Holding key and pedal?

[samijam]

Hi Everyone. I am wondering about this. Perhaps its a silly question but I am somewhat new to piano and am hoping someone with experiance can answer.

Is there any reason to hold a note if you have a pedal down also? For example, in the moonlight sonata, there are some half notes starting on bar 6. It makes the fingering more difficult because there are shorter notes to play with the same hand too.

What do you do here: hold the half note key down for all beats w/ pedal, let the pedal take care holding it and let go to play other notes, or doesn't really matter?

Thanks!

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Generally speaking, you want to be able to play as much of the notes and their full value without the pedal at first. Some notes of course will need to be held with the damper pedal and the pedal will be used for other aspects of playing as well, depending on the piece. If it is possible to play the notes without the pedal than first learn it that way, adding the pedal later. To answer your question, no you don't need to hold down the notes, however the pedal will hold down all other notes for more than their value. The notes need to be clear first. Add the pedal when you are sure that you can play without it, otherwise the sound may become to unclear. That is of course a part of other music such as Debussy, Chopin, and others, but in this sonata you want to be clear. I would also like to add that it is much easier to play with the pedal. When the piece is really mastered without it, it will sound much better with pedal, then a not mastered piece with pedal, even if it means more time on the piece. Hope this helps.

[samijam]

Yes this does help me. I may be putting pedal in too early. Thanks for the response!

[debussy symbolism]

No problem.