Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Can anyone help me figure out the pedaling for this song?

Hi everyone,
This will be my first post on here and I'm excited to learn. I am currently working on the Toy Story theme song "You've got a friend in me" specifically the one arranged by YouTuber Jonny May. Here the link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhLhFJQDdJs

I also have the PDF of the sheet music....(I can email it to you if you can edit the file to write pedal markings on it and email it back to me)

I was wondering if anyone experienced can explain to me when to use pedal in this piece...He plays it so fast that I am not sure if hes using pedal or not...

If you watch his right leg in the video you can that he uses pedal although not very precisely where. There is not one correct way to use the pedal in any given piece. Try and experiment and see how it sounds. One possibility would be to use a touch of pedal on the first and third beat of each measure.

Have you tried playing it without pedal ?

Well i haven't learned to whole song yet just the first few measures. It sounds okay if I play it fast and accurate enough without pedal but I think he uses pedal in some parts, I can guess where but I was trying to ask someone more experience on these forums to helps me out

The problem is in the left hand.
You have to pedal the bass notes on the downbeats. If not, they are too short.
Note, however, that these bass notes do not ring into the next chord.

You may need some pedal.

However, I would suggest playing it (at performance speed) without pedal.

Then, you will hear where pedal is needed.

Do not rush to pedal things unless the sound you hear (at performance speed) needs sustaining somewhere.

The pianist on video uses the pedal, but often thoughtlessly . In the first stage, it is necessary to study flat, without any pedal; and only after that decides in what places ped will carry the necessary musical function: accent, emphasizing the harmonious connection of bass and chord, without creating harmonic dirt (which requires the use of a half pedal), etc.

Ok but given the speed of the song do. You think it is reasonable to pedal every down beat per bar?

The issue I have with playing it flat is I’m not quite sure if my rhythm is off or if it’s because it sounds so off without pedal

First of all, it should be noted that by the movements of the pianist’s right foot, one cannot know for certain when he presses the pedal, and when he taps the rhythm. Can only be identified by ear.
To be specific, I focus on one of the greatest masters of stride piano Fats Waller.



The motor of Stride Piano genre is in the left hand, so pedalization basically applies to it. There are several techniques in l.h., and pedalization is associated with them. It should be noted that Fats Waller had big hands that allowed him to freely play chains of tenths without breaking them.
Main texture : pairwise connection of bass and chord related to the same harmony; bass onbeat, chord on offbeat.
1. The left hand plays completely without a pedal, the basses and chords are short. The bass can be in the form of single note, and then it is advisable to play it in low octaves. You can emphasize only bass, or only chords; but it depends on the approach to phrasing.

2.The bass and chord are connected by a pedal that stops on the chord, and it sounds short. In this case, the pedal naturally accentuates the bass; to emphasize the chord, it is necessary to use the related movement of LH .
3.The pedal is used only on a chord, what creates an accent, the bass is short.

4. To fill phrasing pauses in the melody in bars 4,8,12,16, etc., you can use the general pedal for bass and chord without shortening the chord.

5. The left hand plays a chain of straight tenths for each quarter (I can not) - the pedal can be isolated for each of them .

6. Broken tenths: they can be broken from bass up and vice versa. In the first case, it is customary to play both notes on the same pedal (and not as in the video), emphasizing the second note. The bottom main note is played without a pedal in cases of the ghost note effect. In the second case, you can use the pedal on both notes, or only on the second long.

However, all this should be the result of the intentional construction of phrases, which requires a clear hearing of melodic lines in the sequences of basses and chords.

I think the elephant in the room here is this ....

You are attempting to play something that miles above the level of where you are with piano skills.

This piece is at least an intemediate player level.

You are apparently just getting started and should be playing much easier pieces.

A teacher would also help immensely.

You can keep fussing with this piece and get no place or start back with a method book and gain some simple skills before trying something so complicated.

Just my opinion.

You do what you think best.

I very well might be lol. I feel like I am able to hit the notes and with enough time practicing via metronome I can get timing as well. I am a math major and picking piano up as an adult so I like being very precise. The fact that pedaling is not usually written in the sheet music makes me uncomfortable...

Think of the pedal like an artist’s palette—- how much red? Blue? Blurred or crisp image? It is like a wonderful tool without rules. Experiment and listen with your ears.

Pedaling is a very simple concept.

You push the pedal down when you wish for a note (or notes) to continue sounding when you are no longer holding the key (or keys) down.

That is it. Simple.

You listen to your playing and you think .... Gee, I wish those notes would keep sounding even though I have had to pick up my fingers for the next notes I wish to play.

Then you push the pedal down and they will keep sounding.

There are 2 extremes for this idea.

1. Hold the pedal down all of the time .... try it .... you won't like it.

2. Never hold the pedal down. That may not work, either.

You have to listen and you have to decide when to push the pedal down and when to lift it back up.

AND ... until you can actually play something at performance speed you cannot make that decision intelligently.

So .... I would suggest ..... again ..... stop trying to play something that you do not have skills to play and start at the beginning like everyone else.

Get a teacher .... or a book .... or a youtube video for beginners .... or something that gets you started with day 1 ..... This is a keyboard .... etc ....

You will be a lot more successful that trying to become instant piano player.

Good Luck