Haberdashery 丨 Four points tell you how to use piano pedal.

Proper and correct use of pedal will play a positive role in expressing musical tone, making music more energetic, full of vitality, more glorious and touching.

First, pedal principle and

Differences between grand piano and upright piano

01

Right Pedal

The right pedal is also called damper pedal, sustain pedal, forte pedal, legato pedal. The principles and effects are same for pianos and grand pianos.

When you step on it, all dampers that would normally depress strings immediately come off keys, so that all strings can continue to vibrate freely, so that sound being played will continue until it disappears. naturally.

When you lift your foot and release pedal, all dampers immediately depress strings to stop vibrating and sound stops immediately. The right pedal can play role of sound expansion, sound-to-sound connection, volume boost, and color boost. Popular music is used a lot, we can say that it is most.

Many scores do not specify where to use damper pedal, requiring player to understand and interpret it on their own.

02

Middle Pedal

This is name of soft pedal on piano, which can change timbre and volume by dropping a thin comb between hammer and strings. The middle pedal on piano is not used in normal performance of music, it mainly plays role of attenuating volume without affecting others during practice.

Personally, I think it would be more correct to call it mute pedal, which is also different from mute pedal on left. There is also a middle pedal of some pianos to fully adopt grand piano production principle.

The middle pedal on a grand piano is called sustain pedal, sustain pedal, or hold pedal. The player plays next tone or chord and at same time presses middle pedal, tone just played will be saved, and tone played by next player will not be saved.

The middle pedal only opens damper that was depressed while pedal was depressed, unlike right pedal which opens all dampers. When using right pedal and middle pedal at same time, middle pedal can retain some of tones while right pedal still performs its tasks according to its own rules.

The pedals of vast majority of electric pianos are now exactly same as those of grand pianos. This is a very good thing. Because of this, our conventional electric piano has function of advanced grand piano pedals, which also means that some music that cannot be played on pianos and electric pianos without standard pedals can be played.

03

Left Pedal

Also called soft pedal, soft pedal. On a piano, after pressing left pedal, distance between hammer and strings is reduced to reduce volume and change timbre.

On a grand piano, pressing left pedal moves action to one side (the hammer and entire keyboard move sideways at same time), so that original three strings become two or one string. vibrates pronunciation, achieve purpose of attenuating volume and changing timbre.

When left pedal is depressed, it is usually labeled una corda (original value is one string), and when it is released, it is labeled tre conda (original value is three strings). It can also be counted in some places in popular music, such as relatively quiet passages.

Because right pedal is most commonly used, this article focuses on use of right pedal, and right pedal is called "pedal" for short.

Second, pedal marks

Haydn noted pedals in several works, Beethoven's works had more pedal symbols, and then there were more pedal symbols in works of Romantic composers such as Chopin and Liszt. By time of Debussy and Ravel, Impressionists rarely labeled pedals.

Now we see general symbols for marking pedals on sheet music: figure shows Chopin's "Etudes in E Flat Major" Op.10 No.11, first symbol is to press pedal, and second symbol is to release Turn on the pedal.

3. How to use right pedal

1. Basic principles of foot movement: First of all, we must place middle of forefoot on round end of pedal. If foot is too close to piano, toe will touch piano board and foot will be far away from piano. Go too far and you will be pedaling with your toes. The soles of feet should always be close to pedals, heels should always be on ground, and axis of activity should be ankle. The walking and releasing movements of feet should be flexible and free.

2. Depending on depth of pedal, right pedal can be divided into: full pedal, half pedal (1/2 pedal), 1/4 pedal, 3/4 pedal, or with control Gradually deepen step and so on. There are also ways to put right pedal in: put it all in at once, put in a part (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, etc.), or put it under control slowly.

3. According to time of pressing pedal, right pedal can be divided into:

Synchronized Pedals

(1) Simultaneous pressing is also called synchronous pedal and straight pedal. Often used in music with an emphasis on rhythmic features.

The straight pedal is sometimes used throughout a piece of music, and sometimes it just emphasizes a certain tone or a certain chord. There is always space between two straight pedals to emphasize sharp rhythmic effect of straight pedals.

This use of pedals is also called rhythm pedal method. This use of pedals is very common in performance of piano works until middle of 18th and 19th centuries.

How to use it: Press pedal at same time as a harmony or downbeat, release it until next harmony appears, and press pedal with next new beat. harmony Synchronized stomping in one measure.

