I had an old broken piano, and I wondered the same thing. So, I took the piano apart to see what it did. What I found, is that the sustain pedal, on the far right, is not for starting anything, really. It works a padded bar that stops all the strings from playing! Strange, huh? But, how does it play any notes? Well, there is a tricky mechanism, in each finger key, that allows only that key to sound a note, when it is struck by your finger. It sounds, for as long as you hold it down. The ivory or black key that you press is only a small part of a complicated set of wooden levers, that is about the size of your hand. There are 88 or so, all lined up like bread slices. One for each note. The reason is bad harmonics. If the sustain bar was not there, all the piano strings would ring in sympathetic vibration, any time a note was played. It would sound bad. But, as long as you hold down the keys, only those notes will sound. So, there is a bar, that is stopping all the strings. Each key has a way to unstop its note, as long as it is held down. The cool part is, the pedal unstops those notes for you, even when you lift your fingers. It still keeps the other strings quiet. As long as you are in a chord phrase, you generally want all those notes to keep playing, That is diatonic harmony. It gives the piano that rich, complex sound. But, when you change harmony, by changing the chord, you play the new chord or note, and lift the sustaining pedal. That stops the previous harmony, and begins the new one, as long as you hold the note. If you then press the sustain pedal again, you open all the next notes to harmonize until you stop it with the pedal.
Very clear guidelines. Plus I just reviewed the working of pedal. Key first and then pedal makes a lot of sense. Clear the vibration of previous key by lifting the pedal only when we hit the second key and then pedal goes down and damper goes up to let the second key string vibrate continue. The effect becomes connected but yet the first key does not intrude the second key. Thanks!
I did't doing yet any mistakes with that pedal because after two month started learning piano playing today will be trying for First time with you. Thank you for smile !
❤❤❤❤❤ I’ve been searching for this kind of pedalling techniques on TH-cam and so far you’re the best. Thanks a bunch. 💐 ❤ *practicing it right away 😅🎹🖖🏻🙌🏻
I already knew how to use the sustain pedal, but I clicked on this video anyway. I'm glad I did because your advice about using the big toe to control the pedal has really cleaned-up the sound of my sustain. Just a slight difference in foot placement made a big difference in my pedal control. Thank you.
I am about to purchase a sustain pedal for my recently purchased keyboard and luckily for me I came across your lessons and techniques on 'you tube' in how to get started so I subscribed right away, I am not an absolute beginner (played a little bit many years ago) but I wanted to start as if I'd never played keyboard before so that I could hopefully learn the correct way to play from day one, thank goodness I came across your 'you tube' channel as your lessons are explanations in what to do are easy to follow and I can tell that you absolutely 💯% know what you are talking about so I feel confident that I am learning how to play the keyboard correctly, Thank you.
This is the first video where I learned how to put the foot on the sustain pedal correctly, i.e. the toes on the very edge. Neither my teacher nor the method book explained it to me this way. Thank You so much!
Eons ago when I took lessons, the pieces I played often had notation to indicate when to use the pedal. Coming back to playing decades later, I don't see that notation anywhere. I KNOW my pedal work is trash, but have never had training on it. This is great, I really appreciate it!
For me, it seems to work best if I lift my foot at the same time I come down on the next chord and then put the foot right back down on the pedal. Thank-you, for your excellent lesson.
