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Piano pedals are foot-operated
lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or ''fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load and effort, the lever is div ...
s at the base of a
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
that change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the
soft pedal The soft pedal (or pedal, ) is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a grand piano this pedal shifts the whole action (including the keyboard) slightly to the right, so that the hammers which norm ...
(or una corda), the
sostenuto pedal Piano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano that change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining ...
, and the
sustaining pedal A sustain pedal or sustaining pedal (also called damper pedal, loud pedal, or open pedal) is the most commonly used piano pedals, pedal in a modern piano. It is typically the rightmost of two or three pedals. When pressed, the sustain pedal " ...
(or damper pedal). Some pianos omit the sostenuto pedal, or have a middle pedal with a different purpose such as a muting function also known as
silent piano A silent piano is an acoustic piano where there is an option to silence the strings by stopping the hammers from striking them. A silent piano is designed for private silent practice. In the silent mode, sensors pick up the piano key movement, con ...
. The development of the piano's pedals is an evolution that began from the very earliest days of the piano, and continued through the late 19th century. Throughout the years, the piano had as few as one modifying stop, and as many as six or more, before finally arriving at its current configuration of three.


Individual pedals


Soft pedal

The ''
soft pedal The soft pedal (or pedal, ) is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a grand piano this pedal shifts the whole action (including the keyboard) slightly to the right, so that the hammers which norm ...
'', or ''
una corda The soft pedal (or pedal, ) is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a Piano#Grand, grand piano this pedal shifts the whole Action (piano), action (including the keyboard) slightly to the right, s ...
'' pedal, was invented by
Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...
. It was the first mechanism invented to modify the piano's sound. This function is typically operated by the left pedal on modern pianos. Neither of its common names—soft pedal or una corda pedal—completely describe the pedal's function. The una corda primarily modifies the
timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
, not just the volume of the piano.Siepmann, J. (1996). ''The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument'', Hal Leonard & Carlton Books, 17. Soon after its invention, virtually all makers integrated the una corda as a standard fixture.Banowetz, J. (1985). ''The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling'', Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 5. On Cristofori's pianos, the una corda mechanism was operated by a hand stop, not a pedal. The stop was a knob on the side of the keyboard. When the una corda was activated, the entire action shifted to the right so that the hammers hit one string (una corda) instead of two strings (due corde).Parakilas, J., et al. (1999). ''Piano Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life with the Piano'', New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 48. Dominic Gill says that when the hammers strike only one string, the piano "...produces a softer, more ethereal tone."Gill, D., ed. (1981). ''The Book of the Piano'', Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 27. By the late 18th century, piano builders had begun triple stringing the notes on the piano. This change, affecting the una corda's function, is described by Joseph Banowetz: The sound of the una corda on early pianos created a larger difference in color and timbre than it does on the modern piano. On the modern piano, the una corda pedal makes the hammers of the treble section hit two strings instead of three. In the case of the bass strings, the hammer normally strikes either one or two strings per note. The lowest bass notes on the piano are a single thicker string. For these notes, the action shifts the hammer so that it strikes the string on a different, lesser-used part of the hammer nose.Williams, J. (2002). ''The Piano: An Inspirational Guide to the Piano and Its Place in History'', New York: Billboard Books, 45. Edwin Good states,
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
took advantage of the ability of his piano to create a wide range of tone color in two of his piano works. In his Piano Concerto No. 4, Beethoven specifies the use of una corda, due corde, and tre corde. He calls for una corda, then "poco a poco due ed allora tutte le corde", gradually two and then all strings, in Sonata Op. 106.


Half-blow pedal

On the modern upright piano, the left pedal is not truly an una corda, because it does not shift the action sideways. The strings run at such an oblique angle to the hammers that if the action moved sideways, the hammer might strike one string of the wrong note.Good 1982:22. A more accurate term for the left pedal on an upright piano is the half-blow pedal. When the pedal is activated, the hammers move closer to the strings, so that there is less distance for the hammer to swing.