This method is typically used when playing baroque or early classical pieces that require a particularly clean sound effect, and can also be used as a pedal method for beginners. For example, this rhythm pedal method can be used at end of first movement of Mozart's sonata Op.331No.12.

Split Pedal

(2) A post-tone switch, also called a split pedal. It can help link legato and harmony, enhance singing of a melody, etc. Its use is to lift your foot while playing a key with your finger down while playing second note to be connected, and step quickly on it before finger leaves key.

Special attention is required that at this time movement of arms and legs in opposite direction occurs, that is, feet rise up, and fingers reproduce sound. The up and down movements of foot must be practiced naturally and completely, almost as one.

Notice practice of splitting pedal:

a. Hands and feet interact closely with each other, and not in same way as from above and below.

b. Check with your ear if sound is connected and switch is working.

c. The right foot is close to pedal, feeling is that foot and pedal are up and down, and pedal is completely under control of foot.

Does not seem to change lack of change and noise caused by loss of pedal control. The syncopated pedal method is also known as legato pedal method or next pedal method. This is most common way to use pedal. Its relationship to fingering is very similar to a swing in a playground in a park. . . .

When a finger touches a key, foot quickly rises and then falls. If you play with your finger at right time, pedal will usually be off by a sixteenth note. Wrong last eighth note, and when next front beat appears, foot will let go and fall several times.

This method can make harmonic effect of playing full and rich without being messy, and at same time can prolong many notes that cannot be held by fingers. Particular attention should be paid to fact that when pedal is released, it must be released thoroughly so as not to transfer sound effect of previous harmony to next harmony.

In addition, step action must be very timely to avoid effect of broken harmony. It can be said that this way of using pedal is most difficult to master, but most commonly used of all methods of using pedal. One practice that works well is to play scales with both hands as slowly as possible with one finger.

The song "Bill's Goat" from second volume of Thompson's "Modern Piano Course" is an excellent introduction to split pedal method.

Prep Pedal

(3) The pedal that is depressed until sound is called preparation pedal. Before playing, first press pedal, let damper fully open, and then press a key that can make sound fuller.

It can only be used at beginning of a melody, onbeginning of a new paragraph or after a long rest. Usually used to create an atmosphere. It can be said that "before melody there is love".

For example, before playing "Sunset Xiaogu", you can use back-up pedal to open all dampers, meaning that performance is about to start, so that audience is full of anticipation for music. At beginning of first movement of Beethoven's piano sonata "The Tempest", you can also use front pedal.

Tremolo pedal

(4) A shake pedal, also called a "tremolo pedal", is a permanent and quick change of pedals. It is often used in scales and chromatic scales so that volume can be preserved and sound avoided.

As name suggests, method of use is to step on and change pedals frequently, in small movements. switching must be fast. This can cause damper to touch strings, thus neither making sound completely smothered and losing echo and overtone resonance, nor causing too much resonance to make harmony effect too cloudy.

Specific method: switch pedals quickly in small motions at speed of playing sixteenth notes on your toes.

Often when there is a sixteenth or thirty-second note in scale, most people are afraid to use sustain pedal because they are afraid that sound effect will be messy.

However, it's easy to make sound effect stay same and sound dry, which is inconsistent with sound effect of front and back. If you switch pedals quickly and often, you can keep tone shiny without making sound muddy.

At this time, you can step on it with your toes in a small range, and do not shake your calf or ankle, so as not to cause muscle tension and fatigue in legs. In Chopin's Impromptu Morning Fantasy Op.66, this vibrating pedal method can be used to lower sixteenth note.

Half-pedal method

(5) The half-pedal method, as name implies, uses only half of pedal, that is, do not press pedal all way, but only half of it. or depress pedal to end, but not completely clean, then depress again, in fact, for different pianos it may not necessarily be "half", more or less, this practice is often found in works of Impressionists and some modernist composers for creating foggy, foggy, ambiguous sound effects.

If you want harmony effect to be blurry and blurry, you can use bottom half stepping method to bring some of overtones of previous harmony into sound of next harmony. harmonies to be vague. If resonance of sound is not so obvious, you can not press pedal all way, but press it only halfway, but when changing pedal, it must be completely removed.

For example, in Debussy's "Ancient Egyptian Pot" prelude, this pedal produces a sustained, ethereal and mesmerizing sound effect. If you don't want more harmony effects in a music video, but you want harmony to be more grainy, or you want to highlight a melody and fill it in, you can use a half pedal, which also has an important use in popular music.

