How dose the piano pedal work?

Question

Just out of curiosity, how dose the pianp pedal work and is it easier to use it with or without shoes? I see a lot of people wear just normal shoes and sometimes barefoot.

Answer 1

Does!! Not dose! Dose, a unit of measurement used when prescribing medicine.

Answer 2

Normally, when you play piano, you push a key, a damper lifts off the string so it can vibrate, a hammer hits it to make it vibrate, and then the damper goes back onto the string to stop the vibration when you take your finger off the key.

The pedal on the right disables the damper so that it continues to vibrate after you've taken your hands off the keys, until the strings stop naturally, or until you take your foot off the pedal and the dampers go back to their usual position against the strings.

The pedal on the left moves the hammers closer to the strings so that they hit with less force, making a quieter sound.

I have no idea what the middle pedal does, as my piano was built before they existed. I have heard that it does some of both, sustain and quiet. Not sure why you'd need a third pedal for that since you already have two feet, though.

I always play bare, because I can feel the pedal and have total control of it that way. Socks are okay too, but if you tend to wear sneakers or sturdy shoes, you probably don't have the foot-muscle control built up to keep your feet from slipping off the pedal at a bad moment. If you're accustomed to going barefoot (I haven't worn shoes in quite a long time) then the pedals should not hurt, because your feet will have built up a tolerance for the tactile input. If you tend to keep your feet highly protected, then they are going to be much more highly sensitive to any tactile input that feels different from your shoes, and even the smooth, cool pedals may hurt your feet. So it's a matter of what your feet are accustomed to, there, and what feels best.

Answer 3

The right pedal on a piano is called the sustaining pedal as it makes the sound longer, it sustains it, with the pedal down you can lift your hands offf the keys and the sound will carry on.
The left pedal is the soft pedal (actually it's called the una corda which means one string, as on a piano there are 2 or 3 strings to every note and on a grand piano the left pedal moves the hammers inside so that they only strike one string, this makes the sound quieter).
I always keep my shoes on, especially when playing a big grand piano as the pedals can be quite tough to push down and without shoes it hurts!
Also, if I'm doing a concert and have a tux on, no shoes would look weird!
It is easier to control tthe pedals though if the soles of your shoes aren't too thick as you can still feel the pedal a bit.

Answer 4

The "damper pedal" dampens the strings make the piano sound softer and the notes slightly shorter (staccato) the sustain pedal usually in the middle pulls the dampers away from the strings the hammers hit the strings and the strings reverberate more hence they are held out more, the third petal usually sustains the lower notes up to around middle C, some people just like playing without shoes b/c they are less bulky, easier to reach the right pedals, many people play without shoes on an organ

Answer 5

The answers you've gotten so far are great! I prefer playing pedal with shoes on. If you only have socks or nylons on it's easy for your foot to slip and have the pedal snap up with a loud and embarrasing "CLUNK". Playing a song with pedal barefoot may be a bit painful. But sometimes it is just personal preference.

Answer 6

it's to make the sound shorter or longer... i perfer with shoes if your going to play for a long time... like silk slippers