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Repertoire & Performance
Nancy Bachus is a graduate of the
Eastman School of Music and has
taught for 27 years at the college and
university level. She is the author of
Alfred Publishing’s “Spirit” series: the
Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and
Beyond the Romantic Spirit piano
anthologies. Certified as a Master
Teacher by MTNA, she currently main-
tains an independent piano studio in
Hudson, OH.
This issue’s contributors:
Sonnet Johnson, NCTM, holds BM and
MME degrees in piano from the
University of North Texas where she
studied with Artist-in-Residence Stefan
Bardas. She also studied at the
Mozarteum in Salzburg and Wiener
Meisterkurse für Musik in Vienna, and
she has participated in over a dozen
European master classes, piano seminars,
and institutes. A former Nevada MTA
President, she has presented at several
MTNA national conferences. Primarily a
teacher and collaborative pianist, she
maintains an independent piano studio
in Reno, Nevada. Her students have
performed as soloists with several
orchestras and won many honors, piano
competitions and university scholarships.
Joseph Banowetz has been described by
Fanfare Record Review (U.S.) as "a
giant among keyboard artists of our
time." A graduate with a First Prize
from the Vienna Akademie für Musik
und Darstellende Kunst, his teachers have
included Carl Friedberg (a pupil of Clara
Schumann) and György Sándor (a pupil
of Béla Bartók). Banowetz has performed
on five continents in some 40 countries,
and has recorded over thirty compact discs
including concertos of Liszt, d'Albert,
Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, and all eight of
the Anton Rubinstein works for piano
and orchestra. His recording of Balakirev
received two official Grammy
nominations in 2008. Banowetz's book,
The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling, has
been published in six foreign-language
translations. In 1992 Banowetz was
awarded the Liszt Medal by the
Hungarian Liszt Society in Budapest. He
serves as Professor of Piano at the
University of North Texas.
40 CLAVIER COMPANION
Putting It All Together :
Repertoire & Performance
Nancy Bachus, Editor
What do you consider to be
essential in teaching pedaling to
students?
O
nce when Daniel Pollack was
beginning a talk about pedaling,
an audience member interrupted,
“I don’t know how you are going to speak
for an hour on pedaling. All you do is put
it down and bring it back up!” As I reflect
back on my own pedal instruction, I realize
that it consisted mainly of the instructions
“less pedal” or “clean up your pedal.” I
knew there was more to pedaling than
these simple directions, but it wasn’t until
graduate school that I was introduced to
sophisticated techniques such as half ped-
aling and flutter pedaling.
About 20 years ago, a group of piano
teachers asked me to present a lecture on
pedaling. I immediately purchased and
began to read Joseph Banowetz’s The
Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling.1 While reading
I thought, “This isn’t new. I pedal like
that.” After finishing the book, however, I
was suddenly aware of glaring pedaling
errors made by my students. I realized that
although I intuitively used a variety of ped-
Pedal basics
by Sonnet Johnson
A
nton Rubinstein called the pedal
the “soul of the piano,” 1 and
György Sándor wrote that pedaling
“could be magical or ghastly, depending on
the artistry of the performer.”2 Despite its
importance, pedaling remains one of the
more neglected areas of piano study.
Students need assistance to develop hand-
foot coordination and refine listening
skills. Piano teachers must have a clear
aural image of the ideal sound, and they
must demonstrate subtle colors and tonal
gradations until the student can hear those
1
Rubinstein, A. & Carreño, T. (2003). The art of piano pedaling: Two classic guides. New York: Dover. (Reprint of works
originally published in 1897 and 1919.)
2
Sandor, G. (1981). On piano playing: Motion, sound, and expression. New York: Schirmer Books.
aling techniques in my own playing, I was
not teaching pedaling in detail. Now I take
the time to explain and demonstrate differ-
ent pedaling techniques to all my students,
so that even my elementary students are
able to use different levels of the damper
pedal.
Frédéric Chopin wrote, “The correct
employment of it [the pedal] remains a
study for life.”2 To demonstrate the truth
of Chopin’s quotation, one must under-
stand how the pedals work and the differ-
ent ways they can be used. This knowledge
is then applied appropriately to music from
different style periods. In the following
two articles Sonnet Johnson discusses ped-
aling basics for our students, and Joseph
Banowetz addresses the use of the pedal
during different stylistic periods. !
1