In polyphonic musicYou can also use half pedals to polish sound. There is very little information about half pedal, and this feature is very important for electric pianos.

For example, in previous chapters of Beethoven's Für Elise, since rising and falling notes form a melodic line, they must all be clean and grainy. If pedal sound is not too dry, use a full pedal. , The sound is too mixed and feeling of freshness is lost, so half-pedal movement is very effective at this time, and you can try it. Perhaps, after test, you will really understand meaning of half-pedal movement and realize its importance.

Straight Pedals and Split Pedals are most basic and important basic pedaling courses. Students should first learn these two pedaling methods.

Fourth, using right pedal

1. Change pedal as harmony changes.

Harmonic articulation is fundamental to performance. Usually one pedal is used for one chord. The harmony changes and pedals change accordingly. Whether chord shape is a column chord, an expanded chord, or a semi-expanded chord, this rule must be observed.

When there are multiple continuous column chords in motion, one chord uses one pedal, and if it's legato, you can also use a split pedal to play legato perfectly.

When chords appear in form of legato arpeggios (especially long arpeggios), you can use pedal.

The bass line is important. In some passages where bass cannot be supported by hands and where harmony support is especially needed because bass is basis of harmony, it is necessary to use a pedal to hold bass and connect bass to chords. At this time, you may also want to consider using a middle extension pedal.

2. Contribute to performance of rhythm and power. This pedal is also called "rhythm pedal".

In generally strong rhythmic music, such as four-time march, three-time waltz, two-time dance, etc., or in harmonic accompaniments with a strong sense of rhythm, to emphasize characteristic rhythm, strengthen rhythm of rhythm, making sense of rhythm more vivid and vivid .

The straight pedal is often used. That is, step on downbeat, put on downbeat (or downbeat), or pedal down downbeat and second downbeat of four beats, etc. For example, in Chu Wanhua's Heaven in Liberated Area, first four measures are a strong rhythm of gongs and drums, and each measure uses a straight pedal, which is depressed in first half of measure and released in second. half.

3. When music has forte (sf), accent (>), syncopation, and a few powerful final chords, you can use straight pedals on those notes to increase volume and resonance. . This pedal is called "accent pedal".

4. Use according to needs of color effects.

Different works require different sound colors. We must study nature of pieces and sound they require in order to decide how to use pedal.

For example, a series of continuous scales or chromatic scales, classical pieces generally do not use pedals or use a small number of pedals for clarity of sound; but in works of Romantic composers such as Moszkowski, Chopin, and Liszt, many of these scales and chromatic scales are used as passing tones against backdrop of accompaniment and must be pedaled on.

If you don't hit pedal, you'll lose music and end up with a bunch of unrelated, dry chords and scales. Similarly, when scales and chromatic scales need a breeze effect, you can use a tremolo pedal; when you need a fog effect, you can press pedal a little less.

The acoustics can be very different between music without pedals and music with pedals, and this effect is often used to contrast music. In right places, contrast with dry sound can refresh ear. Of course, this should be thought out and correct.

5. Use pedals wisely according to running time style.

In Czerny's etudes 599, 849, 299 and 740, some pedals can be used for their intended purpose. Of course, when starting to practice a new study that can use pedals to focus more on solving finger technique, you can first practice without pedals.

Since there are many voices in polyphonic works, it is necessary to ensure singing and clarity of each horizontal line, and use pedals sparingly and carefully. Pieces from classical period require a clean and transparent sound, with works by Haydn and Mozart, fewer pedals can be used, and pedals must be smaller, shorter and replaced more often.

Beethoven's works could be used more appropriately. The Romantic period required harmonic resonance, harmonic contrast, color effects, etc. Therefore, in works of Chopin and Liszt, pedal plays a very important role.

In works of Impressionist composers such as Debussy and Ravel, one should pay more attention to pedal depth and use pedals of different depths to achieve different effects.

Under guidance of a teacher, students should explore use of pedals in works of representative figures from various periods such as Baroque, Classicism, Romance and Impressionism.

6. Define pedal according to nature of music, image of music, and tone of music.

(1) LearClassical singing, slow and long melodies, as a rule, use syncopated pedals. This can enhance singing of a melody and make it more cohesive, smooth, soft and warm without being dry.

(2) For majestic, powerful and impressive melodies, you can choose straight pedals or split pedals.

(3) Straight pedals are usually used for lively, upbeat and rhythmic melodies.