Learning piano at 48. I now know the entire sequence of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata, the adagio (obviously, the presto part is NOT for beginners!). It took me four months. I was making the mistake of keeping the pedal on my Kurzweil keyboard pressed all the time. It becomes a horrible sludge of notes very quickly but I'm still not sure exactly when to lift my foot so I don't just kill all the notes in the wrong place. I looked for answers and your video is great! Thanks
Wow, thank you so much for this eye-opening tutorial! I've been playing the piano for years, and I never realized how crucial it is to use the sustain pedal correctly. Your detailed explanation and demonstrations with 'All of Me' really made a significant difference in how I approach my playing. I appreciate the effort you put into highlighting common mistakes and providing practical tips. It's clear that you genuinely care about helping pianists improve their skills. The comparison between incorrect and correct pedal usage was so helpful, and I can already hear the positive impact on my playing. Your choice of 'All of Me' as an example was brilliant, as it's a song many of us love and want to play well. Now, thanks to your guidance, I feel more confident and connected to the music when using the sustain pedal. Once again, a big thank you for sharing your expertise and enhancing my piano journey. Looking forward to more insightful tutorials from your channel! 🎹🎶
Hi Kaitlyn! I’ve been a self taught “big note” player my whole life and now doing some composing and improv - THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video (and all your others I have been watching:) - I most definitely have been playing the sustain pedal all wrong🤪☺️ (amongst other things!) Many thanks again for sharing your talent and teaching with us!🎶🎶💞
I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to pick up my foot at the same time as my hands! Overlapping the sustained chord with the next chord seems counterintuitive at first, but it does actually sound better. This was a very helpful video!
Thank you for sharing on how to pedal, As you have pointed out, I am a student that just could not understand how to pedal. I now have a goal to make my piano playing sound like a pro. Thanks again.
I am an older person learning the piano, and used to worry about the pedal (but didn't have any bad habits) as I waited until I was ready to learn about the pedal. Then I saw, AND LISTENED, to your video. I now feel far more confident to play the way I've always dreamed. Thank you so very much for presenting your pedal video.
Excellent teacher. You will not believe it but, in this minutes long video I have finally learned what I’ve tried to learn in 2 years about the proper use of the pedal. Thank you . What about the other two pedals?
Thank you for the video. It was very helpful. Mine sounded exactly like one of your demos for mistakes. It sounded choppy. I'll practice per your suggestion!
As I was trying your technique out I was having problems with my hand /foot coordination. Then it sort of dawned on me, I thought of years ago driving a stick shift car. Push the clutch in before you change gears and then let it out. Bingo, push the sustain pedal before changing chords and then lift. 🙂
Thank you so much for this! So, if I'm understanding correctly, for a small fraction of a second BOTH chords are ringing out? I know that's not enough to actually hear it that way, just trying to understand the physical timing of the foot/finger movements.
I think Compared to using the ball of your foot, using the big toe generates a much larger burden on your musculature and might even rob you of some control.
I usually think "change it when you play the next bass note" but the pedal is kinda "off beat" in my brain, is a contrary motion for hands and feet. Time to practice more!!
I have a piano keyboard with in built sustain, but this information is gonna help me further in my future. So, thanks a lot for this very helpful video❤
Okay my question may sound stupid. But i played piano 6 years ago as a child so pls dont judge. When can I use the pedal? Is it noted in the sheets? I rarely see the little star. And can i play sustain pedal without playing acords?
What if my pedal are high and I can’t touch the floor with the back of the foot? I think that’s more exhausting… do I need to put something under my foot to elevate it?
I enjoyed your video. I have a rare problem. I play the piano for my church, but I also have a neurological disorder which affects my legs. I have a really hard time lifting the pedal, so I tend to hold it down throughout most of a song. I know this isn’t best, but the alternative is to not use it and the hymns would sound choppy. Any ideas or tips?
Very interesting lesson. Vocabulary easy to understand except the ABCD... notes I' m so used to do ré mi since elementary school. Also it start on la (A) insted of do where the scale starts? Why?😊
If i may suggest… most of the note/chords you will read in scores/lead sheet, will be the english version ( A B C D…) after a few days you will be familliar . I am french, so i was used to read Do-Ré,,,,.
