Notation for sostenuto pedal?
I have some notation for piano indicating use of the sostenuto pedal (middle pedal see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_pedals#Sostenuto_pedal ) as shown here:
or here
I cannot find anything about this in the Musescore manuals... or anywhere else for that matter. My best option so far is to add stave text, use F2 and insert something like "curve below" or elision, then position this near the note in question. e.g.
(actually that's using an un-named symbol found bottom-right in Common Symbols).
But this text is not actually associated with the note so might not stick with it when other things change? And it's a right slog adding these.
I've just found this interesting post suggesting possible use of diamond-shaped note heads and/or writing 'Sost.Ped.' http://www.pianocareer.com/piano-pedal/piano-pedals-style/ ).
Any suggestions? Is there a correct notation for sostenuto? And how do I do it in Musescore?
Comments
See this: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/426796.html
Thank you for the question. :)
In reply to See this: by xavierjazz
Thanks - interesting thread with a variety of ideas on offer, but I think the main thrust is simply to add stave text of "sost. Ped" somewhere, or to use the MuseScore pedal lines and add "sost." in front. Is that what you meant?
![sostenuto4.PNG]( "sostenuto4.PNG")
In my case I think the composer's intention was that the sostenuto pedal duration was for the written note length, and sometimes he seems to use it because the hand that played the notes is going to be busy elsewhere, as in the marking on the first sfz chord in this example:
Instead of staff text, tying adding a symbol from the Symbols palette, which can be attached to a specific note and thus move with it.
You can also experiment with adding a tie to an invisible grace note after, or a slur that you shape manually.
In reply to Instead of staff text, tying by Marc Sabatella
I just found "Sostenuto pedal mark" in the symbols palette!
In reply to I just found "Sostenuto pedal by crispin
FWIW, the standard way of indicating sostenuto is with a pedal line, same as the damper / sustain pedal. Only difference would be using the word "Sost" instead of or in addition to "Ped". The one-sided tie markings shown in your example are more common in guitar music, to indicate chord that should be allowed to let ring in situations where this might not be clear. But it is not the standard way to indicate sostenuto on piano. I was assuming you had some reaosn to want to duplicate the origina. but if you'd rather be correct than fiathful to the handwritten original (and I know *I* would), then just use a "Sost" line. If you want to use the fancy script, then just edit the text of a regular Ped line to use keyboardPedalSost instead of keybaord PedalPed.
In reply to FWIW, the standard way of by Marc Sabatella
I didn't know that about guitar - useful. I'm actually only guessing that the notation in the original was asking for sostenuto pedal, but I cannot think what else it could mean. Unfortunately the composer's not around to ask. But also it is slightly more subtle than that - I think it can also mean hold a key down (i.e. same thing but without the pedal!). In the bar I included earlier, we see the symbol at the start of the bar. Clearly the player cannot hold down those keys, so it must want a pedal. This composer regularly asks for ped when wanted, and Una Corda for that matter, so it must mean sost ped. But then near the end of the bar we see the same symbol again, and this time it seems to mean that the player should hold down those notes into the lunga pausa ("L.V."), releasing them at the same time as the sost ped. So in the pause the notes sounding will be the initial chord plus the top three in RH and top two in LH.
If this is all correct, then simply using the *correct* pedal notation doesn't cut the mustard, so overall I think I will do as you suggest at the beginning of the bar, then use the composer's notation for the notes later in the bar (and include a footnote!).
Thanks! You can see/hear the (almost finished first draft) score here https://musescore.com/user/72156/scores/2555051
In reply to I didn't know that about by crispin
Actually, all you have to do is, you have to insert a "Ped" mark, select it, then you press F8, or just open the Inspector and select the mark, scroll down, and it will say "Begin Text". By default the begin text will be set to keyboardPedalPed, but to replace it with a sostenuto pedal, you have to change it to keyboardPedalSost. Here is the result:
In reply to Actually, all you have to do… by Parn23
Is there a list of these "commands" ( I don't know what else to call it)?
That would be very useful.
In reply to Is there a list of these … by xavierjazz
Only by checking out the MuseScore source code:
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/blob/master/libmscore/sym.cpp#L51
In reply to Only by checking out the… by Marc Sabatella
Wow. Thanks.
In reply to Is there a list of these … by xavierjazz
You can hover over a symbol in the master palette and it will show you the code
![Screenshot 2021-12-16 194936.png]( "Screenshot 2021-12-16 194936.png")
Hope this helps
In reply to You can hover over a symbol… by MK140221
Even better: you can right-click that symbol (Ctrl+click on Mac) and choose "Copy SMuFL Symbol Code" for easier pasting into the text fields of the Inspector.
In reply to Even better: you can right… by jeetee
This is good to know.
In reply to Actually, all you have to do… by Parn23
Does this affect the playback? Or does it continue to act as a damper pedal?
In reply to Does this affect the… by linsley
Doesn't change playback. Unfortunately the pedal effect cannot be disabled on playback
In reply to Doesn't change playback… by MK140221
If you wish to have a line that doesn't have the sustain effect on playback, don't use the damper pedal line, just use a plain text line (eg, the one labeled "staff" in the palette. Their text and hooks can be customized just as damper pedal lines can, but they won't affect playback.