Sostenuto pedal

The last pedal added to the modern grand was the middle pedal, the ''sostenuto'', which was inspired by the French. Using this pedal, a pianist can sustain selected notes, while other notes remain unaffected. The sostenuto was first shown at the
French Industrial Exposition of 1844 The French Industrial Exposition of 1844 (french: Exposition des produits de l'industrie française en 1844), held in a temporary structure on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, was the tenth in a series of eleven French national industrial expositions ...
in Paris, by
Boisselot & Fils Boisselot & Fils was a French piano manufacturing company established in 1831 in Marseille, France, by Jean-Louis Boisselot Jean-Baptiste-Louis Boisselot (18 August 1782 – 21 May 1847) was the founder of the piano company Boisselot & Fils. Com ...
, a Marseille company. French piano builders Alexandre François Debain and
Claude Montal Claude Montal (28 July 1800 – 7 March 1865) was a French author who wrote the first comprehensive text on piano tuning and repair, "''l'Art d'accorder soi-même son piano''..." (''The Art of Tuning Your Own Piano Yourself''...), published in 183 ...
built sostenuto mechanisms in 1860 and 1862, respectively. These innovative efforts did not immediately catch on with other piano builders. In 1874, Albert Steinway perfected and patented the sostenuto pedal.Williams 2002:26. He began to advertise it publicly in 1876, and soon the
Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...
company was including it on all of their grands and their high-end uprights. Other American piano builders quickly adopted the sostenuto pedal into their piano design. The adoption by European manufacturers went far more slowly and was essentially completed only in recent times.For a reference describing the lack of sostenuto pedals on European pianos as of 1982, see Good 1982:22. The websites of Bechstein, Bösendorfer, Petrof, and Fazioli as of 2015 all describe their top-of-the-line instruments as including the sostenuto, and for Grotrian it is an available option. The term "sostenuto" is perhaps not the best descriptive term for what this pedal actually does. ''Sostenuto'' in Italian means ''sustained''. This definition alone would make it sound as if the sostenuto pedal accomplishes the same thing as the damper, or "sustaining" pedal. The sostenuto pedal was originally called the "tone-sustaining" pedal. That name would be more accurately descriptive of what the pedal accomplishes, i.e., sustainment of a single tone or group of tones. The pedal holds up only dampers that were already raised at the moment that it was depressed. So if a player: (i) holds down a note or chord, and (ii) while so doing depresses this pedal, and then (iii) lifts the fingers from that note or chord while keeping the pedal depressed, then that note or chord is not damped until the foot is lifted—despite subsequently played notes being damped normally on their release. Uses for the sostenuto pedal include playing transcriptions of organ music (where the selective sustaining of notes can substitute for the organ's held notes in its pedals), or in much
contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...
, especially
spectral music Spectral music uses the acoustic properties of sound – or sound spectra – as a basis for composition. Definition Defined in technical language, spectral music is an acoustic musical practice where compositional decisions are often informe ...
. Usually, the sostenuto pedal is played with the right foot.


Damper pedal

The ''damper pedal'', ''sustain pedal'', or ''sustaining pedal'' is to the right of the other pedals, and is used more often than the other pedals. It raises all the dampers off the strings so that they keep vibrating after the player releases the key. In effect, the damper pedal makes every string on the piano a
sympathetic string Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (excep ...
, creating a rich tonal quality. This effect may be behind the saying that the damper pedal is "...the soul of the piano." The damper pedal has the secondary function of allowing the player to connect into a ''legato'' texture notes that otherwise could not thus be played.


