Pedals On Piano

[pianoplayer1001]

I am just wondering, but why are there three pedals on the piano? I mean like I use one of them.. But what are the other two for???

[ionian_tinnear]

The left one is the 'soft' pedal.  It either moves the action so fewer strings are hit by the hammers (on grands) or pushed the hammers closer to the string (on uprights) thereby reducing the piano's volume.

The center pedal varies on different pianos. 

On some grands, it is the Sustuneto pedal, which works like the right, sustain pedal, but only sustains the keys being held down when the sustenuto pedal is pressed.

Some pianos, grands and uprights, the center is just like the right pedal except it only sustains the bass section of the piano.  A cheaper version of the true sostenuto pedal.

Some modern uprights use the middle pedal as a super-soft pedal.  The pedal lowers a strip felt between the hammers and the strings, making the piano very soft indeed.

[faa2010]

My teacher's upright piano has this system:

Left - Stacatto
Middle - Lows an octave
Right - Sostenuto (makes longer the reverberations)

If Left and Middle Pedal are both pressed at the same time, the sound becomes softer.

In all the pianos I have played, the right pedal has been the sostenuto, while the left pedal is either to soft the sound of the keys or the stacatto.

[pianoplayer1001]

Okay thank you faa2010 and ionian_tinnear(:! Thank you soo much. I always play with the right one because I play classical pieces.. Thank you!!

[werq34ac]

Okay thank you faa2010 and ionian_tinnear(:! Thank you soo much. I always play with the right one because I play classical pieces.. Thank you!!

WOAH you should use the left pedal too! When you need that extra softness that's what the left pedal is for (a very simplified explanation for the use of the soft pedal)