Con pedale: meaning and use in music

Con pedale means with pedal: use the piano’s sustain or damper pedal through the indicated passage; write the Italian phrase in full.

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How is con pedale played?

Use the right-hand damper pedal so selected notes can continue after their keys are released and can resonate with later sounds. As a broad passage instruction, con pedale normally leaves changes and clearing points to the performer’s ear, harmony and style; it does not require holding one unchanged pedal continuously. Exact depressions and releases may instead be shown with Ped., an asterisk or a pedal line. The phrase does not refer to una corda, sostenuto or the pitch-changing pedals of a harp.

How does con pedale sound?

The texture becomes resonant and blended, with notes overlapping and sustaining instead of stopping when the fingers leave the keys.

In context

Con pedale is a standard Italian piano instruction for playing with the damper pedal, the mechanism that raises the dampers and permits continued vibration. It contrasts with senza pedale, while detailed pedal marks can govern individual changes. No proposed abbreviation of the complete Italian phrase received three independent direct expansions, so con pedale remains written out.

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