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I've never seen this pedal notation used before and would appreciate it if someone could help me understand what it means?pedal markings

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  • This is Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata, mvt. 1.
    – Pierre 2001
    Commented Dec 21, 2023 at 15:13

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The └ mark means "apply pedal", and the ┐ mark means "release pedal".

Here is a more standard notation from the Godowsky edition of the piece:1

Beethoven Pathetique Sonata mm 1-2

1Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata in C Minor (1798), Op. 13, "Pathétique", mm. 1-2. The pedal markings both in the OP and Godowsky are editorial, not Beethoven's. Beethoven did not give pedal indications here.

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    Surely that sign would be more intuitive with an upturn at the end, showing which way the pedal actually goes.
    – Tim
    Commented Oct 25, 2020 at 7:07
  • Yup. Which is probably why the more standard pedal line does that, with 'Ped' at the beginning and an upturn at the end. I like this one though. Less cluttered than all those 'Ped' objects.
    – Laurence
    Commented Oct 25, 2020 at 12:23
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The beginning of the pedal mark indicates that you need to suppress the sustain pedal and at the end it needs to be released.

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