Upright Middle Pedal Action

Does anyone know where I can get a diagram of the mechanics of the middle pedal of an upright? On the one I'm making repairs to, the steel bracket coming from the pedal is still intact, but the wooden dowel (at least, I think it's supposed to be a wooden dowel) is missing. If can get a diagram of the middle pedal assembly, I can repair it.

Thanks in advance,

It depends what the middle pedal of your upright does. If it is simply a silencer (lowers a strip of felt between the hammers and the strings) its 'mechanics' are very simple - just peek into an upright at your friendly piano dealer shark. And if it is indeed a silencer, don't bother : it does no good to your hands (you have a digital if you want to practice in 'silence'.

On American uprights, middle pedals have been assigned various functions, most of them without musical value. Very, very few have the true sostenuto function of grand middle pedals. The main funtion of the upright middle pedal was so the salesman could say it has *3* pedals, which is better than *2* pedals. As we all know, that makes it one better.

To find out what function yours is supposed to have, you may have to lay on your back with a flashlight with your head in the piano, and look up to find the female part that would receive the rod/dowel. Having located this, you can manipulate the female part to see what it does. Then you can decide that it's silly and not worth spending further time and effort on, because it is not musically useful.

Regards,

Rick Clark

Thanks, Rick. I was thinking that if it was originally a 'practice pedal,' that it would be useful. With three pedals, I won't have to buy training wheels, right? <G>

Cheers,

It's possible, but they weren't that common on old Amercan pianos. (They are fairly common now in Asian pianos sold in the U.S.) A few old American pianos had them. But if it did, you would also have the very obvious felt strip that would lower down between the hammers and strings. Lacking that, you don't have a practice pedal.

More likely it is a 'bass sustain' function.

Regards,

Rick Clark

Thanks again, Rick. I appreciate the info.

Cheers,

Get a grand piano, where the middle pedal acutally does something useful.

Hi Frank . I was a two pack a day addict untill five years ago . If I can kick it , anyone can. Good luck and let us know how you are going once you decide to take the plunge. One tip .....Herbals helped me cause you still smoke but without the nicotine. Cheers Gary.

The left pedal

You will not hear any audible difference whilst striking a key with the left pedal depressed .You have to actually physically _play_ softer ,... but the hammer velocity is reduced which allows the player greater control between pp and ff. I personally find it difficult to play with delicate expression on an upright where the left pedal is either disconnected or badly adjusted. I can say that 99% of players couldn't give s**t about the left pedal . Shame though. Cheers Gary.

The first time I was clean for more than two years. Then ... one puff at a party, the temptation of an 'aristocratic' John Player Special...

Best wishes,

Michel de NostreDame

Merci beaucoup, Michel. Today, I had my first real crave, and thought to myself, 'What? No way... Now that I've gone THIS long already, I'm not about to succumb.' The crave passed, as craves always do. (As long as they are not fixated upon)

On a different note: The tuner came and I found that my poor piano was 75% of a half step flat. (I already knew that, actually.) He brought it up to tune and in the process, broke only three strings, which he will replace at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. I found out some very important things, though:

1. The pinblock is in good shape. (Hooray!) 2. The piano was made, as I first thought, out of quarter-sawn oak, and was then covered with a mahogany veneer. 3. The keys are NOT ivory, although the piano was built in 1917. (This was quite a shock) 4. Overall, the piano is in wonderful shape, and he openly admired a lot of the work I had done. He said that with the longer/taller harp, that the sound was comparable to a baby grand, and that if I take care of some of the things that it needs, as they become necessary, the piano will last at least another 75 years. He also answered all of my questions in an informative manner, including my questions about taking care of the touch-up tunings between bi-annual professional tunings.

I also found out something else: As a pianist, I am awful. Truly dreadful... I've been wasting my time messing around with more complex pieces, when I should be sticking with the very most basic songs, scales, and chords. After he finished tuning the piano, he ran through several scales, a couple of jazz numbers, The Beatles' 'Yesterday,' and some other pieces that I didn't recognize. Phew! Amazing... I would give anything to be able to play like that, and I am: I am giving my time, sweat and effort to learn how to play.

All The Best,