Una Corda

Una corda, Italian for ‘one string’, is a piano direction telling the player to depress the left pedal (called the una corda or ‘soft pedal’). On a grand piano, this pedal shifts the entire keyboard slightly to the right, so each hammer strikes only two of the three strings normally available (or one of two on bass strings). The result is a softer, more veiled tone.

The name ‘una corda’ derives from early grand pianos where the shift caused hammers to strike only one string per note (instead of three). Modern grand pianos rarely shift far enough for true ‘one string’ contact, but the marking is preserved as the conventional name.

The direction is most commonly used in soft, intimate passages where the muted tone of una corda enhances the expressive effect. Beethoven was the first major composer to mark una corda explicitly; his late piano sonatas use the pedal extensively for atmospheric effect.

Italian, ‘one string’ — una (‘one’) + corda (‘string’).

On grand piano, depress the left pedal. The tone will become softer and more veiled. On upright piano, the equivalent left pedal usually moves the hammers closer to the strings instead — a less dramatic effect but still useful for soft tone.