Banowetz, J. (1985). The pianist’s guide to pedaling.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
2
Eigeldinger, J. (1986). Chopin as pianist and teacher: As
seen by his pupils. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
differences.
The language teachers use has an impact
on their students’ concept of sound. In
describing the sonorities of a pedaled tone,
I use the word “ringing,” for example, to
develop images of resonance, richness, and
roundness. For an optimal musical educa-
tion, pedaling is one of many areas of
piano playing where the student and
teacher must develop a common vocabu-
lary as part of the “listening” and “think-
ing” environment.
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Essentials for elementary ball of the foot and the big toe. For chil- 2) Listen for clarity of sound.
students dren and those with smaller feet, the place- 3) Pedal the note cleanly.
Younger students are enthralled with the ment is a little more toward the ball of the There are many fine pedal pieces for ele-
sound of the damper pedal and fascinated foot with toes slightly firmed (like wearing mentary students that explore the sonori-
by the concept of sympathetic vibration. flip-flops) so the foot can move as a unit. ties of the piano and engage the ears of
They can learn right away how the strings The renowned teacher Rosina Lhévinne budding pianists.
vibrate by singing (or shouting) into the once said she could tell bad pedaling by the
piano with the lid up and the dampers lift- creases in a student’s shoes.3 Essentials for intermediate
ed. I also demonstrate differences in the The heel, used as a pivot, should be kept students
sound of a single note with and without on the floor, allowing the weight of the leg There are two common damper pedal
the open dampers. The students and I lis- to rest on it. The downward movement of techniques:
ten for the tiny “roar” that comes immedi- the foot originates in the ankle joint, and 1) Direct (or simultaneous) pedaling: the
ately after the initial sound is produced as the heel and foot should be aligned. Never hands and foot go down and come up
other strings vibrate in sympathy. allow a student to pump the pedal with the together.
(Sympathetic vibrations occurring in our heel off the floor. This action is unsightly 2) Syncopated (or legato) pedaling: the
studios can become teaching opportunities. and results in a lack of control. If students foot goes down immediately after the
When both my studio pianos buzzed when are unable to reach the pedals, it is helpful note or chord is played.
a specific note was played, my piano tech- to use a pedal extender. I teach the more difficult syncopated
nician played detective and traced the pedaling with exercises that isolate three
sound to a sympathetically vibrating light- Avoiding blurs different aspects of this technique: timing,
bulb filament. My students and I had Since pedal markings in music can be depth, and speed.
numerous discussions about sympathetic imprecise, students often depress the pedal
vibration until the bulb was replaced.) exactly on the first beat of a chord, catch- Timing
ing a previously sounded note and creating When introducing pedal timing, I first
The three pedals a nasty blur. To facilitate pedaling without demonstrate a series of chords so students
Because children are intrigued by how blurring, it’s useful to develop a slow- can hear sound differences created by the
things work, I assign “pedal experiments” motion sequence of: timing of the pedal. I then have students
and ask even the smallest beginners to 1) Play the note(s). duplicate these timings. Pedaling the last
describe subtle differences in sound.
Students eventually must understand how Three examples of pedal timing
each pedal works and how it changes the
Example 1
sonority of the instrument. Together we
discover and discuss the basic function of
each of the three pedals. Here are some
suggested explanations for students:
• The right pedal (the damper or sustain-
ing pedal) lifts the felt dampers away
from all of the strings, allowing them to
vibrate freely and continue to sound
even if the hands are removed from the
keys. The vibrations stop when the pedal
is released and the felts regain contact Example 2
with the strings.
• The left pedal (the una corda or soft
pedal) shifts the hammers of a grand
piano slightly to the right. For most of
the piano, this means that the hammers
strike only two strings instead of three
(the lower notes on the piano only have
one or two strings). This also creates a
different tone color as the hammers
come in contact with the strings using a Example 3
less-worn, softer portion of the hammer
felt.
• The middle pedal (sostenuto pedal) sus-
tains only those notes that are caught by
the pedal while they are still being
played.

