Piano Pedals

Piano Pedals

From the very inception of piano, the piano pedals were in the development stage. The piano pedals are the additions to the main piano body to enhance its performance in several ways. There can be many pedals - maximum six, each with a separate and distinct function. They are attached to a panel reaching from just behind the keyboard on to the floor and thus are played with the pianist's foot. Through the late 19th century, Piano had undergone many changes like that of one modifying stop and a maximum of six types of pedals. The pedals are named Soft, Sustain pedals, Sostenuto, Foot pedals, Novelty pedals and Janizary pedals.

Una Corda - Soft Pedal

This mechanism was invented to modify and beautify the piano's sound. It is commonly called as soft pedal. This pedal actually modifies timbre and color of the tone. Its function was to produce a soft tone. In its earlier versions, Una Corda mechanism was operated by a hand stop and not by a pedal. The stop was a knob located on the side of the keyboard. When the pedal was activated, the entire action shifted to the right so that hammer strikes only one staring. The later models of piano did not allow the pianist the flexibility to change the tone quality. This happened because the hammer hit two strings when the key was depressed. Thus the inability for the hammer to quickly change its position made the tone quality less changeable.

Sustaining - Damper Pedal

It is the right pedal on the piano, which raises all the dampers off the strings so that a vibration is produced. This pedal is used to allow notes to resonate, generate harmonies and connect similar synchronizing notes together. The sustaining pedal was initially controlled by the hand. Besides these, Foot Pedals also were incorporated to facilitate the arresting of the moderator action. The aim was to produce a softer sound by controlling the damper mechanism. Knee levers were also used in combination with foot pedals to control different aspects of generated sound. Novelty pedals were meant to modify levels of volume, color or timbre of the sound.

Piano Playing