Upright String
What are the differences between una corda pedal on a grand and upright ??
On a Grand piano the whole keyboard layout shifts a bit to the right in order for the hammer to hit only two strings instead of one.
In an upright this doesn’t happen, but what happens is that all hammers move closer to the strings and when one hits a note while keeping una corda pedal down, the hammers don’t have such a long way to travel, therefore the string will not be hit hard thus the sound produced will be lower.
So far logical. Now! In wikipedia they claim that in a grand piano this pedal not only makes the sound lower, but also CHANGES THE TONE !!! This is what I don’t get. Where does that come from ? And what exactly do they mean by ‘tone’, what exactly IS ‘tone’ ?
sorry. ‘instead of three’
Tone is the quality of sound. Lets examine the word tone in another context…
i.e. greenish tone – meaning shades or touches of green
muscle tone – amount of muscle mass
The use of the word tone in these context reflects quality… therefore in music, it is the means… quality of sound…
However, the term tonal color is often used. The use of the una corda changes the color of a note played. Just like painters have many shades of blues, reds and greens to use, using the una corda and the sustain pedal can give you different shades ( or tone colors) of each note.
The una corda pedal shifts the entire action of the keyboard over to the left so that one less string or part of a string is played when struck by the hammer.
Jones is correct in his description of what happens with the action in the instrument.
The best way to hear this is to repeat a single note and as you continue to play it press the una corda and listen carefully to how the sound changes. Now, una corda is often mislabeled as the soft pedal. This is wrong. Professional pianist do not refer to it as a soft pedal but a pedal that changes the color of a note.
Now continue to do this but repeat the notes at a forte dynamic, then without changing the dynamic level press the una corda and again listen. Try this at all dynamic levels.
Another exercise you can do to hear the change of color is play a scale two octaves ascending and descending. After the first octave of the scale, maintain the same dynamic level and press the una corda and hear how the tone of the scale changes. Lift it up at the top of the scale as you descend, then on the final octave press the una corda down. You will be able to hear the shifts in tonal colors.
Try this with chords. Play a 4 note chord and repeat then press the una corda. These exercises will help to sensitize your ear to the changes in color on the instrument.
I often use una corda with forte passages if I need a different color and variation. You can also half pedal the una corda so instead of having one string omitted in the upper register, half of that string is being striked.
Now, in terms of vibration – all the strings in the piano will vibrate if the sustain pedal is down. If the sustain pedal is not down only the strings of the note that was struck will vibrate. i.e. if you strike treble C and the una corda is down, only two strings are actually struck by the hammer but the 3rd string will still vibrate because the damper lifts off the keys when the note is activated.
In an upright, the tone is altered. Because the hammers are closer, the velocity of the hammer striking the string is altered. This changes the tone as well because the string is not struck with the same force as when the una corda is not depressed. Someone said the tone isn’t altered but it is! Any change in how a string is struck by a hammer affects tone! Tone is what comes out of the instrument!
Imagine a xylophone, if a percussionist strikes it with more force from 3 inches above the key as composed to 2 inches above the key, there will be a definite difference in sound! You can try it yourself by using your table. Hold you hand above at 3 inches and strike your table, listen to the sound. Then try it 2 inches above and I’m sure you will here a slight difference.
There is tonal color change in both pianos. However, with a grand the difference is much more noticeable and allows for the most sensitive and detailed color changes.
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