(4) For melodies of a dance character, straight pedals are usually used.

(5) For polyphonic tunes, use fewer or no pedals at all.

There is often more than one musical image in a piece of music. So you can use different pedal methods, i.e. some passages (or phrases, or a certain tone) use straight pedals, and other places use split pedals.

7. Use pedals to make music cohesive.

When sounds are more than a finger span apart or difficult to connect with your fingers, pedals can be used to connect sounds. Especially when playing consecutive chords legato, a syncopated pedal allows you to play full legato of various chords.

8. Decorate and beautify sound (it can be a sound, a melody or a chord).

(1) Single tone enhancement: The single tone with pedal depressed is softer than without pedal, and volume increases slightly. Especially when monophonic legato melodies are played at a slow or medium tempo without accompaniment, using a pedal can avoid sounding too dry.

When deciding whether to use a pedal for one or more notes, velocity, velocity, and range must be considered. When range is low and tempo is slow, you can use one pedal per note. If range is not too low, dynamic level is not too strong, and single-note melody moves faster, longer pedals should be used (one pedal for several notes).

(2) Chord Enhancement: Pedaled chords are fuller.

(3) Melody Embellishment: When melody needs to be embellished, change strength or increase thickness, you can use pedal. When a melody has harmonic accompaniment, decision to use a pedal should be made by first considering harmony factor and at same time taking into account modification of melody.

Sometimes a brief touch on pedal (light pedal pressure) can brighten up sound, make music more expressive, and sound won't be thumpy or dry.

9. Select a pedal according to your sound zone.

In midrange, especially in low end, don't overlap sounds that shouldn't overlap. In bass area, more pedals should be replaced or fewer pedals should be used. When melody is in a high register, there is no need to worry about line being fuzzy due to use of pedal.

When ultra-high range is above g3, there is no damper device on piano, and it doesn't matter if you press pedal or not, but at that time, using pedal can make all strings vibrate, creating piano with thinnest tone Part of range becomes fuller .

10. By speed.

If speed is low, change pedals frequently. The higher speed, longer you can use pedal.

11. Crescendo pedal, crescendo pedal, long climax pedal.

(1) Crescendo Pedal: Slowly step on half of crescendo so that pedal continues to deepen until end of upstroke reaches another level of force and begins to use full pedal, thereby helping fingers better to crescendo and enhance musical mood.

(2) Decrescendo Pedal: Unlike crescendo pedal, pedal rises slowly in second half of crescendo so that pedal constantly thins out to achieve crescendo effect. These two pedals place higher demands on foot control.

(3) Long Climax Pedal: At climax of music, a longer pedal can sometimes be used to combine harmony sound, their passing sound, and auxiliary sound to increase intensity of music. music forms climax of music and makes music more majestic. For example, you can use culmination of last 4 bars of Liszt's sixth piece "Advanced Piano Etude in G Major", great climax at end of "Dance of Tarantella", and Ravel's cadenza "Playing on Water". with long pedals...

12. Strong pedal retraction and weak pedal retraction.

Mostly used at end of a piece of music.

(1) Forcibly release pedal: When time comes for music to end, pedal will be quickly released, giving a very strong sound and rhythm effect.

(2) Weak Pedal: When music ends in a quiet mood (usually last note has a long cue), release pedal slowly and gently to achieve an even sound effect. again.

It is worth mentioning concept of "finger pedal". Although it has nothing to do with foot pedal, it also plays role of a support sound, providing sound for other melodies. or patterns. Some solid color background is provided.

For example, those monotones that are hidden in broken chords to form a hidden melody all work outby holding keys with your fingers, as well as Italian composers, Hapsecord performers and singers with Alberti sound. Born in Venice around 1710, died in Rome in 1740. Alberti's name in annals of music is mainly his sonatas. The left part of these sonatas is usually accompanied by broken chord patterns (the sequence of performance is bass, treble, middle and treble). This decomposed chord pattern is called "Alberti Bass" by later generations. ), and those sustained notes in polyphonic pieces can be called "finger pedals".

In short, use of pedals is more complex and also tests our ability to understand and process music, therefore presenting a colorful situation. The color palette is ", so pedaling can really reflect The benevolent sees benevolence, and wise sees wisdom.

Some experts emphasize principle of "smaller, but precise, short and clear" when using pedals. Just don't use it, you should use what should be used, and use time of pedals should be short, purpose is to make the music more pure and neat.