Piano pedals: what they do and how to use them

The three pedals

• Right (sustain or damper): while it is down, notes keep ringing after your fingers leave the keys. It is the one you use most.
• Left (una corda): makes the sound softer and more muffled.
• Middle (sostenuto): holds only the notes that were already down when you pressed it. Many digital pianos do not have it.

How to press it

• Keep your heel on the floor and let the ball of your right foot do the work.
• Press all the way down and release all the way: half pedaling comes later.
• On a digital keyboard, the pedal plugs into the Sustain or Damper input.

The signs in the music

Ped. means press, the asterisk ✱ means release, and the little ^ means change: release and press again.

Syncopated pedal: change without blurring

If you do not change the pedal when the chord changes, the two chords mix. The right way is for the foot to change right after the hand:

1. Play the new chord.
2. Right after, release the pedal and press it again. Your fingers are still holding the keys, so the sound does not stop.
3. Say it out loud: “play, up, down”.

Practice with the app

Dedilhado Vivo has three pedal lessons, including Brahms' Lullaby and the Moonlight Sonata. With your piano connected by USB, the app sees when you press and release and corrects the timing of each change.

Open the pedal lesson →

Written by the Dedilhado Vivo team, based on what the app does today.

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