Other common uses for the middle pedal

It is common to find uprights and even grand pianos that lack a middle pedal. Even if a piano has a middle pedal, one cannot assume it is a true sostenuto, for there are many other functions a middle pedal can have other than that of sostenuto. Often an upright's middle pedal is another half-blow pedal, like the one on the left, except that the middle pedal slides into a groove to stay engaged. Sometimes, the middle pedal may only operate the bass dampers.Good, E. (1982). ''Giraffes, Black Dragons, and Other Pianos: A Technological History From Cristofori to the Modern Concert Grand'', Stanford: Stanford University Press, 22. The middle pedal may sometimes lower a muffler rail of felt between the hammers and the strings to mute and significantly soften the sound, so that one can practice quietly (also known as a "
Practice Rail A silent piano is an acoustic piano where there is an option to silence the strings by stopping the hammers from striking them. A silent piano is designed for private silent practice. In the silent mode, sensors pick up the piano key movement, con ...
").Crombie 1995:94. True sostenuto is rare on uprights, except for more expensive models such as those from Steinway and Bechstein. They are more common on
digital piano A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emulat ...
s as the effect is straightforward to mimic in software.


Other pedals

Among other pedals sometimes found on early pianos are the lute stop, moderator or celeste,
bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
, buff, cembalo, and swell. The
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
pedal created a
pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowed ...
-type sound.Good 1982:74. The moderator, or celeste mechanism used a layer of soft cloth or leather between hammers and strings to provide a sweet, muted quality. According to Good, "
he piece of leather or cloth was He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
graduated in thickness across its short dimension. The farther down one pushed the pedal, the farther the rail lowered and the thicker the material through which the hammer struck the strings. With the thicker material, the sound was softer and more muffled. Such a stop was sometimes called a pianissimo stop."Good 1982:110. The moderator stop was popular on Viennese pianos, and a similar mechanism is still sometimes fitted on upright pianos today in the form of the practice rail (see
Sostenuto pedal Piano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano that change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining ...
, above). Joseph Banowetz states that for the bassoon pedal, paper or silk was placed over the bass strings to create "...a buzzing noise that listeners of the day felt resembled the sound of the bassoon."Banowetz 1985:5-6. The buff stop and cembalo stops seem similar to each other in method of manipulation and sound produced. The buff ("leather") stop used "...a narrow strip of soft leather ... pressed against the strings to give a dry, soft tone of little sustaining power." The cembalo stop pressed leather weights on the strings and modified the sound to make it resemble that of the
harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
.Banowetz 1985:6
Johannes Pohlmann Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...
used a swell pedal on his pianos to raise and lower the lid of the piano to control the overall volume.Crombie 1995:18-19. Instead of raising and lowering the lid, the swell was sometimes operated by opening and closing slots in the sides of the piano case. Famous for his pianos,
Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...
was a composer and musician who founded a piano-building company, and was active in the designing of the pianos that his company built. The Clementi piano firm was later renamed Collard and Collard in 1830, two years before Clementi's death. Clementi added a feature called a harmonic swell. "
his pedal His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...
introduced a kind of reverberation effect to give the instrument a fuller, richer sound. The effect uses the sympathetic vibrations set up in the untuned non-speaking length of the strings. Here the soundboard is bigger than usual to accommodate a second bridge (the 'bridge of reverberation')."Crombie 1995:31. The Dolce Campana pedal pianoforte c. 1850, built by Boardman and Gray, New York, demonstrated yet another creative way of modifying the piano's sound. A pedal controlled a series of hammers or weights attached to the soundboard that would fall onto an equal number of screws, and created the sound of bells or the harp.Gill 1981:248. The
Fazioli Fazioli Pianoforti (), translated as Fazioli Pianos, produces grand and concert pianos from their factory in Sacile, Italy. The company was founded by engineer and pianist Paolo Fazioli in 1981. The craftsmen at Fazioli build 140 pianos a year. ...
concert grand piano model F308 includes a fourth pedal to the left of the traditional three pedals. This pedal acts similarly to the "half-blow" pedal on an upright piano, in that it collectively moves the hammers somewhat closer to the strings to reduce the volume without changing the tone quality, as the una-corda does. The F308 is the first modern concert grand to offer such a feature.


Novelty pedals

In the early years of piano development, many novelty pedals and stops were experimented with before finally settling on the three that are now used on the modern piano. Some of these pedals were meant to modify levels of volume, color, or timbre, while others were used for special effects, meant to imitate other instruments. Banowetz speaks of these novelty pedals: "At their worst, these modifications threatened to make the piano into a vulgar musical toy."


