When to use the sustain pedal ?

[louiss97]

Hello everyone, I’ve been playing the piano on and off for a couple of years. Never really felt reading sheets was for me so I learn by sound and synthesia. My question is when do I lift the pedal? I usually tend to keep it down which can make some pieces sound really mushy. I dunno what chords are and don’t feel like spending much time on it (no offense to some people) I just want to know if there is a fast way to pick up on when to lift the sustain pedal, thank you all in advance!

[samwitdangol]

Every time the harmony changes (the bottom notes change) you should change the pedal. Typically you change the pedal every measure, but every piece is different. If it starts sounding blurry, you should change it.

Some pieces will have pedal markings that show when to lift up the medal. You can search up what these look like.


*By "change the pedal," I mean to lift it up and put it back down.

[dogperson]

Since you don’t know what chords are, I doubt you will know ‘harmony’ either.
Change the pedal when it sounds more mushy than you like.

[quantum]

Basically use you ears.  There is a feedback loop between your ears and foot, and you are constantly evaluating if it sounds too "mushy" or not.  If it is too mushy change, if you like the resonance keep the pedal down.

An oversimplified explanation is: chords are groups of notes.