Con pedale

As Printed on a Score

Printed beneath the piano part at the start of a piece or passage (con pedale, col Ped., sempre con Pedale) when the pedal is to be used throughout but the changes are left to the player. It holds until senza pedale or explicit Ped. markings take over.

Abbreviations: con Ped., col Ped., sempre Ped., sempre con Pedale

Also spelled: col pedale

How Composers Use It

Use it when the music plainly needs the pedal — broken-chord accompaniments, wide spacings, a resonant wash — but the exact changes are best judged at the instrument, following the harmony and the room. It is a 19th- and early 20th-century habit, common in songs and character pieces. Where precise points matter, such as a held bass or a deliberate blur, mark them instead.

Example

Satie, Gymnopédie No. 1, piano, m. 1: “con pedale”, printed once, with “Lent et douloureux”, at pp.

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