So I’ve never had piano lessons (I want them but I don’t really have the money for them) I don’t know how to read sheet music And I have no idea how you’re theoretically meant to play the piano I learn through synthesias, and you can guess how I make a lot of these mistakes easily, didn’t know any of this, but it always felt like I was using the sustain pedal wrong Makes me wish I could get actual lessons tbh lol
‼FREE TRAINING (hosted by Kaitlyn Davidson) - HOW TO GO FROM STRUGGLING TO LEARN PIANO TO PLAYING YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (IN AS LITTLE AS A FEW MONTHS) WITHOUT OVERWHELM, CHILDREN'S MUSIC, AND UNNECESSARY MUSIC THEORY www.try.piano.ly/free-training
Excellent video! Please remove the background music during your dialog. You're talking about one of the most important piano concepts, which many players get wrong, and yet you make us process background noise (music played so quietly to be an annoyance rather than pleasing to the ear) over the top of one of the most important subjects. Many excellent Netflix video producers ruin their videos by using background and often terrible music. Not needed! Get rid of it. I just want to hear you and understand your outstanding advice. Thanks! You just made me a better player 👍.
You're the best one by far when it comes to explaining sustain pedal: 1. Not using shoes/boots/heels to show how to position the foot on the pedal. I really don't understand tutorials that use high heels, are you teaching or doing a fashion show?? 2. Highlighting that you use your toes 3. Most importantly, mentioning that you use your big toe. Literally nobody else mentioned this & I was thinking the whole time how on earth are you small 3-4 middle toes are going to press the big pedal. Due to the camera angle, we never see it from the top so we don't know which toe to really use
playing a digital piano screwed me up with the pedal. playing on a real piano is different, the degree of pedal use is more expressive especially when half pedaling
Little story before my question, The first time i drove my car without shoes or switching to flip flops ect. It was instantly weird and felt like i was driving a strange car 🤣 Question Do you always play in socks or does it bother you wearing alternate footwear?
My Sustain Pedal mistake: "What's a Sustain Pedal?".
Now I can start making the other mistakes. Thanks! :)
I had an old broken piano, and I wondered the same thing. So, I took the piano apart to see what it did. What I found, is that the sustain pedal, on the far right, is not for starting anything, really. It works a padded bar that stops all the strings from playing! Strange, huh? But, how does it play any notes?
Well, there is a tricky mechanism, in each finger key, that allows only that key to sound a note, when it is struck by your finger. It sounds, for as long as you hold it down. The ivory or black key that you press is only a small part of a complicated set of wooden levers, that is about the size of your hand. There are 88 or so, all lined up like bread slices. One for each note. The reason is bad harmonics. If the sustain bar was not there, all the piano strings would ring in sympathetic vibration, any time a note was played. It would sound bad. But, as long as you hold down the keys, only those notes will sound.
So, there is a bar, that is stopping all the strings. Each key has a way to unstop its note, as long as it is held down. The cool part is, the pedal unstops those notes for you, even when you lift your fingers. It still keeps the other strings quiet.
As long as you are in a chord phrase, you generally want all those notes to keep playing, That is diatonic harmony. It gives the piano that rich, complex sound.
But, when you change harmony, by changing the chord, you play the new chord or note, and lift the sustaining pedal. That stops the previous harmony, and begins the new one, as long as you hold the note. If you then press the sustain pedal again, you open all the next notes to harmonize until you stop it with the pedal.
Thank you so much for telling me Chord first, pedal next. I always do it the reverse way. Thank you so much.
Very clear guidelines. Plus I just reviewed the working of pedal. Key first and then pedal makes a lot of sense. Clear the vibration of previous key by lifting the pedal only when we hit the second key and then pedal goes down and damper goes up to let the second key string vibrate continue. The effect becomes connected but yet the first key does not intrude the second key. Thanks!
Glad it helped! Thank you so much!
Thank you teacher for the best guidance about paddle.
I did't doing yet any mistakes with that pedal
because after two month started learning piano playing today will be trying for First time with you.
Thank you for smile !
Your video is simple, objective and complete!!! Thank you for share this knowledge about pedals!!!
❤❤❤❤❤ I’ve been searching for this kind of pedalling techniques on TH-cam and so far you’re the best. Thanks a bunch. 💐 ❤ *practicing it right away 😅🎹🖖🏻🙌🏻
Yay! Be sure to download the free pdf! 🎹
I already knew how to use the sustain pedal, but I clicked on this video anyway. I'm glad I did because your advice about using the big toe to control the pedal has really cleaned-up the sound of my sustain. Just a slight difference in foot placement made a big difference in my pedal control. Thank you.