Basic pedal technique

The basic pedaling position places the
right foot on the damper and the left foot
on the una corda. Each foot should be 3
Personal anecdote recounted to the author by Daniel Pollack, student of Rhosanna Lhévinne.
placed on the pedal at the juncture of the

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 CLAVIER COMPANION 41

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quarter note of each chord provides a
sound appropriate for Bach, for example.
In quarter-note rhythm, students say “Up,
Up, Up, Down,” depressing and releasing
the pedal exactly as the words direct.
Pedaling on the last half of the chord gives
a sound appropriate for Beethoven (“Up,
Up, Down, Hold”). Pedaling on the last
three quarters of the chord gives a richness
and warmth that is good for Brahms and
other Romantic composers (“Up, Down,
Hold, Hold”). Students must listen care-
fully for a clean legato without a break or
blur in the sound. (See Examples 1-3 on
page 41).
Verbalizing the actual motions of pedal-
ing develops a clear sense of timing and
establishes a pedaling vocabulary. Over a
series of lessons, I convert the same exer-
cises to triple meter, change the chords to
inversions, change registers, and sometimes
add left hand octaves. Later, by increasing
tempo and adding rhythm to various chord
patterns, the student learns to adjust tim-
ing for different pedaling situations.
Careful control of the pedal release
avoids the thud of the dampers dropping
onto the strings. Sometimes I also have
students depress the damper pedal before
playing the first chord. Known as antici-
pated or anticipatory pedal, this pedaling
technique adds resonance to an opening
chord or tone.
Depth
Another issue to address is pedal depth.
For visual feedback, I remove (or push
back) the music rack from a grand piano,
and we watch the dampers while depress-
ing the pedal. Since there is often a slight
delay in the pedal mechanism before the
dampers begin to rise, the students must
discover how much “wiggle room” is on the
surface of the pedal. When the pedal
begins to engage, I have students depress
the pedal very slightly so the dampers stay
just above the strings. A shallow pedal lim-
its the amount of vibration of the strings
and gives a haze to the sound.
Students then fully depress the pedal
and note the distance that the dampers lift
off the strings. I then have students play
single notes and chords in differing regis-
ters and with differing pedal depths, syn-
chronizing visual feedback from the
dampers to the sound. For intermediate
students, I often return to the chord exer-
cises used for pedal timing and combine
them with three-to-five levels of pedal
depth. (Another remark by Rosina
4
Ibid.
Lhévinne was that there were up to ten
levels of damper pedal on a well-regulated
concert grand.)4 I often tease my students
by telling them that they won’t be able to
get their driver’s licenses until they can
pedal at various depths! We equate shallow
pedaling to driving in a school zone at 15
miles per hour and deeper pedaling to
driving at higher speeds.
Speed
After students are comfortable with var-
ious pedaling timings and depths, I have
them vary the speed of descent and release.
By varying the speed of descent, we can
color the sound and create a slight crescen-
do. By slowing the speed of release, we are
able to gradually taper or blend the sound.
Students first practice these motions with
the pedal alone, slowly depressing the
pedal while counting to four, holding it
down for four counts, and then slowly
releasing it on four more counts. The
“down slowly” and “up slowly” motions are
like a dimmer switch on a light instead of
an on-off switch. This exercise blends
sounds without an obvious change from a
pedaled to an unpedaled sonority. I often
revisit chord exercises and have students
practice descents and releases at varying
speeds.

