Squishy pedal

ShiroKuro

Yesterday I played a small grand that is inside a shop at the mall here. I think it was a Chickering, but I’ll have to check the next time I go.

Anyway, the damper pedal felt squishing. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I didn’t like it. It was like pedaling into mush, or a pillow, and it kind of made me nervous. I think maybe because I couldn’t feel where the bottom of the pedal’s “give,” or range, was. I don’t know how else to describe it. But anyway, I felt like I couldn’t “press” into the pedal because I might break it.

I’m pretty sure the piano is rather old. My Yamaha C2 was built in 2000, so of course it’s now 26 years old, but I consider it a “modern” instrument, if that makes sense. Whereas the piano I played yesterday didn’t feel like that. And so I was wondering if that had something to do with the difference in pedal feel.

Has anyone else ever noticed something that?

navindra

ShiroKuro Yeah, I think I know what you mean... because none of the pianos I play regularly feel remotely the same when it comes to the pedals! They all feel different.

It's actually kind of cool you found a different feeling piano that pushed you out of your comfort zone — that's the kind of thing you'd encounter for a performance that might throw you off.

ShiroKuro

navindra that's the kind of thing you'd encounter for a performance that might throw you off.

It certainly is! At least it was better than the piano in a recital once I played that was up on a piano dolly that made it feel like the piano was swaying the whole time. Like playing the piano on a sinking ship!