​ Notes from The Music Hub May 11, 2026

The Purpose of the Pedal

Did you know that most acoustic pianos have three pedals, not just one?

The most common pedal is the sustain pedal, also called the damper pedal, all the way to the right. When the pedal is pressed, the dampers inside the piano that mute the strings are all lifted, which means that the sound can continue even when the key is released.

The middle pedal is the sostenuto pedal which is used to sustain certain notes. Depending on the piano, sometimes only bass notes are sustained. In other pianos, only the 1st note or group of simultaneously played notes are sustained.

The pedal all the way to the left is the soft pedal or una corda pedal. On a grand piano, pressing the pedal shifts the hammers so they are only hitting one string at a time instead of three in the middle of the piano. On an upright piano, the hammers are moved closer to the strings which reduces the velocity with which they hit the strings. Both have an effect of "softening" the piano, but the quality of sound is different.

Almost all digital pianos and keyboards will have just one pedal, the sustain pedal, although some will have the option of adding a mechanism with three pedals. As with all digital sounds, the effect of the pedal is only mimicking what can be done with an acoustic piano. The sustain in a digital piano does not include all the peripheral overtones and acoustical depth that is in a real piano.

Since the sustain pedal is the most commonly used pedal, that's the one I'm going to talk about today. The other two pedals are mostly used for more advanced music.

(As a side note, in my opinion, the soft pedal should not be used just to "soften" the piano. I believe it should be used only when a piece of music is calling for an "una corda" section. When practicing, using the soft pedal all the time could create problems connecting playing technique with dynamics. If you need to reduce sound in the room or avoid bothering your neighbors, there are better ways to fix the problem.)

But, back to the sustain pedal.

Why is it used?

There are two main reasons for using the pedal.

One is to connect the sounds. Sometimes there are big jumps between notes or repeated notes, and you want the sound to be connected in a spot where it is physically impossible to play legato. The pedal can be used to connect the notes.

The second reason is for effect, blending the notes.

It's important to understand what is happening in the music to know if, when and how you should use the pedal.

The pedal is not meant to be used in every piece of music. It is not a necessary component of piano playing.

Learning to use the pedal takes judicious listening. You need to know what to listen for, so you don't fall into these two mistakes:

1. Lifting the pedal too soon.
2. Holding the pedal too long.

I cover basic pedaling techniques in Lesson 24 of The Piano Accelerator Program, Level 2, which every member of The Music Hub has access to. In this lesson, I also give examples of some of the effects using the pedal can produce, and what to listen for so you know when you need to release the pedal and start it fresh.

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Happy Music Making!

Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator

Founder of The Music Hub