How many of you have and use a middle pedal.

Kind Regards
Dr Sean

I use my middle pedal all of the time especially for extra control.
How about everyone else.

Ive only ever seen the 3rd pedal (for sustaining) on concert pianos and Clavinovas. My piano teacher has a third pedal but it makes the piano completely silent

I don't use a 3rd pedal even though I play music that needs it ideally

I use the middle pedal a very great deal. It's the brake, you see, and the clutch is on the left and the accelerator on the right.

hehehehehehehehe

Aot of digital pianos have one but mine doesnt... I'd like one with one though.

My parents would love it if my piano had one, as my playing sometimes really annoys them.
Personally, I wouldn't want one, as I love playing loud!!!

I don't have a middle pedal. Remind me what it's used for?


Car Expert

It makes the piano play quieter.

There are 2 sorts of middle pedals;
1. The silent / practise pedal, most often found on upright pianos. It can be depressed and then slid across so that it stays down, and this makes the sounds either much quieter or non-existant, by taking the hammers away from the strings or by lowering a sheet of felt over the strings, or something similar.
2. The sustaining peda, most often found on grand pianos. When depressed, this holds on the first note much like the regular sustaining pedal, but then any note played afterwards until it is released is not sustained, while the first one is. Kinda difficult to explain, but imagine playing a bar with a held semibreve in the left hand and staccato quavers in the right hand; it holds the semibreve on its own, like a regular sustaining pedal, but the right hand quavers can be played staccato, it's as though there is no pedal effect on them at all.

Hope this clears everything up!!

Thanks CPPF & The Oboemeister!

Car Expert

Unless you've got an automatic car!!!!!!

No, I have three pedals

Wish I could have three pedals on my piano, then I could practice my driving skills!

Car Expert

You drive a piano OK anyway, don't you CE?

Yes I do!

Car Expert

Your foot must get tired

So what's your doctorate in?

So which pieces do you need to use the middle pedal in?
(Since you say you use it all of the time.......)

I would hazard a guess that your middle pedal is a practice pedal and not a sostenuto pedal.......

See here folks, i am confusalated.

I got this pianer, see, wots only got two pedles. I got them ok.

See, the right pedle plays loud, so when i see 'f' on the musick, i like stick the right pedle down. When i see 'ff' on the musick, it stick the right pedle down and bang like really, REALLY hard.

See, the left pedle makes the musick go soft, so when i see 'p' on the musick, i stick like the softy pedle down like. Wehn i see 'pp' on the musick, i stick the sfty pedle down and like leave out a few notes.

So i got pedles sussed, right?

Ok, sometimes i forget to let go the loud pedle so the soft pedle dont work properly. is that what the middle pedle does? Cancel out thre loud pedle. sort of thing?

Why would a pianner want 3 pedles? Isn't a pianer with 3 pedles like some sort of like chopped down organ?

i need help.

Definitely!!!

hehe driving pianos...sounds funny...

Just three pedals? You're history. Check this one out:

Try a harp - 7 pedals!!!!

me organ's got 30, or 32 if you count both swell pedals

How long did it take you to learn to drive that? Did you have to pass an organ driving test?

I rarely use my pedal, I have just two.

Can I see 4 pedals? So what are they all for?

The two left pedals operate as follows: one as on upright pianos, it moves the action closer to the strings and so reduces the speed at which the hammers hit the strings; the other is the conventional una corda which shifts the entire action to the right so the hammers hit only two strings. The other pedals are the conventional sostenuto and sustaining pedal. By the combination of the two left pedals some very subtle effects of dynamic shading and colouring are possible. The Fazioli (Italian) and Stuart & Sons (Australian) pianos both have this 4-pedal arrangement.

Thanks for that - you don't half learn a lot of new things contributing to these forums (forae?)