Music

Informative

Piano Pedal marks – Instrument Specific Notation

These pedal marks appear in music for instruments with sustain pedals, such as the piano and vibraphone.

Engage pedal - Tells the pianist to put the sustain pedal down.

Release pedal - Tells the pianist to let the sustain pedal up.

Variable pedal mark - More accurately indicates the precise use of the sustain pedal. The extended lower line tells the pianist to keep the sustain pedal depressed for all notes below which it appears. The inverted "V" shape (/\) indicates the pedal is to be momentarily released, then depressed again.







Other Piano Notation:

m.d. - mano destra (Italian)
MD - main droite (French)
r.H. - rechte Hand (German)
r.h. / RH - right hand (English)

m.s. / MS - mano sinistra (Italian)
m.g. / MG - main gauche (French)
l.H. - linke Hand (German)
l.h. / LH - left hand (English)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Finger identifications:
1 = Thumb
2 = Index
3 = Middle
4 = Ring
5 = Little

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustain_pedal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_pedal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expression_pedal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sostenuto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_(music)

Additional Information:

Pedstyle - Specifies whether to display piano pedal marks with lines or with the word "Ped" and "*". With the "pedstar" style, a "bounce" of the pedal is shown by a "* Ped" whereas with the "alt pedstar" style, only a "Ped" is printed.

Value: line, pedstar, or alt pedstar
Default value: line
Context: score, staff
Example: pedstyle = pedstar

Pedstyle Links:
http://www.arkkra.com/doc/uguide/pedal.html
http://www.arkkra.com/doc/uguide/stuff.html
http://www.arkkra.com/doc/uguide/octave.html