The artistry and interaction between the piano, player, and audience are difficult to quantify. Yet, there is something extraordinary when the composer’s music and the performer creatively touch a listener’s ears and heart. Something more significant than the sum of its parts has been created.
With all of these “heady thoughts,” or “heartfelt motives,” making the right choice when choosing a piano can be very temperamental. There are, however, some more mechanical questions. This is not to say they are unimportant, as they can either enhance or detract from practice and performance. For example, one question is: why are there three pedals on a piano?
Some Pianos Do Not Have Three Pedals
First, not all pianos have three pedals. Some fine European piano makers design and build pianos with only two pedals. These are not inexpensive instruments, but they are often top-of-the-line makers of pianos. Second, not all makers of three pedal pianos have the same function in pedal design. With this murky overview of piano pedals, let us discuss their use and why there are three pedals on a piano.
General Applications for the Piano Pedals
There are three general applications for the pedal found on most grand pianos: the sustain pedal, the sostenuto pedal, and the soft pedal. They have greater and lesser uses for the average pianist so that we will start with the most common pedal used by virtually all pianists, regardless of the type of music played.
The Sustain Pedal
As you sit at the piano, the Sustain pedal is usually on the right. As pianos were improved over the years, there was an increased desire to have the notes ring as long as possible. With this pedal depressed, the recently played notes sound so that more notes can be played. A pedal was added to control this function. When viewing a well-played piano, this sustain pedal is often significantly more worn than the others.
The Soft Pedal (Una Corda)
The second most used pedal is the soft pedal or [una corda]. The transition from harpsichord to fortepiano was primarily motivated by dynamics. To enhance this feature on the piano, a mechanism was created that allowed the pianist to play with greater or lesser sound volume. On grand pianos with two or three strings per note, the piano action shifts to playing only one or two strings. Una Cord means “one string” in Italian. On upright pianos, the mechanism moves the hammers closer to the strings. This shorter distance achieves less velocity and a softer sound.
The Sostenuto Pedal
The third pedal is the Sostenuto. In both application and composition, it is the least used function of piano pedaling. However, some organ music transcribed for piano uses this special sound. When in use, the Sostenuto keeps dampers lifted on notes that have been played. All other notes are muted. This complex control is often simplified on many less expensive pianos. Because only the dampers on the bass strings are lifted, this is called bass sustain.
Marketing of Pianos
The marketing of pianos has tried to make three pedals more attractive than two pedals. The effective use of the third pedal has given way to more practical functions. The middle pedal is a “practice pedal on many modern acoustic vertical pianos.” This allows the user to mute the entire piano keyboard to about half the volume while maintaining proper key action. This pedal on digital pianos is frequently assigned different functions. Speed setting for rotary speaker organs, vibrato for wind instrument sounds, sound selection advancement, and so on are examples of assignments.