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Piano pedals

Pianos generally have three pedals that alter the way sound is produced: sustain, sostenuto (sos.), and una corda (U.C.). Sustain pedals are also found on vibraphones and celestas.

\relative {
  c''4\sustainOn d e g
  <c, f a>1\sustainOff
  c4\sostenutoOn e g c,
  <bes d f>1\sostenutoOff
  c4\unaCorda d e g
  <d fis a>1\treCorde
}

There are three styles of pedal indications: text, bracket, and mixed. The sustain pedal and the una corda pedal use the text style by default while the sostenuto pedal uses mixed by default.

\relative {
  c''4\sustainOn g c2\sustainOff
  \set Staff.pedalSustainStyle = #'mixed
  c4\sustainOn g c d
  d\sustainOff\sustainOn g, c2\sustainOff
  \set Staff.pedalSustainStyle = #'bracket
  c4\sustainOn g c d
  d\sustainOff\sustainOn g, c2
  \bar "|."
}

The placement of the pedal commands matches the physical movement of the sustain pedal during piano performance. Pedaling to the final bar line is indicated by omitting the final pedal off command.

Pedal indications may be placed in a Dynamics context, which aligns them on a horizontal line.

See also

Notation Reference: Ties.

Snippets: Keyboards.

Internals Reference: SustainPedal, SustainPedalLineSpanner, SustainEvent, SostenutoPedal, SostenutoPedalLineSpanner, SostenutoEvent, UnaCordaPedal, UnaCordaPedalLineSpanner, UnaCordaEvent, PianoPedalBracket, Piano_pedal_engraver.