Une corde

As Printed on a Score

Printed between or below the piano staves where the soft pedal goes down, and cancelled by trois cordes (or tre corde). French scores more often print the Italian una corda, or sourdine, for the same pedal.

How Composers Use It

Une corde asks for the soft pedal, which on a grand piano shifts the hammers so they strike fewer strings — a softer, more veiled tone, not just less volume. Use it for colour in quiet passages, and mark its release with trois cordes so the player knows when the full sound returns. Avoid writing it for a whole piece; the colour loses its point when it never changes.

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