Syncopated (legato) pedalling

Syncopated pedalling is the pedal technique to master. It joins two harmonies with neither gap nor blur. Its principle seems counter-intuitive at first: the foot does not move at the same time as the hand, but just after.

The gesture, step by step

1. Chord 1 played, pedal down: everything resonates.
2. You play chord 2: at the very moment the fingers press the keys, the foot comes up. The dampers fall and cut chord 1… but chord 2 continues because your fingers are holding the keys.
3. Just after (a split second), the foot goes down again: the pedal "catches" chord 2.
4. The fingers can now leave chord 2 to move on to chord 3: the sound is held by the pedal.

A common summary: hands down, foot up; then foot down. The foot is off the beat relative to the hands, hence the name "syncopated".

Example

In this example the pedal release is marked on the first note of each bar and the new depression on the second note: exactly the offset of syncopated pedalling.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=60
K:C
"_Ped."CGce gecG | "_*"A,"_Ped."EAc ecAE | "_*"F,"_Ped."CFA cAFC | "_*"G,"_Ped."DGB dBGD | "_*"C"_Ped."[EGc]6 z |]

Progressive exercise

1. On a single repeated note (C, then D, then E… in half notes), connect each note to the next with the pedal, deliberately lifting your fingers. If you hear a gap, the foot goes down too late; if you hear both notes together, it comes up too late.
2. Do the same with three-note chords: C, F, G, C.
3. Play the example above at 60 and then 80 to the quarter note.
4. Apply it to an arpeggiated prelude: one pedal per harmony (even though Bach did not have one, it is an excellent listening exercise).