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42 CLAVIER COMPANION NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

0911 Clavier3.qxd 10/12/09 8:57 PM Page 43

Putting it all together

As teachers, we isolate pedaling issues so the hand-foot motions
can be experienced, coordinated, and repeated with consistency.
However, after these essentials are mastered, combining pedaling
techniques in the repertoire increases the complexity and required
coordination considerably. Providing students with an adequate
instrument and a great deal of experience in less complicated inter-
mediate repertoire helps them develop the pedal technique neces-
sary for more advanced literature.
Pedaling that has been worked out in the earlier stages of a piece
will often have to be adjusted once full tempo is reached. As stu-
dents gain experience, they learn to read the musical score for pedal
as a skier learns to read the terrain, anticipating the incline and
snow conditions. Ultimately, the final authority and responsibility
for pedaling is the student’s educated, discerning ear; pedaling is
subtle and creative. The ability to pedal artistically is a tremendous
asset to the student in every way, enriching practicing and making
performances more engaging. !

Stylistic uses of the pedal We live

by Joseph Banowetz

A
chieving a stylistically appropriate use of the pedals pres-
ents problems of enormous complexity that cannot be fully
addressed in a few paragraphs. Each musical style period,
music!
and even each composer, demands a unique command of pedaling
techniques coupled with cultivated artistic taste and historical per- Talent. Passion. Community.
ception. The following brief discussions of several composers will No other school compares to Westminster Choir
highlight a few of the many problems encountered in different College’s focused and collaborative approach to
musical styles. musical excellence. Guided by a world-class faculty,
our students work together to prepare for the
The works of Johann Sebastian Bach challenges of professional performance. With
Of course Bach did not own a modern piano, and, as far as can
be ascertained, he never wrote explicitly for Cristofori’s newly-
each student success, our reputation soars.
invented piano. Today’s interpreter must decide how far to try to
imitate the very different sounds of Bach’s harpsichord and clavi- DEGREE PROGRAMS IN PIANO
chord. Pianists trained solely in a nineteenth-century approach to Bachelor of Music in:
pedaling tend to use a wide range of resonance and color. • Piano
Comparing Bach recordings by a great interpreter such as Edwin • Music Education
PIANO FACULTY
• Music Theater
Fischer (1886–1960) with an equally great Bach player like Ena Bronstein Barton
• Sacred Music
Rosalyn Tureck (1914–2003) immediately highlights the differ- Ingrid Clarfield
• Theory and Composition
Cooridnator
ences in approach. A figure such as Glenn Gould (1932–1982)
James Goldsworthy Bachelor of Arts in Music
seems to willfully destruct intelligible molds! Phyllis Lehrer
In Bach’s music, two principal uses immediately come to mind: Master of Music in:
Lillian Livingston
to achieve a legato, and to color. It should be remembered that the • Piano Accompanying and Coaching
Thomas Parente
• Piano Pedagogy and Performance
harpsichord and clavichord of Bach’s day had much shallower J.J. Penna
• Piano Performance
touches than those of today’s concert grands. A dampening of Betty Stoloff
• Music Education
sound was not as immediate as on a modern piano. Coloring with • Sacred Music
the damper pedal is a vital function in this style. Does the player
want a drier, unpedaled sound, or more color, especially in slower, To learn more, visit our Web site:
more lyrical passages? These issues are often heatedly argued by www.rider.edu/westminster
performers, with one extreme advocating that Bach should be or e-mail us at:
played with no damper pedal whatsoever, and the other side pedal- wccadmission@rider.edu
ing as if it is Chopin! A useful guide for students is that if you
“hear” the damper pedal—the notes or harmonies are blurred—you
are probably using too much.
The other two pedals can also be used when playing Bach, with
the so-called “soft” pedal a useful tool in achieving a change of color
to the basic tone quality. There are also a few places in Bach’s
scores where long notes are indicated—these notes could be played
and held on a pedal keyboard, which was sometimes attached to
Princeton & Lawrenceville, NJ
either the harpsichord or clavichord. Here the middle sostenuto
pedal becomes a much-needed friend!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 CLAVIER COMPANION 43