Bringing Out the Expression of the Sound Pedals

Function and Construction

• The pedals sustain tones and allows the musician control of the tone not possible by the use of the keyboard.
• The movements of the pedals are transmitted to the vertical pedal rods via the horizontal pedal levers. The pedal rod then raises and lowers, manipulating the piano action according to the movements of the pedals.

Damper Pedal (loud pedal)

• Depressing this pedal releases all dampers from all strings simultaneously. The dampers will not return to their former positions even if you raise your fingers from the keyboard. This causes the strings to continue to vibrate, enabling notes to be sustained.
• The next tones can be played while the first ones are sustained, even though the fingers have been releases from the first notes. This also enables the other strings to resonate sympathetically, increasing the overall volume and beauty of the sound.

Soft Pedal

• The purpose of an upright piano's soft pedal is similar to that of a grand piano's shift pedal, but the mechanism is different. Depressing the pedal shortens the distance between the strings and the hammer assembly. This shortens the string impact distance, creating a softer sound.

Muffler Pedal

• Depressing this pedal interposes a thing sheet of felt between the hammers and the strings. Since the felt dampens the hammers impact to the strings, this lowers the sound volume, making it useful for practicing.

Sostenuto Pedal

• Depressing this pedal after certain keys have been struck causes the dampers of those keys to remain released from the strings, even after the fingers have been raised. Depressing the damper pedal will release the dampers from all of the strings, but the sostenuto is much more selective, operating only on those keys depressed prior to the pedal being depressed.




Major Points



• It is important that the entire pedal mechanism operates smoothly, starting when the pedal is first depressed, continuing to the time that movement is transmitted to the action.
• The feelings that the pedals give when depressed are also important. These feelings should not be like that of "on/off" switches.
• Depressing the pedal should not produce any unwanted noise.
• The pedal levers in Yamaha pianos are fabricated of metal. Since it is utterly unaffected by humidity, it insures that the operation of the pedal will remain smooth and trouble free.