Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
If a sharp and its own natural land in the same bar, your foot has to come up - or the bar turns to mud.
Get this lesson and 20 years of piano lessons - every song, every course, every chord sheet - for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Most adult players hold the pedal down because it sounds fuller, and then wonder why one bar always sounds cloudy. This is the trigger to watch for. In this bar of "Going Home" you play a G, and two beats later there is a G sharp. Those two notes cannot be allowed to ring together. Same thing in the next bar: an A chord, and then an A sharp. Same deal. Change the pedal.
You do not need a rule about counting beats or changing on every bar line. You need one thing on the page: a sharp or a flat sitting next to the same letter you have already played. That is where the foot comes up. Everything else can ring.
Listen to the demo at the end of the short. The chord is clean, the bass still connects, and nothing smears - because the foot moved once, in the right place.
WHAT THIS SHORT TEACHES
- The trigger for a pedal change: a chromatic note against the same letter already sounding
- Why G and G sharp in the same bar cannot share a pedal
- Why A and A sharp are the same problem one bar later
- How to spot the change on the page before you play it
- Clean pedalling without counting or changing on every beat
THE SONG
"Going Home" (Theme from Local Hero) by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, from the film Local Hero, and one of the most loved instrumental themes ever written. It is also famous at football grounds in the north east of England. This is a solo piano arrangement in the key of D, two sharps, F sharp and C sharp.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Adult beginners and returning players. If your playing sounds muddy and you were never taught when to lift the foot, this is the missing piece. No big hands, no fast fingers, no theory degree. You just have to know what to look for on the page.
FULL LESSON
The complete Going Home lesson walks the whole arrangement line by line, both hands, with the notes and fingering on screen and a ghost keyboard so you can see exactly what is played. It is part of my library at webpianoteacher.com, where 20 years of lessons live - pop, rock, worship, jazz, classical, Christmas, chord sheets and full song arrangements - all in the same membership.
Try the whole thing for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Piano pedal technique, when to change the pedal, sustain pedal piano lesson, muddy piano sound, piano for adult beginners, how to read piano music, Mark Knopfler Going Home piano, Local Hero piano, learn piano at home, piano lessons for beginners, Shawn Cheek, Web Piano Teacher.
👍 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
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🔥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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If a sharp and its own natural land in the same bar, your foot has to come up - or the bar turns to mud.
Get this lesson and 20 years of piano lessons - every song, every course, every chord sheet - for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Most adult players hold the pedal down because it sounds fuller, and then wonder why one bar always sounds cloudy. This is the trigger to watch for. In this bar of "Going Home" you play a G, and two beats later there is a G sharp. Those two notes cannot be allowed to ring together. Same thing in the next bar: an A chord, and then an A sharp. Same deal. Change the pedal.
You do not need a rule about counting beats or changing on every bar line. You need one thing on the page: a sharp or a flat sitting next to the same letter you have already played. That is where the foot comes up. Everything else can ring.
Listen to the demo at the end of the short. The chord is clean, the bass still connects, and nothing smears - because the foot moved once, in the right place.
WHAT THIS SHORT TEACHES
- The trigger for a pedal change: a chromatic note against the same letter already sounding
- Why G and G sharp in the same bar cannot share a pedal
- Why A and A sharp are the same problem one bar later
- How to spot the change on the page before you play it
- Clean pedalling without counting or changing on every beat
THE SONG
"Going Home" (Theme from Local Hero) by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, from the film Local Hero, and one of the most loved instrumental themes ever written. It is also famous at football grounds in the north east of England. This is a solo piano arrangement in the key of D, two sharps, F sharp and C sharp.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Adult beginners and returning players. If your playing sounds muddy and you were never taught when to lift the foot, this is the missing piece. No big hands, no fast fingers, no theory degree. You just have to know what to look for on the page.
FULL LESSON
The complete Going Home lesson walks the whole arrangement line by line, both hands, with the notes and fingering on screen and a ghost keyboard so you can see exactly what is played. It is part of my library at webpianoteacher.com, where 20 years of lessons live - pop, rock, worship, jazz, classical, Christmas, chord sheets and full song arrangements - all in the same membership.
Try the whole thing for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Piano pedal technique, when to change the pedal, sustain pedal piano lesson, muddy piano sound, piano for adult beginners, how to read piano music, Mark Knopfler Going Home piano, Local Hero piano, learn piano at home, piano lessons for beginners, Shawn Cheek, Web Piano Teacher.
👍 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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