Pedals and their effective use

[guitarwolf]

I read in another post somewhere this should be highly watched so it does not become a bad habit. My question is when to use the pedal. Pieces like Chopin Nocturne in E minor op 72 no. 1 actually have a pedal mark on them. Do really experienced players not even use the pedal and get the legato anway? If they do I dont see how, or are you just supposed to use the pedal with pieces like this? Its really frustrating me cause some pieces out there I have tried I need to use the pedal for it to sound nice such as the one mentioned. Anyone have any thoughts on this? BTW I am talking about the peal that gives the nots a sustained sound, I dont know what the other pedals are used for. That would be nice if someone could explain the other 2 for me. Thnx.

[roman]

I'll explain the other for you.


The pedal on the left is brakes, the peddle in the middle is the shift change pedal, and the pedal on the right is the gas pedal.



This one pianist once explained it to me that way, and it's really accurate sort of.


Regarding your post, I'm actually playing Chopin's Nocturne in E-Minor right now, and my advice would be is to just go by your ear.  Don't over do it though, it's very easy to get carried away, and often times my teacher tells me that I should be more careful.

I don't always follow the instructions for pedal use in compositions, I just go by my ear, if it doens't sound like a bunch of trucks making noise, then it's probably ok.

Every measure has it's own pedal embedded into it's rhythm.  For example for 3/4, you would put the pedal on 1 and 2, and release on 3, then again.

It's just a matter of being familiar and comfortable with measures and their pedal uses.


Hope that helps.

[Franz_Liszt]

Left - Soft Pedal, or more accurately Thin Pedal, thins the quality of the tone and makes it lighter.
Middle- Sostenuto, an extra hand or finger. depress a note, press the pedal, that note will be sustained until you lift the pedal. Useful for stretched intervals and chords. Changes tone quality  
Right- Damper Pedal, lifts the dampers so that sound remains even when the keys are depressed. Changes tone quality, can add more voices if necessary..etc.