Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 14 hours ago
You are probably changing the pedal far more often than you need to.
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course -- 51 jazz licks, 7 chord progressions and the full arrangement of "Asking You Out" -- for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
"That's okay to hold the pedal there, because it's not going to blur -- because of the scale pattern that's going on."
DO THIS AT THE PIANO TONIGHT
- Find a run in something you already play that moves mostly by step, one note to the next, with no big jumps in it.
- Play it the way you normally do, changing the pedal every time the harmony feels like it moves.
- Now put the pedal down at the start of the run and leave it down through the whole thing.
- Listen. If the run is stepwise and it sits up in the higher register, it will not turn to mud. It rings.
- The higher you are on the keyboard, the more you can get away with. Try the same run two octaves lower and you will hear exactly where the line is.
WHY IT WORKS
Most players are taught one pedal rule: change it when the chord changes. That rule keeps beginners out of trouble, and then it quietly caps how good they can sound, because it treats every note as equally likely to muddy the sound.
Two things decide whether held notes blur. The first is the shape of the line. A scale pattern is neighbours -- notes that are already next to each other -- and the ear hears them as one moving line rather than a pile. Leaps stack up into a chord and turn to mud fast. The second is register. Low strings are thick and long and they smear; high strings are thin and they decay quickly, so up there you can hold far more than you think.
Put those together and you get the real rule: a stepwise run, high on the keyboard, can be pedalled straight through -- and it should be, because that ring is most of what makes the passage sound finished instead of practised.
This is one of those details nobody tells you. It is not in the notes, it is not in the fingering, and it is the difference between a run that sounds like an exercise and one that sounds like a record.
WHAT THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE COVERS
- The full arrangement of "Asking You Out," taught twelve bars at a time
- 7 chord progressions with two beats left blank so you improvise over them
- 51 original jazz licks, all written by me for teaching, not looked up
- Live bass-and-drums backing tracks at two speeds so you can play with a band
- Chord spelling and voicing from the ground up, so you understand what you are playing
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
Read Google Reviews by Shawn’s actual students google.com/search?sca_esv=5009c1303de011b0&sca_upv=1&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1008US1008&hl=en-US&q=web+piano+teacher+reviews&uds=ADvngMgvgkdrPGdvQSDLpEVP-ZodsumYvHbzDCPdZxu7y1dxdo5qqAYWcbG74nStvB1P7oPuKgMFxvRIzd_DZN3tMyxEyrPXSMvg62M7DhKnaOoXRrvMRlR2qOzpuVB5MFvbzhVxfpnLmeUii_UEMspRA9Sb2_UNlNmYcxD8gSa_9Y-ZrAhmC7PMo4dC-3yAW2NaRCTwbTkIJFF0zACFe0MmWygbXUnSyy4URj5yYn7f6Y92qL5F7C65sP-AwHchpQ_w3yruheB24nu-AvcfFQo-ckINkBqWAeio4R0dm9r8cmVn2A7RlUhPAPOZyHpYJ2DontEmnoCi9_eEmhwW9RpGrsajaR7u8_U58p0eD_M4AQtnaQce2g4_3U4ECJVG1OOQrlRFwR4byywOQYKXK-PF9b_wDOJ4wtlppDpfX1FhULjD2H_jbmF3keFLT-JjbHx5mU1wYAbm&si=ACC90nwjPmqJHrCEt6ewASzksVFQDX8zco_7MgBaIawvaF4-7tVxiqnhHYhqKwDDsP2tv6FAZ1fBoW06Zy-5I4bv_4sVUMNgTvp0JS4qCRvaokEGreiT-RV-opIxhvzKSE6856yE4kgwpddtdtU31HEpdWwEdq8gXg%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1uakreOIAxVxKkQIHU2mGhQQk8gLegQIKRAB&ictx=1&biw=390&bih=657&dpr=3
🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
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You are probably changing the pedal far more often than you need to.
