Using the Damper Pedal

Back in Chapter 1 we saw that this pedal disables the dampers which would otherwise stop a note from sounding after you release the note. So when you depress the pedal, the notes you play will mix together, even after you have physically released them. This is ideal for slow ballad-type songs, as the notes of the chord can continue sounding together, adding to the expressive character of the tune.

Well, not really dangerous, but kind of annoying! Be careful not to “smear chords together” when using the sustain pedal. This happens when the chord changes (like in the last song, when we went from a C major triad to a Gsus4 triad), and the pedal is depressed while the chords change. The resulting harmonic “mess” is not pleasant for you or your audience (unless you’re going for a particular avant-garde effect!). The secret to avoiding this problem is to release the pedal exactly at the point of chord change (this is normally on beat 1 of the measure, with the new chord symbol). You must then depress the pedal just after you play the next chord that you want to be sustained.

Play “Beauty and the Beast” once more, but this time, use the sustain pedal. Change the pedal each time there is a new chord symbol and listen to the difference in sound as compared to when you played it without pedal.