This is absolutely fascinating. He's using the una corda pedal to create a "haze" in the left hand accompaniment of Chopin's Opus 25 No. 1 "Aeolian Harp" Etude, lifting it quickly for the melody notes so that they are clear.
I've ordered The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling by Joseph Banowetz which is supposed to be the best resource for period-appropriate pedaling style and techniques and I'm really excited to read it.
More Frederic Chiu videos on advanced pedaling techniques:
Half Sostenuto (lets you add more notes to a sostenuto?!) - this looks really difficult
"Focus Group" Pedal Technique (using all three pedals to create different colors and bring out a "soloist" versus a "group")
I just learned something. I always though that the left pedal was the "soft pedal", making things quieter. I thought that upright pianos created softness by moving the hammers closer to the strings, with a resulting less force through less travel distance. The grand piano would do the same thing by having less strings being struck (so I understand the name of "shift") with the same aim of a quieter sound. It would be like three singers, then two singers being less loud than four - but also a different quality of sound.
In this case the same phenomenon is being used to bring out the melody note. The first thing I wonder about is: I have a Kawai 97 where the left pedal is supposed to mimic a grand piano and create a different quality sound via that pedal. I'm not sure it does that.
I learned to bring out one note among this kind of series of notes via the damper pedal. Not the same effect.
I'm working on this piece presently, and was playing with the idea of bringing out the main note by striking it more with the hand each time when I get to that stage. What he is saying gives a different angle to it (which you can only do if you have a grand piano, and a good, well regulated one?).
keystring I'm working on this piece presently, and was playing with the idea of bringing out the main note by striking it more with the hand each time when I get to that stage. What he is saying gives a different angle to it (which you can only do if you have a grand piano, and a good, well regulated one?).
I used to just bring out the melody in that piece by making those notes louder (the obvious way, which I would still do), but this method changes everything, it lets you create different colors in the melody versus the accomplishment! But yes, it requires a well regulated grand piano.
It certainly changes how I'm going to approach a lot of pieces going forward.
twocats It certainly changes how I'm going to approach a lot of pieces going forward.
The "Focus Group" video also demonstrates how the sustain pedal adds harmonics as well as sustaining the notes (which I well know; I often add pedal on big chords to get that effect), and then he showed that if you don't want the harmonics you can use the sostenuto pedal instead of the sustain pedal to do a legato!!
My mind is blown!! I feel like a whole new world just opened up to me. But I'm going to need to start using my left foot regularly (aside from tapping the Bluetooth pedal) and that seems like a huge new coordination skill!
Chiu Is an excellent pianist who I've heard play live a few times. He has many interesting and excellent ideas but I think this one would apply to only a small number of pieces and is also something that only super advanced conservatory graduate students should be concerned about. The usual idea of using the left pedal during certain sections of pieces is important and quite common but the idea of constantly switching it on and off I don't think would be appropriate for many pieces. I'm also not convinced that his idea for using it on the etude makes an improvement over the way it's normally played. I think his example of Clair de Lune was a bit misleading because he chose a piece where the composer suggests using the left pedal for the whole piece which incorrectly implied that's how the left pedal is mostly used.
pianoloverus He has many interesting and excellent ideas but I think this one would apply to only a small number of pieces and is also something that only super advanced conservatory graduate students should be concerned about.
Yes, it's very advanced but I think it opens up so many possibilities for tone production! I may not be an advanced conservatory student but I definitely plan to integrate this technique into my playing when I feel that it's appropriate. Like the pulsing beats in the first page of Ballade 1. The minute I saw this video I was like "that's what it needs!". I will have to try it and see how it sounds though.
pianoloverus I'm also not convinced that his idea for using it on the etude makes an improvement over the way it's normally played.
I disagree, I think it sounded amazing! Although I do think he overheld the damper pedal.
I much prefer the official name of the left-most pedal, i.e., the una corda pedal, to the use of the name "soft pedal," mostly because, yes, that pedal can make the sound softer, but that's not all it does; it changes not just loudness (because fewer strings are being struck), but also tone and effect (change in the harmonics due to altered interactions amongst the strings). Generally if I want a quieter sound I will play more p. If I were to use the una corda pedal, it would be to bring out additional nuances. Maybe "mood pedal" would be a more descriptive name?
Stub I much prefer the official name of the left-most pedal, i.e., the una corda pedal, to the use of the name "soft pedal," mostly because, yes, that pedal can make the sound softer, but that's not all it does; it changes not just loudness (because fewer strings are being struck), but also tone and effect (change in the harmonics due to altered interactions amongst the strings).
I think a lot of students practice on uprights so there is no distinction, but I hope their teachers are explaining the difference! Mine never did though, or maybe I just don't remember.
twocats I think a lot of students practice on uprights so there is no distinction, but I hope their teachers are explaining the difference! Mine never did though, or maybe I just don't remember.
