Those three pedals under the piano — what do they actually do? "Just press them with your foot," you might think, but pedaling is a skill every bit as refined as fingerwork, and a bad pedaling habit, once learned, can take a lifetime to unlearn. This guide covers what each pedal does, the principles of the most-used technique — legato pedaling — and the most common mistakes.
The one you'll use most. While pressed, it lifts all the dampers (the parts that stop the strings), letting the strings ring freely. Notes keep sounding even after you release the keys, and other strings resonate sympathetically, creating a rich wash of sound. In the score, "Ped." marks where it begins and a star (✱) marks where it ends.
On a grand piano, it shifts the hammers sideways so they strike only two of each note's three strings (hence the original name "una corda" — "one string"). On an upright, it moves the hammers closer to the strings, shortening their travel. Either way, the effect is similar: the sound gets quieter and the tone softer. In the score, "una corda" marks where it begins and "tre corde" (back to normal) where it ends.
The least-used of the three. It holds up the dampers only for keys that were already down at the moment you press it; every other key behaves normally. It's useful, for example, for sustaining a single long bass note while the other hand plays staccato. Upright pianos usually lack this pedal, or replace it with a different function (a practice mute).
More than 90% of classical piano uses legato pedaling (also called syncopated pedaling). The principle is simple: play the new note first, then change the pedal.
As a rhythm, it's "play → press → (just before the next beat) release → play → press," over and over. The crucial point: foot and hand never move at the same time. The hand goes first; the foot follows right behind.
The most common beginner mistake. Every note blurs together until you can't tell what you're hearing. Fix: play the piece once with no pedal at all and listen to how it sounds. Then add short touches of pedal only where the harmony changes.
Lift the pedal exactly as you play a chord and the sound cuts off abruptly; press it exactly as you play and you get a clunky thump. Fix: without a metronome, slowly alternate between just two chords, drilling the sequence "hand → tiny pause → foot" until it's habit.
The pedal has depth — half pedal, full pedal. If you only want a touch of resonance, press it halfway. Fix: consciously vary your pedal depth to suit the character of the piece. Impressionist music frequently calls for quarter pedal, too.
The pedals bundled with budget digital pianos are simple switches: pressed is on, released is off. Subtle gradations are impossible. Fix: if you can, upgrade to a pedal that supports continuous or half-pedal operation. All the major digital pianos are compatible.
Put it into practice — Pick a piece with pedal markings from the sheet music library (say, the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, or a Chopin nocturne) and practice at a very slow metronome tempo around ♩= 50, consciously separating the motions: "play → press → release." It usually takes 2–3 weeks before the pedal motion becomes as automatic as your fingers.