see that most hammers hit not one but three strings per key to produce the sound.

Only at the bottom quarter of the keyboard the number of strings per key goes down to two and then one string. With this, the strings themselves get much thicker. On a grand piano when you press the soft pedal, all the hammers move slightly to the left so instead of hitting 3 strings, they only hit 2.

The overall sound volume goes roughly down roughly by a third this way. Again, everything becomes quieter. Interestingly enough, professional pianists these days prefer to use only very little of the soft pedal or none at all. It is almost considered cheating to use the soft pedal instead of being able to play very quietly with your fingers. Also, taking away one out of three strings noticeably strips the original piano sound away from its full beautiful color.

If you have 2 pedals, then you will always have the two pedals described above.