UNA CORDA

[maximuss]

What does 'una corda' mean?

[avetma]

That is pedal marking. But not that sostenuto (right) pedal but left (for more softer and more quiet sound).

[leahcim]

What does 'una corda' mean?

Literally "one string" because of the way the soft pedal works in grand pianos to make it hit two strings hence "one string" ... err yeah, it makes more sense if you look at how the pedal used to work on older pianos

On uprights, the pedal just moves the hammers closer to the strings to get a softer sound, I believe.

[Torp]

How does everyone deal with the timbre change when using the una corda?  When I use the pedal on my grand I not only get a volume decrease but also get a dramatic change in the timbre of the sound, i.e. it's "rounder, warmer, fatter" sounding than without the pedal.  Sometimes this change is great, other times it's not.

Thoughts?

[abell88]

I was taught to save it for special occasions -- I'm serious; don't use it just because you want to play softer, but because you want to create a special effect.

[Jacey1973]

Literally "one string" because of the way the soft pedal works in grand pianos to make it hit two strings hence "one string" ... err yeah, it makes more sense if you look at how the pedal used to work on older pianos

On uprights, the pedal just moves the hammers closer to the strings to get a softer sound, I believe.

Am i right in thinking "una corda" used to refer to older pianos (not the modern grand as we know it)  because then it only had 2 strings (or was it 3??) per note - and when the una corda pedal was pressed the hammers moved across (to the left?) and only struck one string per key hence "una corda" (- 1 string as leahcim said).

I can't remember exactly the history of it - but i remember giving a presentation on Beethoven's Moonlight sonata in my performnce practise class at uni (my section in the presentation was on the pianos f Beethoven's time).

Can anyone explain it better than me? Lol! - Bernhard?!

[sonatainfsharp]

Una Corde should NEVER be used as a VOLUME change, but as a TIMBRE change.

Hence "una corde" during Forte passages, etc.

Yes, you do see "una corde" often in tamdem with Pianissimo passages because the composer wanted both a softer tone and timbre change.

The #1 mistake in using the pedals is using the u.c. as a crutch to play softer.

Also, keep in mind WHO the composer is... Debussy, for example, used "con sordino" to mean u.c., where as we would typically think of "con sord" as "don't use the damper pedal."

[contrapunctus]

In one of Beethoven's sonatas, I can't remember which, it says to go gradually from one string to two strings to three strings with the una corda pedal. Is this possible?

[arensky]

I was taught to save it for special occasions -- I'm serious; don't use it just because you want to play softer, but because you want to create a special effect.

true

[Kassaa]

What does sostenuto mean? I always thought that and Una Corda meant you have to use the left pedal.

[bernhard]

What does sostenuto mean? I always thought that and Una Corda meant you have to use the left pedal.

The pedals in a grand have different functions from the pedals in an upright (except for the righ pedal which is the same in both). The "sostenuto" pedal exists only in a grand (or in digitals that emulate it) and it is the middle pedal (some grands do not have it, eg. Bechstein).

Full details can be found here:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2209.msg18698.html#msg18698
(the pedals)



Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[quantum]

I tend to use the Una Corda quite a bit because I find it greately widends the tonal pallette of the piano and the sounds I can produce. 

[sonatainfsharp]

In one of Beethoven's sonatas, I can't remember which, it says to go gradually from one string to two strings to three strings with the una corda pedal. Is this possible?

Yes, gradually lifting up on the u.c. pedal will have this affect.

As far as the sost. ped, only American-made pianos had them for the longest time (Ravel was marveled by them when he visited), but I am not sure if this is still true or not.

[Kassaa]

The pedals in a grand have different functions from the pedals in an upright (except for the righ pedal which is the same in both). The "sostenuto" pedal exists only in a grand (or in digitals that emulate it) and it is the middle pedal (some grands do not have it, eg. Bechstein).

Full details can be found here:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2209.msg18698.html#msg18698
(the pedals)



Best wishes,
Bernhard.

TY very much!

Now, par example, can you please explain how to use the middle pedal in the arpeggio part on the sixth page of Chopin's third ballade?

[sonatainfsharp]

I don't have any indication for sost. ped in any of the Ballades, probably because Chopin's piano wouldn't have had a sost. ped in the first place!

What edition are you using (probably edited) and which measures are you talking about, as my page 6 is probably far different from yours.


WAIT!!! On the bottom of page 7 of my score (see how hard it is without giving meauser numbers), the WORD "sostenuto" doesn't mean to use the sost. ped, it means to PLAY with a sostenuto articulation-- "sustained tone." Some people also slow down here a teeny tiny bit to make the tempo feel more sustained, as well.

[wzkit]

I tend to use the Una Corda quite a bit because I find it greately widends the tonal pallette of the piano and the sounds I can produce. 

Agree. I tend to do the same too. Especially like the sound of a una corda on a bright and thin sounding piano, as it tends to fatten and "warm" up the sound. I sometimes do this even when playing loud. The effect is somewhat like putting a lampshade over a very bright bulb - the una corda being the lamp shade.

In general, I do observe that this "lampshade" effect tends to be much more obvious on high quality German grands, rather than some Japanese grands that I have played. In some Japanese pianos I have tried (e.g. Shigeru SK-3), una corda doesn't change the colour much, but merely softens the tone i.e. volume, rather than timbre change

[gaer]

The #1 mistake in using the pedals is using the u.c. as a crutch to play softer.

But this is also used as an excuse to avoid exploring what it can do. Students tend to avoid it completely or use it as a crutch, thinking it is only about dynamics.

Also, keep in mind WHO the composer is... Debussy, for example, used "con sordino" to mean u.c., where as we would typically think of "con sord" as "don't use the damper pedal."

Which brings up this:

"Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimo e senza sordino"

How do you interpret this in Beethoven's Op. 27, No. 2, first movement?

Gary

[bernhard]

"Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimo e senza sordino"

How do you interpret this in Beethoven's Op. 27, No. 2, first movement?

Gary

I believe this has been discussed before, but I cannot find the thread.

"senza sordino" is a direction to use the right pedal throughout ("without dampers"), that is, the strings should be allowed to vibrate freely (and in resonance) throughout the whole movement.

However the  consensus is that however appropriate this might have been in a piano in Beethoven's time (with a much faster decay), in a modern piano this would result in a hopelessly mush sound, so the direction on a modern piano is to release the pedal briefly on the harmonic changes.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[gaer]

I believe this has been discussed before, but I cannot find the thread.

"senza sordino" is a direction to use the right pedal throughout ("without dampers"), that is, the strings should be allowed to vibrate freely (and in resonance) throughout the whole movement.

However the  consensus is that however appropriate this might have been in a piano in Beethoven's time (with a much faster decay), in a modern piano this would result in a hopelessly mush sound, so the direction on a modern piano is to release the pedal briefly on the harmonic changes.

That's an interesting interpretation. However, I don't think the decay was so different as to make playing the entire movement without changing the pedal at all possible, even in Beethoven's time on instruments of the period, though of course we can't know for sure.

To me a more likely explanation is that using a great deal of pedal (keeping it depressed at all times except for "changes") was highly unusual and that Beethoven was emphasizing a general point, fearing that other people would play more in a "Mozart" style, much too dry. After all, he was highly critical of Mozart's playing, which he thought was old-fashioned and unsuited to the "newer instrument". I remember reading of a specific comment he made about this, and anyone approaching the pianoforte with a harpsichord mindset would have murdered his work.

We forget today how totally revolutionary Beethoven's way of playing was.

Gary