Janissary or Janizary pedals

During the late 18th century, Europeans developed a love for Turkish band music, and the Turkish music style was an outgrowth of this. According to Good, this possibly began "...when King Augustus the Strong of Poland received the gift of a Turkish military band at some time after 1710."Good 1982:111-112 "
Janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
" or "
janizary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
" refers to the Turkish military band that used instruments including drums, cymbals, and bells, among other loud, cacophonous instruments. Owing to the desire of composers and players to imitate the sounds of the Turkish military marching bands, piano builders began including pedals on their pianos by which snare and bass drums, bells, cymbals, or the triangle could be played by the touch of a pedal while simultaneously playing the keyboard.Dolge, Alfred. (1911). ''Pianos and Their Makers: A Comprehensive History of Development of the Piano'', New York: Dover Publications, 35. Up to six pedals controlled all these sound effects.
Alfred Dolge Alfred Dolge (December 22, 1848 – January 5, 1922) was a German-born industrialist, inventor, and author of two books. Originally an importer and manufacturer of piano materials he later founded his own factory, manufacturing felt products at ...
states, "The Janizary pedal, one of the best known of the early pedal devices, added all kinds of rattling noises to the normal piano performance. It could cause a drumstick to strike the underside of the soundboard, ring bells, shake a rattle, and even create the effect of a cymbal crash by hitting several bass strings with a strip of brass foil." Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, from Sonata K. 331, written in 1778, was sometimes played using these Janissary effects.Crombie 1995:26.


Development


Hand stops

The sustaining, or damper stop, was first controlled by the hand, and was included on some of the earliest pianos ever built. Stops operated by hand were inconvenient for the player, who would have to continue playing with one hand while operating the stop with the other. If this was not possible, an assistant would be used to change the stop, just as organists do even today.Good 1982:48
Johannes Zumpe Johannes (Johann Christoph) Zumpe (pronounced ''zumpy''; 14 June 1726 in Fürth, Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, modern Germany – buried 5 December 1790 in London, UK) was a leading maker of early English square pianos, a form of rectangul ...
's
square piano The square piano is a type of piano that has horizontal strings arranged diagonally across the rectangular case above the hammers and with the keyboard set in the long side, with the sounding board above a cavity in the short side. It is variously ...
, made in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1767, had two hand stops in the case, which acted as sustaining stops for the bass strings and the treble strings.


Knee levers

The knee lever to replace the hand stop for the damper control was developed in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
sometime around 1765. According to David Crombie, "virtually all the fortepianos of the last three decades of the eighteenth century were equipped with a knee lever to raise and lower the dampers ... "Crombie, D. (1995). ''Piano: A Photographic History of the World's Most Celebrated Instrument'', San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books, 19. Sometime around 1777,
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
had an opportunity to play a piano built by
Johann Andreas Stein Johann (Georg) Andreas Stein (16 May 1728 in Heidelsheim – 29 February 1792 in Augsburg) was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano. He was primarily responsible for the design of the ...
, who had been an apprentice of
Gottfried Silbermann Gottfried Silbermann (January 14, 1683 – August 4, 1753) was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two. Life Very little is know ...
. This piano had knee levers, and Mozart speaks highly of their functionality in a letter: "The machine which you move with the knee is also made better by
tein Tein may refer to: People * Amat Tein (14–15th century), minister in the Hanthawaddy Kingdom of present-day Myanmar * Min Tein, Burmese diplomat * Tanel Tein (born 1978), Estonian basketball player Other uses * Tein (company), Japanese company ...
than by others. I scarcely touch it, when off it goes; and as soon as I take my knee the least bit away, you can't hear the slightest after-sound."Bie, O. (1899). ''A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players'', London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd, 136. The only piano Mozart ever owned was one by
Anton Walter Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".Latcham (2009) Life Walter was born in Neuhaus ...
, c. 1782-1785. It had two knee levers; the one on the left raised all the dampers, while the one on the right raised only the treble dampers. A moderator stop to produce a softer sound (see Other pedals, above) was centrally above the keyboard.Williams 2002:35.


