When you reach the symbol to lift the sustain pedal, do you lift the pedal before or after you hit the note the snowflake is on? I'm specifically referring to Fur Elise.

I guess I should also ask; should I press the pedal before or after I hit the note where Ped is indicated?

I just watched the video over at Keyboard Kaleidoscope which answered most of my questions. Definitely press the pedal down *after* hitting the note.

After watching the video, it appears to be clear that you lift the sustain just before hitting the note after the snowflake note.

More importantly though, after watching this great video, I see that I shouldn't even be using the pedal at all yet! I'm not even up to tempo with my performance. As Bob Estrin said, pedal shouldn't be used until you have the piece down cold without the pedal. That makes sooo much sense!

I totally disagree, but that's just my opinion.

Your opinion carries a lot of weight Matt. Can you elaborate?

I don't know if you saw the video, but basically he said that you should practice to carry the sustain as much as possible in the fingers before beginning to use the pedal.

I'm not Matt, but years and years ago when I learned the piece, I learned to push the pedal immediately after hitting the note with the "Ped" under it, and for the note above the snowflake - I release the pedal and depress the key simultaneously, making sure the pedal is totally released before the key sounds....

I don't know if my teacher back then taught me correctly.....haven't had my new teacher go over it with me yet - we'll get it it later to polish the piece.

I agree with Matt. In some cases, that method is helpful (e.g. Baroque, and some Classical), but in music from, say, the Romantic and Impressionistic era, it is necessary to get the right pedaling for the piece from the very start.