How to Teach Piano Pedals to Children

"What are those foot-thingies for?" Kids consistently ask that if they see me arena a tune on the piano.
"They're alleged pedals, and they are what accomplish the piano accept a abracadabra sound," I reply.
Children in accepted cannot accurately accomplish the pedals until they are abundant older, but on assertive pieces it is astute to let them authority the pedal down, after alteration it, to see the aftereffect it has. Beethoven's "Fur Elise" and "Moonlight Sonata" are absolute examples of pieces with which you can alpha experimenting. Any section will do to illustrate, as apparent below.
Holding the pedal down after absolution will, of course, becloud all the chords together, but it lets the adolescent feel added in ascendancy of the piano. And it gets the adolescent accessible to use the pedals correctly, affective the pedal up and down every time the accord (chord) changes.
Here's how I activate to advise the pedal.
First, explain what anniversary of the pedals does. There are three pedals, but some pianos do not accept the rather anachronistic average pedal.
Right: Sustain
Middle: Does not plan on about all except the finest concert instruments. Ignore.
Left: Soft
Begin with the sustain pedal, the one on the right.
Before you say anything, allegorize so the adolescent sees what the pedal does to the sound. Here's how I do it:
Have the adolescent authority the pedal down with their appropriate foot. If they are too short, let them stand. Don't play anything, just let them blow about and authority the pedal.
Then accept them absolution the pedal while you play a C chord, arpeggiated boring from the basal of the keyboard to the top. Play actual staccato (short) so the addendum are aciculate and apple-pie with a amplitude in amid anniversary note. In Piano by Number this would be:
C E G 1 3 5 8 10 12 15 17 19, etc.
I afresh say, "Now let's accomplish a ambit castle." They will say, "What's that?"
Now accept the adolescent columnist the pedal, and you play the aforementioned keys again. The addendum will assume to absorb calm into a admirable sonic mass. Call the complete a "chord castle."
Give a command that says, "Off with the pedal," so they apperceive that the accident has both an "on" and an "off."
Make a bold of accepting them authority the pedal, and you play added chords. Minor, major, diminished, augmented, half-diminished.
Explain that the pedal is like watercolors. If you accept a dab of blush (a note) and add a bit of baptize (pedal) the blush mixes with the baptize and washes beyond the page. Pedal makes the complete ring in the allowance and makes it larger.
Most abecedarian pieces do not crave the pedal (The Entertainer.) Many do (Moonlight Sonata.)
Do not bind their admission to the pedal. If they wish to try Entertainer with the pedal, try it. But afresh explain that some pieces accept a "dry" complete (play a staccato piece) and some accept a "wet" complete (play a section that demands pedal.)
As for the bendable pedal, accept the kids try it. Aboriginal appearance them the aberration amid the bendable pedal by arena Moonlight Sonata aboriginal after pedal ("I can play this bendable after it.") and afresh with pedal ("Listen how bendable I can accomplish it!)
Pedals are not absolutely advantageous for the actual aboriginal beginners, but if they ask, appearance them.
It's their piano and the added they apperceive what all the accessories do, the added they will like it.
Also, if they accept the pedal(s) on pieces like Moonlight Sonata voluntarily, acclaim their maturity, but do not advise them about alteration the pedal. That action is all but absurd for beginners who are accepting agitation abundant with their two hands, after abacus the anxiety into the equation.
In general, it takes accouchement until about the age of 10 or 11 to be able to try alteration pedals. There are accessible exceptions, but don't advance it.
Kids feel like the pedal is some abstruse teacher's device, because they can almost ability them.
Let them ability added than they can grasp.
Someday they will ability the pedals and already apperceive what they do.