Pedal Marking
A pedal marking tells you when to press and release the sustain pedal: Ped. where it goes down, an asterisk or the end of a bracket where it comes up.
The pedal holds notes after your fingers leave the keys. Held through a chord change it blurs two harmonies together, which is why the release marks matter as much as the presses.
How To Spot Pedal Marking
The word Ped. or a long bracket below the bass staff, with a notch or a star where the pedal lifts.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Play a chord, hold the pedal, and change to another chord without lifting. Then do it again, lifting the pedal exactly as the new chord sounds. The second one is what the marking is asking for.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Dynamics: Dynamics are the letters under the staff telling you how loud to play: p is soft, f is loud, and mp and mf are the moderate versions of each.
Legato: Legato means play smoothly and connected, with each note lasting until the next one begins.
More in This Section
Quarter Note: A quarter note is a filled-in note head with a stem, and it lasts one beat in common time.
Quarter Rest: A quarter rest is the squiggle that means one beat of silence in common time.