Teach kids to use the pedal

[Hailey]

Hi, I'm new to this piano forum. I was wondering how kids should be taught to use the damper pedal when their legs are not long enough to reach the bottom. Often my students have to tip toe and use their toes to press the pedal, and thus they would sit at the edge of the bench. How should I solve this problem?

[ludwig]

There are certain pedal extentions which is basically a little square box that has pedals on it and a pusher extended to the real pedals so younger and smaller children could use it. Be careful though, kids likes to go overboard with the pedal, this often leads to muddled playing later on, I've had to fix the sustained unclear pedaling and it is hard work  

[rrweber]

I, too, have had to cope with your problem numerous times.  As Ludwig mentioned, pedal extensions can be useful.  But, for the most part, I now avoid giving students pieces that require a great use of pedal if they are too short to play without disrupting their proper posture, etc.  In my opinion, there is sooooo much quality repertoire out there that the kids would not be at a loss to avoid a great use of pedal until they are old enough to reach the pedals (usually by 7yrs of age).  In this manner, a strong foundation in clean playing and proper body alignment can be established before the pedal is added and "blurs."   In addition, a firm foundation of playing without pedal helps to train their ears to listen for clean, articulate playing.  If the student gets too used to the resonance provided by the pedal, many bad habits may develop down the road.

[pianoannie]

Hmmm....you must have bigger students than I do!  I've never had a 7 year old tall enough to reach the pedal, in fact, right now, I'm dealing with some 10 year olds whose piano-posture definitely suffers if they try to reach the pedal.  These are kids who have been taking lessons for 3-4 years, and I find it's hard to stall on using the pedal that long.  The method books definitely incorporate pedal by the 3rd or 4th level.  I guess I need to check into those pedal extensions someone mentioned, although it sounds awkward to me.

[ludwig]

   Actually there is nothing wrong with pedal extentions, my ONLY concern is with my students, I don't want to have to fix the problem of unclean and muddled sounds later on in their piano learning, it'll be a difficult thing to fix. If you have taught your students well how to control sound with the pedal, where to use it, and how much to touch on, then there should be no problem, if they can't cope with correct pedal using for now, because they are too young or having trouble to think of too many different things at a time, then its probably best to leave it for the time being, concerntrate on articulation like rrweber said. The biggest mistake young students could encounter is that they think the pedal's used in aid with their legato, or to "cover" any bad playing or articulation. There's certainly not a problem with pedal extentions, if its used well.

[princess]

even though i don't have the same problem, i'm having problems trying to explain to my students how to pedal properly.  i demonstrated  by playing for them, then i instructed when to step down on the pedal while i counted out loud...(the pedal is a basic "pedal on the first beat of every bar" and there are half-note chords which also need to be cleared).  then i got my student to try it and she couldn't get it because she'd let go of the pedal to early and there'd be a gap between the chords and the notes....then i tried by stepping on her foot on top of the pedal and then have her foot on top of my....i even tried having her hands on top of mine and my foot under hers....she still can't get it.  maybe  my hopes are just too high and i expect too much but how long does it take to use the pedal properly? please also explain how i can teach using the pedal correctly.