Some think that it's not a big deal. "What is the little pedal for anyway?" Maybe you are asking yourself the same question. When you see a singer or a keyboardist playing the piano and their foot continuously taps away underneath the keyboard on a pedal - What in the heck are they doing?
Well. Let me clue you in on a lil something about that little pedal. It's like driving an old jeep wrangler VS a new Mercedes. One is rough and choppy, the other smooth and simply beautiful. The sustain pedal when pressed allows the keys to be held for a longer duration giving the chord or note the ability to transition seamlessly to the next. When the pedal is not pressed, the notes are only held as long as the fingers are pressing them down. (Tonka toy verses Orchestral Celebration).
For a more thorough definition of a sustain pedal, my friends at ask.com have provided some brilliant relief. CLICK HERE
I was given the opportunity to be featured at Pillars of Faith Tabernacle in Queens, New York as a guest worship vocalist. What a tremendous blessing. "Me, You & the Piano" is a songwriting series that I developed of new music performed on piano. So there I was, in the middle of my set, worshiping with no distractions: just Me, You & the Piano, when BAM! The sustain pedal just stops working. (Insert panic heartbeat sound here.)
"What in the world do I do?" - I ask myself. "Does anyone notice? Of course they notice! But wait...the remaining songs are slow...this is gonna sounds like a children's concert (tink, clang, tink, clang)! OH NO! Am I distracted? Wait...what am I playing? What song is this? Where am I? SECURITY!" So what did I do...? I prayed really hard, took a deep breath and said..."Here goes nothing!" LOL
Here is a video of right when the pedal went out. The video is about a year old, but oh so relevant to today. I tried to keep cool and keep it moving, but OH MAN! What a task! :-) To all of the keyboardists out there...Hi-Five. I know you will smile. :-) Has something similar ever happened to you? If so, tell me about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQZLeaFDto