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First off, I'm a bit surprised that nobody's asked this before.

What does the middle pedal on a grand piano do?

I've played around with it a bit, but haven't been able to figure it out. Could somebody please explain this to me?

Aaron
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Tyler Selden
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  • Dupe - How does the piano middle pedal work? – Tim Dec 15 '21 at 08:19
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    Does this answer your question? [How does the piano middle pedal work? Is there a standard symbol for it?](https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/5314/how-does-the-piano-middle-pedal-work-is-there-a-standard-symbol-for-it) – AakashM Dec 15 '21 at 09:50

1 Answers1

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The middle pedal, called the sostenuto pedal, keeps raised the dampers of the keys being played at the time the pedal is depressed.

This is in contrast to the damper pedal, which raises all of the dampers at the same time.

To use the sostenuto pedal

  1. Play one or more keys and hold them down.
  2. While holding down those keys, depress the pedal.
  3. Keep the pedal down, and release the keys.
  4. Play one or more keys other than the ones originally held down in step 1.

You'll notice that the step 1 pitches will continue to sound, but the step 4 pitches will act like "normal" key presses and releases with no sustain effect.

This use of the middle pedal is generally true on grand pianos (the ones with strings parallel to the floor), but not so on upright pianos (the ones with strings perpendicular to the floor). On upright's the middle pedal can vary. Often it's either a sort of partial sostenuto – holding dampers only for low-register notes – or a "mute" or "practice" pedal, which brings a piece of felt down between the hammers and strings, causing the piano to become very quiet.

Aaron
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    It's worth noting that this is not universal across all pianos- Some pianos (including my dad's old piano) have a middle pedal which is a sustain pedal, but only for the lower register. And other pianos might have a practice pedal instead. – Edward Dec 15 '21 at 03:30
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    @Edward As a clarification, the low-register sustain is on a grand piano? – Aaron Dec 15 '21 at 04:13
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    No, it was an upright piano. I think it's worth mentioning, considering the title of this question and the fact that readers with this question may not know the difference. – Edward Dec 15 '21 at 04:38
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    Strictly speaking it doesn't raise the dampers on those notes being played at the time. They're already raised ! They must be in order for the notes to sound properly. When the sostenuto pedal is operated, it keeps those dampers off the strings. Surprised tis question hasn't arisen previously - pretty sure it has. – Tim Dec 15 '21 at 08:16
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    @Edward The point of that is to simulate the sostenuto pedal, which has historically been primarily used for sustaining lower notes. – trlkly Dec 15 '21 at 08:27
  • @Edward Thanks. I added some language regarding uprights. – Aaron Dec 16 '21 at 05:26
  • @Tim Thanks. Good catch. I've revised the language. – Aaron Dec 16 '21 at 05:26