 depressing the soft pedal shifts the action slightly to one side, making the hammers hit only two of the three strings for each note (or one of the two at lower registers). This results in a quieter and "thinner" sound. In some upright pianos, the soft pedal instead moves the hammers slightly closer to the strings, shortening the blow distance and weakening the strike. The effect is then markedly smaller than in the grand piano, and is a matter of volume but not timbre.
Indication that the soft pedal should be used is the instruction una corda or sometimes due corde, with tre corde or sometimes tutte le corde cancelling it. On early pianos it was possible by use of the soft pedal to play only one, two, or all three strings, making the distinction between una corda (one string) and due corde (two strings) meaningful; but this is no longer the case.
It used to be common for pianos to be fitted with another kind of mute — a piece of felt or similar material which would sit between the hammers and the strings. This results in a very muffled and much quieter sound. It was not used in any serious context, but was useful for reducing the volume of the instrument when practicing and was often termed a "Practice Pedal". Few pianos, apart from some uprights, have this device today.
To confuse matters, the instruction senza sordino (or some variant) is sometimes used to indicate continuous application of the sustain pedal on a piano, throughout a long section or an entire movement (as opposed to the standard use of , or alternatively a brace mark, written below the staff, for short applications of the pedal). The sordino of this notation refers to the felt dampers, each of which stops the sound of a note's strings when the note is not being played. When all the dampers are lifted by the sustain pedal (senza sordino), all the strings of the piano are allowed to sound, resulting in a complex sound when all strings are free to sound sympathetically with other strings. (See Moonlight Sonata for a classic example of senza sordino.)
A piano tuner will use another kind of mute with a piano; a rubber or felt wedge, which is inserted between strings to make sure only the desired string in a "unison" (that is, in the strings for one note) is sounding. A felt strip can also be inserted and "braided" between strings, to mute several strings at once.
Finally, a very simple and basic way to somewhat muffle the sound of a piano when practicing is to cover it with a blanket.
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- "Renuzit Mute". Dallasmusic.org. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
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- "ST9 - Personal Studio - SILENT BRASS™ - Brass/Woodwinds - Musical Instruments - Products - Yamaha United States". Usa.yamaha.com. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
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- "Bolero Ravel". YouTube. 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
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