I have a Yamaha CLP 775 and I definitely am guilty of over using sustain pedal. Great tips! Thank you 🎼🎵🎹🎶👍
Your videos are really informative and easy to follow. Really appreciate them!
I am about to purchase a sustain pedal for my recently purchased keyboard and luckily for me I came across your lessons and techniques on 'you tube' in how to get started so I subscribed right away, I am not an absolute beginner (played a little bit many years ago) but I wanted to start as if I'd never played keyboard before so that I could hopefully learn the correct way to play from day one, thank goodness I came across your 'you tube' channel as your lessons are explanations in what to do are easy to follow and I can tell that you absolutely 💯% know what you are talking about so I feel confident that I am learning how to play the keyboard correctly, Thank you.
This is the first video where I learned how to put the foot on the sustain pedal correctly, i.e. the toes on the very edge. Neither my teacher nor the method book explained it to me this way. Thank You so much!
Eons ago when I took lessons, the pieces I played often had notation to indicate when to use the pedal. Coming back to playing decades later, I don't see that notation anywhere. I KNOW my pedal work is trash, but have never had training on it. This is great, I really appreciate it!
Great pointers! Thank you!
For me, it seems to work best if I lift my foot at the same time I come down on the next chord and then put the foot right back down on the pedal. Thank-you, for your excellent lesson.
This was exactly the video I needed to tweak my developing technique. Thank you!
Really appreciated your subtle bits of humour, too. Subscribed!
THANK YOU SO MUCH, THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SEARCHING FOR.
Thanks!
Thank you so so much!
Learning piano at 48. I now know the entire sequence of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata, the adagio (obviously, the presto part is NOT for beginners!). It took me four months. I was making the mistake of keeping the pedal on my Kurzweil keyboard pressed all the time. It becomes a horrible sludge of notes very quickly but I'm still not sure exactly when to lift my foot so I don't just kill all the notes in the wrong place. I looked for answers and your video is great! Thanks
Wow, thank you so much for this eye-opening tutorial! I've been playing the piano for years, and I never realized how crucial it is to use the sustain pedal correctly. Your detailed explanation and demonstrations with 'All of Me' really made a significant difference in how I approach my playing.
I appreciate the effort you put into highlighting common mistakes and providing practical tips. It's clear that you genuinely care about helping pianists improve their skills. The comparison between incorrect and correct pedal usage was so helpful, and I can already hear the positive impact on my playing.
Your choice of 'All of Me' as an example was brilliant, as it's a song many of us love and want to play well. Now, thanks to your guidance, I feel more confident and connected to the music when using the sustain pedal.
Once again, a big thank you for sharing your expertise and enhancing my piano journey. Looking forward to more insightful tutorials from your channel! 🎹🎶
Very well explained. I always make the mistake to Pedal First Chord Second.
Hi Kaitlyn! I’ve been a self taught “big note” player my whole life and now doing some composing and improv - THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video (and all your others I have been watching:) - I most definitely have been playing the sustain pedal all wrong🤪☺️ (amongst other things!) Many thanks again for sharing your talent and teaching with us!🎶🎶💞
Best pedal video I have seen so far 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
LOVE LOVE LOVE your channel. 🥰
Hi Kaitlyn, this is the first video on TH-cam that realy helps. You're such a good teacher! Thank you so much!
I am very impressed with your channel. Keep up the good work :) 🎹🔥
I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to pick up my foot at the same time as my hands! Overlapping the sustained chord with the next chord seems counterintuitive at first, but it does actually sound better. This was a very helpful video!
I'm glad it was helpful for you, Jonathan! 🎹
Thank you for sharing on how to pedal, As you have pointed out, I am a student that just could not understand how to pedal. I now have a goal to make my piano playing sound like a pro. Thanks again.
