Soft (una corda) pedal?

[andrea7]

Hi! How oft do you use soft pedal and do you think its important? I don´t like the ,soft, sound when I use it, I play mostly without it, just when my teacher wants... but at home I never use it...

[pianowolfi]

This pedal has a different function on grand pianos than on uprights. On grands it's a different colour of sound, actually a different world, mysterious, subtle. On uprights it's just a bit softer and that's it, I guess you have an upright so you can't hear the real effect of "una corda" ("one string") Of course it's two on the modern grand, except for the bass strings.

[birba]

I find I over use it, unfortunately.  I really have to watch it.