Confused about sustain/damper pedal in new age/modern music

[toushi]

Hi brothers and sisters! I'm a beginner and I have a problem!  

I like to play new age/modern music and I recently started to use the damper pedal but I’m very confused about how often should I use it. I don’t have problems about how to use it or when to use it, I understand and apply without troubles the syncopation pedalling,  rhythmic pedalling, pedalling when chords are played…My problem is how often should I use it when the use of the pedal is left to the pianist discretion!

I’ve read in some websites that you should pedal one time per bar, but (for example) in this melody the dude starts using the pedal twice per bar and one time per bar at the end…That kind of “irregular” pedalling confuses me so much! I’ve read that you have to adjust the pedal to what you are listening but sometimes the fact that in most modern music the use of the pedal is left to the pianist discretion totally kills me because I just don’t know if what I’m playing sounds better with one pedalling per bar or with two!   With one sounds a little dirty and with two sounds more plain/less bright, and I listen and listen and listen and I can’t decide…Advice and recommendations about this will be very appreciated!

PD: Excuse bad english! I’m not a native english speaker  

[ajspiano]

Consider what is of importance interpretively, by that I mean decide what you most want a listener to focus on (or be naturally draw to observering). This is usually going to be the melody, but it may also sometimes be elements of the accompaniment, particular rhythms etc.

Use the pedal in such a way as to enhance that - allow the added resonation to be present most clearly on what is important for the listener, and be sure also to not obscure it or cloud it by allowing the pedal to leave overtones that get in the way.

This may mean you pedal once twice or 8 times in a bar (or some other number) - every situation is unique.

[hfmadopter]

Basically what is being said by AJ ( not to put words in his mouth) is let your ear be your guide.

I agree and will add that in New Age often several bars get pedal ( you just hold it down), there may even be a notation to hold the pedal to the end and the end may be four lines away yet. When I play that and if there are seriously clashing chords ( your ear will pick it out) then I let off the pedal and re-apply. Notation in New Age isn't as strict as in Classical music, I think you should feel free to compromise what's written to a fair degree in New Age.. I play a fair amount of both ( classical and new age), they make a nice compliment to one another. In classical it may be more critical as to amount of pedal applied as well ( how deep you push in to the damper pedal), where in New Age it's generally a heavy push on the pedal. New age likes the overtones as long as there is reasonable harmony. It's part of that genre of music it seems. I liken it to holographic viewing or perhaps etherial realism  .

If you are playing on a digital piano you can really lay into the pedal on those. An acoustic is different there, you might want to back off a bit and  be more aware of the breaks. An acoustic piano can get pretty noisy with overtones much faster than digital it seems.

New Age is fun to play though, it's like going on vacation in the summertime compared with a long winters work. Some pieces have a nice quality sound to them others do not, so I pick carefully !