If you have observed keyboardists performing, their feet are rarely stationary. One foot would usually be on a pedal, pressing down or lifting up according to the parts of the song. This pedal is referred to as a sustain pedal. Keep reading to know the reason behind this name, and how the pedal functions.

Also known as a damper pedal, it is basically a foot-operated pedal with an up/down action. When you press down the sustain pedal, the sound produced by pressing the key is sustained until you lift your foot off the pedal or the sound decays. When we say decays, what we mean is that the sound gradually reduces in volume and tends to taper off.

How a Sustain Pedal Works

In the context of the acoustic piano (which has strings), the hammer hits the string and produces a sound when you press a key. When you engage the sustain pedal, what basically happens is that the damper is off the string and the hammer can hit and produce the sound. On the other hand, when you disengage the pedal, the damper is back on the string.

Practise the scale, both ascending and descending. Remember to accent (play a little louder than the rest by hitting the key, instead of pressing it) the first note while practising scales. In this case, accent the C note. Ensure you press down with the finger and not push down your arm for accenting a note.

Using the Sustain Pedal in Practice

There’s a chord progression that was covered in the earlier post, which you can now practise using the sustain pedal. The progression we’re referring to is: A Minor in root position, F Major 1st inversion, C Major 2nd inversion, and G Major in root position.

How you do this is by disengaging for every chord switch and immediately engaging the pedal for the two beats of the chord. Follow this disengage->engage pattern throughout the song. One word of advice is to resist keeping the sustain pedal engaged throughout. Just because the chords sound fuller when you engage the pedal, doesn’t mean you should use it all the time.

The risk with overusing a sustain pedal is that it may end up clouding the sound, achieving quite the opposite result of what you intend. To avoid this, ensure to follow the disengage->engage pattern and do so quickly. The sustain pedal works for all types of keyboards, including a MIDI keyboard.

The next post is extremely pertinent to beginners who have just started on their journey of learning to play the keyboard. It covers some of the common mistake and challenges you might be facing when you sit to practise with the keyboard. Keep reading to discover a few simple exercises or fixes that you may find quite handy.