les deux pedales

“play with the pedal This technique is called overlapping pedaling, and it creates a fluid, continuous sound on the piano. In some advanced piano music a piece may say “con pedale” meaning “play with the pedal.” This is where the overlapping pedaling technique also comes in.

Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal). Some pianos omit the sostenuto pedal, or have a middle pedal with a different purpose such as a muting function also known as silent piano.

The left pedal on an upright piano is known as the half-blow or soft pedal. It moves the hammers closer to the strings so that they hit them with less velocity – allowing the player to produce a sound which is a little quieter and softer.

While the right pedal sustains all the notes on a piano, the sostenuto, in essence, holds down selective notes you wish to sustain. When it is depressed, the last note played continues to sound while all the other notes are damped.

sustain pedal 3. The instruction 'con pedale' at the start of a piece of music means the piece can have sustain pedal where you feel it might be appropriate.

[English, two pedals] A directive found in piano compositions indicating the use of both the damper pedal (right) and the soft pedal (una corda or left) at the same time. In French compositions, the phrase les deux pedales is often seen. This directive comes from the days when pianos only had two pedals.

The Damper/Sustain pedal controls how long the notes can be heard after playing them. The second most important pedal is the Soft pedal, otherwise known as the Una Corda. This controls how soft the piano sounds, and is usually the pedal furthest to the left on acoustic pianos.

Most modern day acoustic grand pianos will have two other pedals: The 'una corda' pedal (left pedal) and the sostenuto pedal (middle pedal). If you only have two pedals in total on your piano, as many uprights do, the right will be the sustain pedal and the left will be the una corda pedal.

1. Sustain pedal. The sustain pedal, also known as the damper pedal, is the most frequently used pedal on a piano. Positioned on the right side, this pedal is typically operated with the right foot.

There are three pedals on the grand piano – they are named, from left to right, the una corda, sostenuto, and damper pedal. The purpose of the pedals is to change the tone of the piano in some way.

A few examples come to mind:

• Claude Debussy: Clair de Lune. Second page, Tempo rubato.
• Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in c♯ minor. The sostenuto pedal is extensively used throughout the piece.
• Maurice Ravel: Sonatine. The last two bars of the second movement require the sostenuto pedal.

It literally just means "with pedal". It's probably an instruction to either keep pedaling in the same pattern, or to pedal ad lib from there.