Hi Kaitlyn, can you show more Videos , how to use the other pedals and when this pedals should be used ? Thanks
Thanks a ton! Especially the tip to keep arms distance and use the big toe immediately made me sound more professional.
I am an older person learning the piano, and used to worry about the pedal (but didn't have any bad habits) as I waited until I was ready to learn about the pedal. Then I saw, AND LISTENED, to your video. I now feel far more confident to play the way I've always dreamed. Thank you so very much for presenting your pedal video.
Excellent teacher. You will not believe it but, in this minutes long video I have finally learned what I’ve tried to learn in 2 years about the proper use of the pedal. Thank you . What about the other two pedals?
I knew I needed this, I was just afraid to learn it for whatever reason! I fall into the first camp of sustaining e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g
best explanation I've seen on yt for this.. thanks! very helpful.
Thanks ! That was a very clear explanation
Thank you for a very well presented and helpful video.
Thank you for the video. It was very helpful. Mine sounded exactly like one of your demos for mistakes. It sounded choppy. I'll practice per your suggestion!
Very helpful! Thank you.😊
Thanks for the video, I was holding the pedal down. I will try the exercises.
Fantastic! Thanks!
Best video ive ever seen! You helped me so much!
Amazing! Thank you ❤
Is there a lesson with sustain pedal using a lead sheet
I like how you just get on with it, instead of talking to much, great vid, keep them coming
Guilty as charged on all accounts! I was wondering what I was doing wrong, as I was making a lot of mud. Keep up the great videos!!
Great video thanks.
Once again.....Thanks for your time!!
Thanks for watching!
Great pointers here!
What are the other 2 pedals used for?
best teacher ever..
By far the best on basic technique - thank you so much - so many good tips - detail much appreciated
As I was trying your technique out I was having problems with my hand /foot coordination. Then it sort of dawned on me, I thought of years ago driving a stick shift car. Push the clutch in before you change gears and then let it out. Bingo, push the sustain pedal before changing chords and then lift. 🙂
Thank you so much for this! So, if I'm understanding correctly, for a small fraction of a second BOTH chords are ringing out? I know that's not enough to actually hear it that way, just trying to understand the physical timing of the foot/finger movements.
I think Compared to using the ball of your foot, using the big toe generates a much larger burden on your musculature and might even rob you of some control.
I usually think "change it when you play the next bass note" but the pedal is kinda "off beat" in my brain, is a contrary motion for hands and feet. Time to practice more!!
I have a piano keyboard with in built sustain, but this information is gonna help me further in my future.
So, thanks a lot for this very helpful video❤
Great!! Have you tried playing the sustain pedal yet on it?
@@pianoly Not yet😅
But I think, now I am gonna buy one. Cuz now I know how to use it.
Great, be sure to download the pdf so that you can practice it. 🎹 enjoy!
@@pianoly oh, thanks.
Have a great day🙂
Thank you
Thank you for sharing
Helpful. Thank you
thanks, I like your video 👍🙏
Mam your teaching technique makes us understand so properly, Thanks a lot for making such lessons for us..
I think the sustain pedal both lets chords shine on, and shuts them up too.
It's a feel.
Okay my question may sound stupid. But i played piano 6 years ago as a child so pls dont judge.
When can I use the pedal? Is it noted in the sheets? I rarely see the little star.
And can i play sustain pedal without playing acords?
Thanks
Hello! Thanks for the video.I believe my main mistake is the second one that was shown... but I am really new to this and everything is a bit weird!
What if my pedal are high and I can’t touch the floor with the back of the foot? I think that’s more exhausting… do I need to put something under my foot to elevate it?
I enjoyed your video. I have a rare problem. I play the piano for my church, but I also have a neurological disorder which affects my legs. I have a really hard time lifting the pedal, so I tend to hold it down throughout most of a song. I know this isn’t best, but the alternative is to not use it and the hymns would sound choppy. Any ideas or tips?
If you can't play the pedal, then I would search how to do finger substitutions (it is how organists play smoothly without the pedal).
