Pedaling: The Soul of the Piano 

This is the most underrated channel on RU-vid.

Wow , took me 60 years to figure what he said in a few minutes, wish I had a teacher like that when I was young …. Thank you

I like what Josef Lhevinne wrote in his book on piano playing: Anton Rubinstein said that the pedal is the soul of the piano. But it can be a soul in purgatory, or one in paradise.

I love that this lesson features a moment of comedy, when Mr. Ohlsson attempts to affect the sound of a note once played by moving about as the note fades. Also, just when I was thinking, "No one playing the Waldstein sonata would still be slapping and thudding the pedal, he gives an example from a contestant in the Chopin competition whom he heard as a judge.

Some great secrets here. Definitely reflective of the old school but these concepts still remain the foundation to playing the piano.

In a post-concert talk, Garrick Ohlsson said he could talk for hours about pedaling. So tonebase only gets the first instalment, or did he maybe exaggerate just a little? He also quoted Rosina Lhévinne (who must have been almost 90 while lying on the floor to observe his pedalling) saying "I'm really serious about this".

Who else also thinks he's going to play Chopin piano concerto No.1 2nd mvt at 5:02 😂 Besides, I am thinking about how many people do not use pedal on intro of 1st ballade and how many do.

Mr. Ohlsson, you are a wonderful teacher. Thank you.

Here I am - hovering only on the edge of intermediate grade on the piano (but beyond "intermediate in age") - and this succinct and lucid advice comes up on RU-vid from one of the masters of the instrument !

way of speaking and even tone of voice always reminds me a bit of the film composer, John Williams - half expect Garrick to start pounding out Raiders of the Lost Ark

I get really annoyed by sound engineers who call it reverb. Yeah just add a bit more reverb it will sound like pedal. PS that is a really awesome grand.

The word you're looking for after sustain is decay.

What more pianists need to understand is that the pedal is played with the EAR, not with the foot. The notion of "touch" applies to the pedal just as much as it does to the keys. It matters little whether you play with the ball of the foot or the toe, as long as the sound comes out right. It also depends in part on the regulation of the individual piano; some pedals have a longer travel or more wasted motion than others. I became sharply aware of this recently when I lost my ability to pedal due to Covid, but regained some of it by minimizing both of those factors on my piano. My teacher, Irma Wolpe, was a super-expert on use of the pedal, especially in Chopin, and helped me learn some of these important lessons. Best regards, Alan

Very good instruction. Mr Chiu's tone is very clean and clear which does not require over pedalling to compensate a poor touch. I enjoy his colourful playing of the entire Chopin etudes.

Thank you for so helpful advice on pedal it’s so much easier now

So what is the soul of the harpsichord, or has it no soul ?

I’m new to piano and just found this channel - great !

Subtitulos en español please!!!

The piano sounds beautifully (and is in tune) aaah ❤

Is this a Chickering?