Use of pedal

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I'm a bit confused with the timing of pedal change. Can you clarify the difference between direct pedalling and legato pedalling and how/when they should be used?

-- Mandy Ng (mandyng@hotmail.com), October 06, 2004

Answers

Your ear must decide. Sometimes we want legato but our fingers cannot create it; then we need pedal. Sometimes we don't need pedal for legato, but we want the resonance that pedal gives; then too we use pedal.

When we use pedal, we have a choice of when to "change pedal." The usual way is "on the note"; that is, we change so that the ears hears one note and then the next note with no GAP and no OVERLAP. Sometimes we "change late," and then the ear hears OVERLAP.

It's simply a matter of what your ear wants to hear. Listen carefully and see what You think. Easier, record yourself using the pedal two or three different ways; and then see what you think when you listen to the recording. Sometimes we worry about a subtle difference; and then it turns out that from the microphone, five feet away, we can't hear the difference anyway. Sometimes the reverse happens: we think about a difference and we wonder if it is audible; then we record it and it turns out to make a BIG difference.

-- James Boyk (boyk@performancerecordings.com), October 06, 2004.


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