Hmmm. On acoustics it's an una corda pedal; on uprights a bona fide "soft" pedal. I don't play on uprights all that often, and when I do it's in practice rooms where the uprights are probably old enough and played out enough to have come off Noah's Ark. I don't think I ever used the "soft" pedal.
Stub On acoustics it's an una corda pedal; on uprights a bona fide "soft" pedal.
Just to clarify, on acoustic grands. Because uprights are acoustic, too 
I grew up playing on an upright, guessing it was a Yamaha U1. None of the families we knew owned a grand piano. I can't even remember for sure if my teacher had one. I am visualizing a basement room with two uprights side by side, but I think after my teacher moved to a different house she did have a grand piano in her living room. I don't think the una corda pedal was a part of my education back then, I'm only starting to use it recently and to really think about where it enhances the music.
My main problem with this is that you need to have a piano that is constructed that way. I don't know whether such a piano also has to be well maintained for it to work. I suspect that my DP, even though a hybrid and constructed to emulate a grand piano, may not have those capabilities.
keystring I think you’re probably right. Unless they’ve got separate sound samples for the UC pedal, I don’t think you really get the change in color. On my Clavinova, there is absolutely no point in using the ‘UC pedal’ because it’s not really a ‘UC’ pedal but just softens things slightly. It’s honestly more effective to just play softer with the hands—you have more control.
twocats I haven’t seen these specific videos but I did see other videos where he was demonstrating this. The times when I considered trying to implement it, I ended up abandoning the effort. I worked on a Fauré nocturne and I thought there were points in it where this kind of approach might further enhance some of the dreamy effect, but the piece was quite a challenge for me even without the surgical UC pedal, and it seemed like it was going to be another big, big challenge if I was going to try to get this to work. I also thought about it in the opening part of the Lecuona piece I just submitted to the recital, to try to create more of a contrast between the rhythmic bass and the singing cantabile line, but it was just going to be more effort than I felt like putting in.
In the end, in both cases I didn’t spend much time on it before deciding ‘too advanced a technique for me.’ But I’d be interested to hear from you how it goes, as you implement it.
Sgisela But I’d be interested to hear from you how it goes, as you implement it.
I tried it out! It is definitely a skill that needs a lot more practice as my right foot is now getting confused about what to do, and I would only recommend adding this once you're already very comfortable with the piece. It really allows you to add color and to help separate the melody from the accompaniment so that they are more distinct.
These are iPad recordings and I don't know how evident the change is, but it is very obvious in person and I love it! If I could get used to the Bluetooth foot pedal, I figure I can learn how to apply strategic una corda as well.
Chopin "Aeolian Harp" Etude (second try of "surgical pedal" is better):
Chopin Ballade No. 1 first page:
I don't think Chiu is the first person to use what he calls surgical shift pedal technique although he may be the first to make a video about it. I think it probably has limited, probably very limited use in an appropriate way and he might even say that also.
Of course the most standard way the left pedal is used is in some section of music by applying it to both hands and not the way Chiu discusses it in this video. I think the fact that when composers notate use of the left pedal it's almost always for both hands at once means that that's generally the best or most appropriate way to use the left pedal most of the time. Does anyone know of a specific example for a composer notated use of the left pedal in a surgical way? Of course it's possible that some excellent pianists use the type of surgical pedaling Chiu discusses fairly frequently but I have no idea whether that's the case.
In the hundred plus live master classes I've heard and others I've watched online, and remember those are usually with very advanced conservatory level students, not only have I never heard any of the teachers discuss surgical pedaling, I've never or almost never heard them talk about use of the left or middle pedal. I have heard them talk about use of the right pedal and I think correct use of that in a variety of ways is far more important in use of the left or middle pedal.
pianoloverus I'm sure that's Chiu's own name for this technique. If you don't find value in it, you don't have to use it.
Of course it should be used judiciously and not just in every piece willy nilly, but I think it greatly enhances how I can tonally separate the pulsing beats in the first page of Ballade 1.
Also I did see Wu Han use a lot of una corda with quick pedal lifts when she played an all Russian cello-piano program here with David Finckel a couple of weeks ago.
twocats I did think the second time you played the passage it sounded better but just because the pulsating chords were softer. I couldn't hear any change in the sound other than a decrease in volume. It may be that hearing any change other than the change in volume is very hard when it's only occurring on two notes so before you can hear it it's over. I know by my personal experience that playing very softly but avoiding ghost notes is not easy but I think some teachers would say that you should try and play those pulsating chords more softly without use of the left pedal Have you tried that? I'm not saying that I disagree with using the Left pedal just to make it easier to play softly and my guess is some great professional pianist use it that way at least occasionally.
twocats Of course it should be used judiciously and not just in every piece willy nilly, but I think it greatly enhances how I can tonally separate the pulsing beats in the first page of Ballade 1.
Other than playing the pulsating beats more softly I think it's definitely open to debate whether there should be any other change in the color that the left pedal automatically adds. I could certainly be wrong, but my guess is that most top professional pianist simply play the pulsating chords softer but don't add the left pedal.