Pedals

Although there is some controversy among authorities as to which piano builder was actually the first to employ pedals rather than knee levers, one could say that pedals are a characteristic first developed by manufacturers in England.Good 1982:62. James Parakilas states that the damper stop was introduced by Gottfried Silbermann, who was the first German piano builder.Kennedy, Michael. (1980). ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 3rd ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 598. Parakilas, however, does not specify whether Silbermann's damper stop was in the form of a hand lever, knee lever, or pedal. However, many successful English piano builders had apprenticed with Silbermann in Germany, and then left for London as a result of the disturbances of the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
in Saxony. Among those who re-located to England were
Johannes Zumpe Johannes (Johann Christoph) Zumpe (pronounced ''zumpy''; 14 June 1726 in Fürth, Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, modern Germany – buried 5 December 1790 in London, UK) was a leading maker of early English square pianos, a form of rectangul ...
,
Americus Backers Americus Backers (died 1778), sometimes described as the father of the English grand pianoforte style, brought the hammer striking action for keyboard instruments from his master Gottfried Silbermann's workshop in Freiburg to England in the mid-18t ...
, and Adam Beyer.Good 1982:40-42. Americus Backers, Adam Beyer, and
John Broadwood John Broadwood (6 October 1732 – 17 July 1812) was the Scottish founder of the piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons. Life Broadwood was born 6 October 1732 and christened 15 Oct 1732 at St Helens, Cockburnspath in Berwickshire, and grew up in ...
, all piano builders in England, are credited as being among the first to incorporate the new feature. Americus Backers' 1772 grand, his only surviving instrument, has what are believed to be original pedals, and is most likely the first piano to use pedals rather than knee levers.Williams 2002:21. A square piano built by Adam Beyer of London in 1777 has a damper pedal, as do pianos built by John Broadwood, ca. 1783. After their invention, pedals did not immediately become the accepted form for piano stops. German and Viennese builders continued to use the knee levers for quite some time after the English were using pedals. Pedals and knee levers were even used together on the same instrument on a Nannette Streicher grand built in Vienna in 1814. This piano had two knee levers that were
Janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
stops for bell and drum, and four pedals for una corda, bassoon, dampers, and moderator.Good 1982:79.


