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Pedal: on the piano, the sustaining (damper) pedal, marked Ped. and released at *; also the organ pedalboard and the pitch-changing pedals of harp and timpani. In Italian theory, also a pedal point.
In piano music Ped. under the bass staff marks where the damper pedal goes down, and * or the end of a bracket where it comes up; Ped. simile continues a pattern already shown. In organ music Ped. labels the pedalboard staff, and harp parts show pedal settings in letters or a diagram.
Abbreviations: Ped., Ped
Pedalling is part of the sound: it sustains harmonies, joins notes the hands cannot hold, and adds resonance even in clean textures. Mark it where it is essential to your texture — long bass notes, deliberate blurs, dry passages — and leave routine changes to the player or write Ped. simile. Notes from different harmonies held in one pedal blur, which is either a colour or a mistake.
Chopin, Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, piano, m. 2: “Ped. simile”, in the bar after the opening “Andante” and “espress. dolce” — the pedalling pattern is to continue.
Pedale is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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