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course -- 51 jazz licks, 7 chord progressions and the full arrangement of "Asking You Out" -- for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
"That's okay to hold the pedal there, because it's not going to blur -- because of the scale pattern that's going on."
DO THIS AT THE PIANO TONIGHT
- Find a run in something you already play that moves mostly by step, one note to the next, with no big jumps in it.
- Play it the way you normally do, changing the pedal every time the harmony feels like it moves.
- Now put the pedal down at the start of the run and leave it down through the whole thing.
- Listen. If the run is stepwise and it sits up in the higher register, it will not turn to mud. It rings.
- The higher you are on the keyboard, the more you can get away with. Try the same run two octaves lower and you will hear exactly where the line is.
WHY IT WORKS
Most players are taught one pedal rule: change it when the chord changes. That rule keeps beginners out of trouble, and then it quietly caps how good they can sound, because it treats every note as equally likely to muddy the sound.
Two things decide whether held notes blur. The first is the shape of the line. A scale pattern is neighbours -- notes that are already next to each other -- and the ear hears them as one moving line rather than a pile. Leaps stack up into a chord and turn to mud fast. The second is register. Low strings are thick and long and they smear; high strings are thin and they decay quickly, so up there you can hold far more than you think.
Put those together and you get the real rule: a stepwise run, high on the keyboard, can be pedalled straight through -- and it should be, because that ring is most of what makes the passage sound finished instead of practised.
This is one of those details nobody tells you. It is not in the notes, it is not in the fingering, and it is the difference between a run that sounds like an exercise and one that sounds like a record.
WHAT THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE COVERS
- The full arrangement of "Asking You Out," taught twelve bars at a time
- 7 chord progressions with two beats left blank so you improvise over them
- 51 original jazz licks, all written by me for teaching, not looked up
- Live bass-and-drums backing tracks at two speeds so you can play with a band
- Chord spelling and voicing from the ground up, so you understand what you are playing
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
Read Google Reviews by Shawn’s actual students google.com/search?sca_esv=5009c1303de011b0&sca_upv=1&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1008US1008&hl=en-US&q=web+piano+teacher+reviews&uds=ADvngMgvgkdrPGdvQSDLpEVP-ZodsumYvHbzDCPdZxu7y1dxdo5qqAYWcbG74nStvB1P7oPuKgMFxvRIzd_DZN3tMyxEyrPXSMvg62M7DhKnaOoXRrvMRlR2qOzpuVB5MFvbzhVxfpnLmeUii_UEMspRA9Sb2_UNlNmYcxD8gSa_9Y-ZrAhmC7PMo4dC-3yAW2NaRCTwbTkIJFF0zACFe0MmWygbXUnSyy4URj5yYn7f6Y92qL5F7C65sP-AwHchpQ_w3yruheB24nu-AvcfFQo-ckINkBqWAeio4R0dm9r8cmVn2A7RlUhPAPOZyHpYJ2DontEmnoCi9_eEmhwW9RpGrsajaR7u8_U58p0eD_M4AQtnaQce2g4_3U4ECJVG1OOQrlRFwR4byywOQYKXK-PF9b_wDOJ4wtlppDpfX1FhULjD2H_jbmF3keFLT-JjbHx5mU1wYAbm&si=ACC90nwjPmqJHrCEt6ewASzksVFQDX8zco_7MgBaIawvaF4-7tVxiqnhHYhqKwDDsP2tv6FAZ1fBoW06Zy-5I4bv_4sVUMNgTvp0JS4qCRvaokEGreiT-RV-opIxhvzKSE6856yE4kgwpddtdtU31HEpdWwEdq8gXg%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1uakreOIAxVxKkQIHU2mGhQQk8gLegQIKRAB&ictx=1&biw=390&bih=657&dpr=3
🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
webpianoteacher.com
instagram.com/webpianoteacher
facebook.com/shawncheekeasypiano
twitter.com/webpianoteacher
tiktok.com/@shawnthewebpianoteacher