Beethoven and pedals

Throughout his lifetime,
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
owned several different pianos by different makers, all with different pedal configurations. His pianos are fine examples of some experimental and innovative pedal designs of the time. In 1803, the French piano company
Erard Erard may refer to: * St. Erard or Erhard of Regensburg, bishop of Regensburg in the 7th century * Erard I, Count of Brienne (1060 - 1114) * Sébastien Érard (1752 - 1831), French instrument maker of German origin who specialised in the production ...
gave him a grand, " hought to bethe most advanced French grand piano of the time... It had... four pedals, including an una-corda, a damper lift, a lute stop, and a moderator for softening the tone."Williams 2002:36. Beethoven's Broadwood grand, presented as a gift to him from the Broadwood company in 1817, had an
una corda The soft pedal (or pedal, ) is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a Piano#Grand, grand piano this pedal shifts the whole Action (piano), action (including the keyboard) slightly to the right, s ...
pedal and a split
damper pedal A sustain pedal or sustaining pedal (also called damper pedal, loud pedal, or open pedal) is the most commonly used pedal in a modern piano. It is typically the rightmost of two or three pedals. When pressed, the sustain pedal "sustains" all ...
— one half was the damper for the treble strings, the other half for the bass strings.Crombie 1995:37-38. In an effort to give Beethoven an instrument loud enough for him to hear when his hearing was failing,
Conrad Graf Conrad Graf (17 November 1782 in Riedlingen, Further Austria – 18 March 1851 in Vienna) was an Austrian-German piano maker. His pianos were used by Beethoven, Chopin, and Robert and Clara Schumann, among others. Life and career Graf began his c ...
designed an instrument in 1824 especially for Beethoven with quadruple stringing instead of triple. Graf made only three instruments of this nature. David Crombie describes this instrument: "By adding an extra string, Graf attempted to obtain a tone that was richer and more powerful, though it didn't make the instrument any louder than his Broadwood."Crombie 1995:36. This extra string would have provided a bigger contrast when applying keyboard-shifting stops, because this keyboard shift pedal moved the action from four to two strings. Crombie states: "These provide a much wider control over the character of the sound than is possible on Graf's usual instruments." This piano included five pedals: a keyboard shift (quad to due corde); bassoon; moderator 1; moderator 2; and dampers. A different four-string system,
aliquot stringing Aliquot stringing is the use of extra, un-struck strings in the piano for the purpose of enriching the tone. Aliquot systems use an additional (hence fourth) string in each note of the top three piano octaves. This string is positioned slightly abov ...
, was invented by
Julius Blüthner Julius Ferdinand Blüthner (11 March 1824 - 13 April 1910) was a German piano maker and founder of the Blüthner piano factory. Biography Blüthner was born in Falkenhain (now Meuselwitz), Thuringia. In 1853 he founded a piano-manufacturing ...
in 1873 and remains a feature of Blüthner pianos. The Blüthner aliquot system uses an additional (fourth) string in each note of the upper three octaves. This string is slightly higher than the other three strings so that it is not struck by the hammer. When the hammer strikes the three conventional strings, the aliquot string vibrates sympathetically. As a composer and pianist, Beethoven experimented extensively with pedal. His first marking to indicate use of a pedal in a score was in his first two piano concertos, in 1795. Earlier than this, Beethoven had called for the use of the knee lever in a sketch from 1790–92; "with the knee" is marked for a series of chords. According to Joseph Banowetz, "This is the earliest-known indication for a damper control in a score."Banowetz 1985:144.
Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
did not specify its use in a score until 1794. In all, there are nearly 800 indications for pedal in authentic sources of Beethoven's compositions, making him by far the first composer to be highly prolific in pedal usage.Banowetz 1985:143-144.


Pedal piano

Along with the development of the pedals on the piano came the phenomenon of the
pedal piano The pedal piano (or piano-pédalier or pédalier,) is a kind of piano that includes a pedalboard, enabling bass register notes to be played with the feet, as is standard on the organ. There are two broad types of pedal pianos: either the pedal ...
, a piano with a pedalboard. Some of the early pedal pianos date back to 1815.Banowetz 1985:4. The pedal piano developed partially for organists to be able to practice pedal keyboard parts away from the
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
. In some instances, the pedal piano was actually a special type of piano with a built-in pedal board and a higher keyboard and bench, like an organ. Other times, an independent pedal board and set of strings could be connected to a regular grand piano. Mozart had a pedalboard made for his piano. His father, Leopold, speaks of this pedalboard in a letter: "
he pedal He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
stands under the instrument and is about two feet longer and extremely heavy". Alfred Dolge writes of the pedal mechanisms that his uncle,
Louis Schone Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...
, constructed for both
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
and
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
in 1843.Dolge 1911:191. Schumann preferred the pedal board to be connected to the
upright piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, while Mendelssohn had a pedal mechanism connected to his grand piano. Dolge describes Mendelssohn's pedal mechanism: "The keyboard for pedaling was placed under the keyboard for manual playing, had 29 notes and was connected with an action placed at the back of the piano where a special soundboard, covered with 29 strings, was built into the case".Dolge 1911:191. In addition to using his pedal piano for organ practice, Schumann composed several pieces specifically for the pedal piano. Among these compositions are
Six Studies Op. 56 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid Peop ...
, Four Sketches Op. 58, and
Six Fugues on Bach Op. 60 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...
.Williams 2002:40. Other composers who used pedal pianos were
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
,
Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
,
Alkan Alkan may refer to: Places Iran * Alkan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad * Alkan, Qom Turkey * Alkan, Gülşehir, in Gülşehir, Gülşehir district Given name * Alkan Chaglar (born 1981), Turkish Cypriot journalist and columnist Surname * Ahmet Alk ...
and
Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
.Banowetz 1985:3-4. The piano, and specifically the pedal mechanism and stops underwent much experimentation during the formative years of the instrument, before finally arriving at the current pedal configuration. Banowetz states, "These and a good number of other novelty pedal mechanisms eventually faded from existence as the piano grew to maturity in the latter part of the nineteenth century, finally leaving as survivors of this tortuous evolution only today's basic three pedals".


