What is the pedal under the piano for? When should the piano pedal be pressed?

I believe many people have seen a piano. Even if you haven't seen it in person, you can always see it on TV. When someone plays the piano, you can sometimes see them stepping on something under their feet while playing. So what is the use of this footstool?

What is the foot pedal under the piano for?

The correct term for the footrests under the piano is pedals. Most upright pianos have three pedals.

The left pedal is the soft pedal, which can soften the sound. It has two different functions. On a normal upright piano, when you step on the left pedal, the hammers move forward, shortening the distance from the strings and weakening the sound accordingly. If you step on a grand piano, when you step on the left pedal, the entire keyboard moves to the right, and the hammers can only hit one string instead of hitting three strings. This not only makes the sound much weaker, but also produces different timbre changes. So some music scores will indicate whether it is "one string" or "three strings".

The middle pedal is the muffler pedal, which is used less often. On most modern pianos, when the muffler pedal is depressed, a moving velvet cloth is sandwiched between the hammers and the strings, making the volume very thin and fuzzy, and muffled. It is usually only used in the evening or early morning to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

The right side is the sustain pedal, also known as the forte pedal. Pressing this pedal will amplify the sound of the piano to a certain extent. When the sustain pedal is pressed, the dampers that are usually pressed on the strings will immediately rise. Let all the strings continue to vibrate, and when the pedal is released, all the dampers will press on the strings and stop the sound.

When to press the piano pedal?

There are techniques and methods for pressing the piano pedals. It is not enough to just keep pressing them.

The most commonly used pedal is the right pedal, also called the "sustain pedal", which is used to make the piano sound softer and fuller when the performer plays lyrical tunes. However, if the pedal is pressed and remains unchanged, the opposite effect will be achieved. For example, all the sounds are mixed together and do not sound pure.

The correct way to pedal

According to the chords in the left hand, step on the pedal in each section, quickly lift the pedal to the next section, and then quickly step on it again. If there is a pedal mark Reo on the score, it means you need to step on the pedal here and release the pedal when the next Reo appears.