This is slightly misleading as it shifts the keyboard to one side, usually to the right, so that the hammers hit only two of the three strings in the treble (that’s the misleading bit, it doesn’t strike just “one string”) or one of the two strings in the tenor section. Thus the partial soft pedal effect will be uneven, and different from piano to piano. This distance is known as “lost motion”, and increasing it can make the action feel sloppy. Depending on the kind of piano you’re playing, the middle pedal can have two different functions. Piano pedals are levers which alter the sound of the piano in a variety of different ways. Therefore, unless you have experimented and are trying to produce some strange and irreproducible new effect, half-pedaling is not recommended for the soft pedal on a grand. The soft pedal (or una corda pedal, Italian for 'one string') is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals.On a grand piano this pedal shifts the whole action (including the keyboard) slightly to the right, so that the hammers which normally strike all three of the strings for a note strike only two of them. On some upright pianos and lower-quality grand pianos, the middle pedal is not a sostenuto pedal but instead sustains all notes in the bass register. Music To soften or mute the tone of by depressing the soft... Soft-pedal - definition of soft-pedal by The Free Dictionary. Playing the pedal in the middle. You can use the soft pedal anytime you like, of course, to play quietly or to create a hushed atmosphere or an intimate feeling. There are actually two types of soft pedal on an upright and the one you are referring to is probably what is called the ‘half blow’ pedal. Pressing the soft pedal also changes the feel of the action by increasing the distance the key travels before you encounter resistance from the hammer mechanism. On a grand piano the soft pedal, that is the one on the left, is called the “Una Corda”. In a vertical piano, then, the soft pedal enables you to play more softly by decreasing the force of the blow. The right pedal is the sustain pedal, which undamps all the strings on the piano, while the left pedal is the soft pedal. Note: Some digital keyboards may only have one – the sustain pedal – which you can plug into the keyboard. The three types of pedals most pianos have are, from right to left: a sustain pedal, a sostenuto pedal, and a soft pedal. ling 1. The soft pedal on an upright piano has a different function to that of a grand which has the una corda – a device for making the hammers hit only two of the three strings making up one note.