Clearing Up Confused Pedaling

by James Francis Cooke

There is no need for great confusion, however, over the matter of the pedals. There is great need for pedal drill. The student who thinks that he can get off without this is making a great mistake. He will need quite as much foot drill as he will need finger drill, if he expects to be a great artist. The pedal is the color palette of the piano. Mark Hambourg some years ago gave his opinions on the pedal in the following very succinct manner:

  1. Pedal no two harmonies with the same pedal continued.
  2. Pedal no two phrases with the same pedal continued.
  3. Pedal long melodic notes in phrases, but do not introduce the pedal in the middle of a phrase or at the end, unless you can give a good artistic reason for so doing.
  4. Pedal with judgment when approaching the climax of a piece.
  5. Pedal by pressing down the foot after a long melodic note has been struck. This often avoids the blur caused by putting down the pedal and the note at the same time.

Of course, all the foregoing remarks refer to the damper pedal or, as it is sometimes called, the "loud pedal."