Pedaling Technique

[iamazombie911]

So I was watching this video recently where Yvonne Lefébure is teaching Jeux d'eau...

=10m53s

She says to raise the pedal from the heel, because that's the only way the base notes can linger while clearing up the higher notes. I've never heard about that technique before, does anyone here have experience with using it with Ravel's music? Can the same thing not be achieved by just adjusting my normal pedaling a little bit?

[keypeg]

She talks about a vibrato, and also about not totally releasing the pedal for shadings.  This I've heard of and been taught elements of.  But when she talks of doing this by raising and lowering the heel from the floor, that makes me uncomfortable physically thinking about it.  I'm also noting that she is wearing heels, so the angle of her foot and the movements at the joints are going to be different right off the bat.  In fact, if she is in the habit of wearing heels, she may have shortened tendons that force her to use that approach.

There are two things here.  One is the technique itself - how much the pedal is depressed and released.  The other is what you do with your own anatomy to produce it.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

What you could do is use the middle pedal.  However there's a lot of mixed opinions about using it if the composer didn't specifically request it in the score.

Additionally pedal shading is something you have to experiment with yourself. 

But as far as releasing the pedal goes lifting from the heel feels weird IMO

[iamazombie911]

I get the pedal shading aspect, that's nothing new to me. Is what she's talking about with the vibrato comparable to fluttering the pedal, or is it something else? I tried raising my heel using my thigh and found that I can flutter the pedal a lot faster and more comfortably while maintaining it throughout the whole piece (not that I'd practically do that) by keeping my ankle quite relaxed.

Also for the base note lingering, I would guess that it depends on the piano, right? Or is that pretty consistent across different grand pianos? I gotta find a few pianos to try this on...

[louispodesta]

In his "Memoirs," the late Earl Wild (who had enormous hands and feet) spoke extensively about this particular nuance in his "Memoir."

He goes into intricate detail about special shoes, et cetera, which I have absolutely interest in. 

Therefore, my suggestion is to please obtain a copy of his book (I have no financial interest) from anyone you can.  Usually, I have a recommendation, but not this time.

[iamazombie911]

Jesus, 215 dollars on amazon... That's definitely fascinating to hear though, thank you.