Very interesting lesson. Vocabulary easy to understand except the ABCD... notes I' m so used to do ré mi since elementary school. Also it start on la (A) insted of do where the scale starts? Why?😊
If i may suggest… most of the note/chords you will read in scores/lead sheet, will be the english version ( A B C D…) after a few days you will be familliar . I am french, so i was used to read Do-Ré,,,,.
So I’ve never had piano lessons (I want them but I don’t really have the money for them)
I don’t know how to read sheet music
And I have no idea how you’re theoretically meant to play the piano
I learn through synthesias, and you can guess how I make a lot of these mistakes easily, didn’t know any of this, but it always felt like I was using the sustain pedal wrong
Makes me wish I could get actual lessons tbh lol
You can learn on your own....without a formal teacher. I have!
Chord - pedal ❤. New Chord - lift - pedal 😎🎹
Comment edited- Correction made on Pedal spelling. Not paddle 🤦🏼♂️
Paddle or pedal?
Ooooh snap... thanks for the point out 🤦🏼♂️
Life saver!
‼FREE TRAINING (hosted by Kaitlyn Davidson) - HOW TO GO FROM STRUGGLING TO LEARN PIANO TO PLAYING YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (IN AS LITTLE AS A FEW MONTHS) WITHOUT OVERWHELM, CHILDREN'S MUSIC, AND UNNECESSARY MUSIC THEORY
www.try.piano.ly/free-training
My instructor is having keep the sustain pedal pressed down the whole time for now.
I have noticed pianists move their foot after playing the note and I always thought it was a mistake. Hahaha. Now I know better🤣
my bigest mistake is that I can not stop looking at your beautifull eyes in your angel face ,thank you for your lessons
Just about getting used to playing with two hands now i gotta add my feet into the mix!!!! My poor brain!!
So if you have a keyboard why do you need sustain pedal?
hand foot coordination is essential for mastering the pedal...
You're a great teacher. And you're beautiful.
I don't know how to ise it...just runs the sound into each other
damn i was holding the sustain pedal the whole song😂😂
Waaaaw, beautiful
Proper use is to determine if you suck as a composer: If using the sustain pedal improves an arrangement then it's not a very good arrangement.
Holding the pedal
Excellent video! Please remove the background music during your dialog. You're talking about one of the most important piano concepts, which many players get wrong, and yet you make us process background noise (music played so quietly to be an annoyance rather than pleasing to the ear) over the top of one of the most important subjects. Many excellent Netflix video producers ruin their videos by using background and often terrible music. Not needed! Get rid of it. I just want to hear you and understand your outstanding advice. Thanks! You just made me a better player 👍.
You're the best one by far when it comes to explaining sustain pedal:
1. Not using shoes/boots/heels to show how to position the foot on the pedal. I really don't understand tutorials that use high heels, are you teaching or doing a fashion show??
2. Highlighting that you use your toes
3. Most importantly, mentioning that you use your big toe. Literally nobody else mentioned this & I was thinking the whole time how on earth are you small 3-4 middle toes are going to press the big pedal. Due to the camera angle, we never see it from the top so we don't know which toe to really use
No one explains the pedal...thank you
Thanks to I understand...I'm a drummer so I get it lol
❤❤❤❤
What mistakes I make?
All!!!
All of em😈🤓
Learning to lift up on the beat is counterintuitive.
playing a digital piano screwed me up with the pedal. playing on a real piano is different, the degree of pedal use is more expressive especially when half pedaling
Little story before my question, The first time i drove my car without shoes or switching to flip flops ect. It was instantly weird and felt like i was driving a strange car 🤣
Question
Do you always play in socks or does it bother you wearing alternate footwear?
I hold pedal now too much by habit.
My mistake is that I dont have one
😊
👌🙏❤
I Hold to long. Sometimes, not long enough.
not using the sustain pedal for the whole learning phase would crush my whole motivation tho
angel face
thanks for the tip you are gorgeous
Do you recommend just wearing socks with the sustain pedal and not shoes?