<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1491" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>Our piano prof uses the soft/shift pedal constantly. As he put it,= "we never use 1/2 or 1/4 or so by design - it is used to the depth at which= it is necessary in the music, and is a matter of taste and using one's ear." </= DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I watched him play a CPE Bach piece, and he "rode the clutch", so to sp= eak. I don't think played one note without some soft pedaling. I can underst= and what he is saying, but I have never seen anyone use the soft pedal like he d= oes. To me it almost seems like he has developed a habit. I don't hear the subtle= difference he claims the soft pedaling is supposed to create. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As a result I need to voice every hair on the felt on every hammer to m= ake sure all of them sound exactly the same at the infinitesimal shift= positions.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My question is, has he gotten in a bad habit or is this "standard procedure"? I realize there is not much I can do about it, other than w= ork like a devil to get it right. But for my own curiosity, is he asking fo= r the moon on this?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim <DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"= >Willem Blees, RPT<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>School of Music<BR>University of Alabama<BR>Tuscaloosa, AL USA</FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>