21

In Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory Book, there is this example to be played on the piano:

The Jazz Theory Book, figure 3-149
The Jazz Theory Book, figure 3-149

I've never had any piano training/lessons, so I don't really know the indications.

What does 'Led' (or is it 'Σed') mean?

Improve this question
4
  • 3
    Ped. for pedale.
    – user28
    Commented Mar 5, 2015 at 15:36
  • 2
    Interesting that the notes written Eb are accompanied by a G7#5 chord. Should they be a D#?
    – Tim
    Commented Mar 5, 2015 at 16:41
  • 1
    @Tim Seeing as the E♭ resolves down to D, I'd say that E♭ is correctly spelt, and that the chord symbol is wrong. I'd analyse it as G ♭13. The G root resolves to C, so it may fairly be taken as a dominant chord. F is there, so, dominant 7th. The E♭ is above the 7th and may thus be analysed as the 13th.
    – Rosie F
    Commented Oct 6, 2018 at 8:59
  • 3
    Does this answer your question? Why does the pedal sign look like “Leo”?
    – user1079505
    Commented Jun 12, 2021 at 19:24

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
23

It's actually Ped, and just instructs the pianist to use the sustain pedal, in this section.

Improve this answer
11

It means to use hold down the damper pedal until the end of the dash. The effect is that every note you play while the pedal is held down is sustained.

There are actually a few variations of this notation with another popular form of it shown here. The idea behind the other common form is to show where you press the pedal (the PED) and where you release the pedal (the *).

Improve this answer
0
1

It actually means "Ped" for pedale. The pedale symbol directs you to step on the pedal. If you see an asterisk beside it, it indicates that you should release the pedal. enter image description here So you should stop using the pedal after the asterisk. I hope this helps.

Improve this answer
1
1

This is a pedale marking, and there is even a Unicode encoding for it, U+1D1AE, see here:

Or copied in (unfortunately very small):

𝆮

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    FYI: the copied, quoted character does not display properly (on macOS Monterey).
    – Aaron
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 17:30

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.