Location

The location of pedals on the piano was another aspect of pedal development that fluctuated greatly during the evolution of the instrument. Piano builders were quite creative with their pedal placement on pianos, which sometimes gave the instruments a comical look, compared to what is usually seen today. The oldest surviving English grand, built by Backers in 1772, and many Broadwood grands had two pedals, una corda and damper, which were attached to the legs on the left and right of the keyboard. James Parakilas describes this pedal location as giving the piano a "pigeon-toed look", for they turned in slightly. A table piano built by
Jean-Henri Pape Jean-Henri Pape, born as Johann Heinrich Pape and also known as Henry Pape (1 July 1789 – 2 February 1875), was a distinguished French maker of pianos and harps in the early 19th century. Pape was born in Sarstedt, Germany, in 1789. He arri ...
in the mid-19th century had pedals on the two front legs of the piano, but unlike those on the Backers and Broadwood, these pedals faced straight in towards each other rather than out. A particularly unusual design is demonstrated in the "Dog Kennel" piano. It was built by Sebastien Mercer in 1831, and was nicknamed the "Dog Kennel" piano because of its shape.Crombie 1995:42. Under the upright piano where the modern pedals would be located is a semi-circular hollow space where the feet of the player could rest. The una corda and damper pedals are at the left and right of this space, and face straight in, like the table piano pedals. Eventually during the 19th century, pedals were attached to a frame located centrally underneath the piano, to strengthen and stabilize the mechanism. According to Parakilas, this framework on the grand piano "often took the symbolic shape and name of a lyre", and it still carries the name "pedal lyre" today.


Development in pedal configuration

Although the piano and its pedal configuration has been in its current form since the late 19th century, there was a development in 1987. The
Fazioli Fazioli Pianoforti (), translated as Fazioli Pianos, produces grand and concert pianos from their factory in Sacile, Italy. The company was founded by engineer and pianist Paolo Fazioli in 1981. The craftsmen at Fazioli build 140 pianos a year. ...
piano company in Sacile, Italy, designed the longest grand piano produced up to now (). This piano includes four pedals: damper; sostenuto; una corda; and half-blow.


Electronic keyboards

In the 21st century,
electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...
s and
stage piano A stage piano is an electronic musical instrument designed for use in live performances on stage or in a studio, as well as for music recording in jazz and popular music. While stage pianos share some of the same features as digital pianos des ...
s typically have a jack for an external pedal, while
digital piano A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emulat ...
s have them built in. The pedal itself is usually a simple switch, although more sophisticated pedals can detect and transmit a signal for half-pedaling. More sophisticated and expensive electronic keyboards and
sound module A sound module is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a piano-style musical keyboard. Sound modules have to be operated using an externally connected device, which is often a MIDI controller, of which the ...
s may have
Musical Instrument Digital Interface MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
(MIDI) support for a range of user-selected articulations, and the keyboard itself may have an assignable jack or multiple jacks. Standard MIDI continuous controller (CC) messages that users can select for pedals include: CC 64 (sustain pedal, the most commonly-used option); CC 65 (
portamento In music, portamento (plural: ''portamenti'', from old it, portamento, meaning "carriage" or "carrying") is a pitch sliding from one note to another. The term originated from the Italian expression "''portamento della voce''" ("carriage of the v ...
); CC 66 (sostenuto pedal); CC 67 (soft pedal); CC 68 (legato pedal); and CC 69 ("hold 2 pedal"). Some digital pianos have three pedals, like a grand piano.


References

{{Authority control Piano Pedals