Sight Reading Skills - Anthony Maydwell - AnthonyMaydwell.com

Pedal
Because pedalling is such a subtle art just a few tips will help.
Within the Mikrokosmos, the pedal is marked very carefully. Use it only
where it is marked. Listen so that the pedal does not ‘clunk’ when engaging
or releasing. All use of it should be without extraneous noises.
Use of pedal should mostly be sparse in Bach, any sonatinas and
Haydn and Mozart sonatas. When sight reading works of the Classical
period or earlier it is advisable to always begin with economical pedal use.
If in doubt it is better to avoid it altogether rather than drown the music
with damper pedal. It is common for students to rely heavily on the pedal
when feeling insecure and often they need to be reminded to take their foot
off the pedal.
Sight Reading Skills — 40
“What, then, does being musical mean? You are not
musical if you gaze anxiously at the notes and labour
your way through to the end of the piece. You
are not, if somebody who is turning for you turns
two pages instead of one, and you stop and cannot
go on. You are musical, however, when in a new
piece of music you can feel what might be coming,
or in a familiar one, you already know – in other
words when you have music not just in your fingers,
but in your head and in your heart.”
Schumann “Musical rules at home and in life”, Op.68.