Justify the use of Una Corda

[thaicheow]

Hi,
I wonder how could I justify the use of Una Corda, the left most pedal?

Is it ok if I ask my grade 3 student to use it?? Any guideline for justifying the use of this pedal??

Thank you.

[pianistimo]

maybe in places like beethoven sonatas.  to be able to depress the pedal to add to the existing soft touch that the student has practiced? 

i tend to think that students sometimes use it for EVERY composer.  but, bach?  do you really need soft pedal for bach?  i would attempt to cull out a couple of composers and say - 'really try to play the dynamics with your fingers - and legato and staccato for that matter - so that you can feel them by touch as well as by using the pedal.'

bach is so helpful.  but then again, so is debussy and ravel.  two other composers, who obviously like 'flutter' pedal and various variations on using both the una chorda and the damper together to create beautiful 'rainbow' colors of sound.  even in places in beethoven you have a lot of use of the damper/una chorda to create a 'blended' sound within a dynamic. 

perhaps an important element of pedalling is not always putting the pedal down at the exact moment the note is played.  a slight delay sometimes.  just 'catching' the sound and not necessarily making the action of the piano 'faster.'  there are some good books on pedalling around. i have one entitle 'pedalling the modern pianoforte' by york bowen.  it has some very helpful tips.  being able to 'read' the type of pedalling one needs and not rely entirely on a publisher!

[chocolatedog]

A pianist should be able to achieve pp with fingers alone. Una corda should be used more for special effects (especially on a grand piano where the una corda pedal works differently to an upright piano.) It gives a much more ethereal sound so should be used for tone contrast rather than thinking of it purely in terms of a dynamic pedal. On an upright it merely reduces the sound, but on a grand it changes the sound.

[pianistimo]

good points.  yes. on the upright - the hammers come closer to the keys.  on a grand - the entire action shifts over slightly so that only two strings are played (instead of 3).  for this to take place - one has to put the pedal down before the note is played.  thanks for the input.  and, i'm curious to know more from chocolatedog about the effects that he uses the pedal for.

sometimes you hear the changed tone and it 'fits' - othertimes it draws attention to itself.  why is this so?  must you really try to integrate this effect?  perhaps i am overusing the damper/una corda combination in my playing.  i tend to like the 'ringing sustain' effect of the damper/unacorda - and don't like the dry sound of the una corda alone on my upright.  but, on a grand piano - it sustains more by itself, right?

*for using both pedals together you'd need a bit of left foot down first - then right foot on damper - moderating sound as needed.  but, perhaps less of this on a grand.  i'm in a habit of doing this with my upright all the time.

[rc]

I've always understood it the same as chocolatedog, but I'm not used to using it at all... I noticed my upright una corda only brings the hammers a little closer to the strings, seems like a lame crutch for poor finger control, doesn't change the tone -> I never use it.

But I like the difference of the una corda on my teachers baby grand.  His thought is "it's there so go ahead and use it", which is justification enough for me.

Still, I haven't had much opprotunity to play around with it.

My thought is it would work well as a textural change for contrasting sections.  I'm thinking orchestrally here, for example I hear Haydn symphonies where they'll often play the trio with less of the orchestra than the minuet, some sections seem to be reduced to a string quartet...  The piano equivalent would be to use the una corda.

[cygnusdei]

A pianist should be able to achieve pp with fingers alone.

This means a pianist should play on a good instrument!

[stevehopwood]

A pianist should be able to achieve pp with fingers alone. sound.

This means a pianist should play on a good instrument!

It helps, but chocolatedog is a fabulous player who could probably produce a top-class pp on an American Western movie of the 1950's piano. As chocolatedog points out, the una corda pedal has a use far beyond that of merely playing softly. Anybody unable to use their fingers to first achieve this is unlikely to benefit from its use.

Steve 

[quantum]

I'm a big user of the una corda pedal.  I think that any use of it to produce tonal variance, or to help achieve a particular sound within the musical context is justified. 

As most agree the una corda should not be used to compensate for lack of finger control.  What I have found is that increased finger control over tone also equates to increased skill when the una corda is employed. 

The piano wasn't around in the time of Bach so IMO if one really wants to argue against historical accuracy one should play on a historical instrument.  Bach was a keyboard virtuoso, and certainly made use of technological advances at the time (composing the WTC in a time where other tuning systems were more in vogue as one example).  Bach's organ works certainly do take into account the vast tonal capabilities of the instrument.  We must also remember that both the organ and harpsichord have means of registration and selecting various stops, the piano does not.  Using the una corda in such Baroque music could be thought of as pulling a different stop to create a contrasting color. 

[thaicheow]

First of all, thanks for all the reply.

Just a few more questions:

Can a ppp justify the use of una corda?

I attend some masterclasses, and shock to find out that the students (mostly from local conservertoir), use a lot of damper and una corda pedal, even pieces from Bach, Hadyn! Not to mention romantic peices (even more).  But neither the presenters/teachers say anything against them. One use a lot of damper plus una corda pedal in a Hadyn sonata, and I have to admit that he produced some of the most beautiful sound I had heard in that session.

Can I say, using una corda is to create different mood, feel, touch, and color (By the way, what exactly is the mood, feel, touch, and color that justify the use of una corda?). By using Una Corda, I am thinking that the sound may be produced from a different dimension/angle, rather from the same piano. Is it right to think so?

I am doing Mozart Sonata in a minor. Wonder is it justify to use una corda in certain sections, like measure 62-65 in 1st movement, and some in 2nd movement?

Will students be penalised if they use it during the exam? Even as low as grade 3?

Thanks, will really appreciate your answer.

[jericho]

Use of Una Corda for Baroque music? Watch Michelangeli playing the Scarlatti Sonata K.27 L.449 where he seems to use the una corda pedal all the time.

[counterpoint]

I never use the una corda pedal 

[gyzzzmo]

I dont like using the left pedal. A pianist should be able to play pp/ppp without it and that is something you have to learn (to my opinion). The only times i use the 'una corda' pedal is when i play composers like Rachmaninov who use 'pppp'. To my opinion its the only place to justify an una corda pedal.

Gyzzzmo

[pianowolfi]

I think the use of the left pedal does not have to be justified at all. It's a matter of being able to differ between two  things: 1. most people seem to think the left pedal is just a piano pedal. This is in a certain sense right when it relates to an upright. On a grand it is something completely different. And it needs to be used for many different purposes when you play on a grand. Even sometimes it can be used while playing forte. It is not the first time that I am outing myself as a fan of the Una corda. 2. And even on uprights it often makes sense because some uprights just haven't got a well responding action that allows to play pianissimo.