The Sustain pedal is an essential part of an electric piano. It contributes to the tone of your song. However, it may be damaged or malfunctioning after a period of use. So how to fix sustain pedal on electric piano?
What is the sustain pedal?
The sustain pedal, often known as the sustaining pedal, is the most widely utilized pedal on a contemporary piano. It is usually the second or third pedal from the right. When pushed, the sustain pedal “sustains” all of the piano’s damped strings by removing all the dampers and enabling the strings to resonate freely. All notes played will continue to play until the vibration stops or the pedal is withdrawn.
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This allows the pianist to sustain notes that would otherwise be out of reach, such as in accompanying chords, and to perform legato passages (smoothly linked notes) that would otherwise be impossible to finger. When you press the sustain pedal, all of the strings vibrate sympathetically with the notes you’re playing, which considerably enhances the piano’s tone.
Why is my sustain pedal not working?
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The sequence in which you connected everything is the most typical cause for your sustain pedal to be switched and working backward. Before connecting your keyboard to a computer, we suggest you plug your pedal into the keyboard port. When you plug in your pedal after connecting it to your computer and launching software, it may sometimes get inverted.
How to fix sustain pedal on electric piano
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If you are still experiencing problems, please go through the following list of simple changes and test the sustain after adding each probable solution:
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Check that your sustain pedal is designated in the MainStage “Layout” section “tab. Also, make sure that the “Type:” is set to “Press / Release” and the “Send Value to:” is set to “None.”
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Check that your sustain pedal is connected to the correct port on your keyboard controller.
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If the sustain pedal is inverted (working backward), look for a polarity switch (which may be found below the pedal) and flip it.
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If your pedal behaves like a switch, with one push activating and another releasing the sustain, and you’ve done step 3: In the “Edit” tab, click the sustain pedal, followed by the sustain tab at the bottom pane. Make sure “momentary behavior” is chosen.”
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If you’ve tried everything and the sustain pedal is still not functioning correctly, it’s possible that it’s not delivering the MIDI control change message #64. If this is the case, there are two options:
You may alter the MIDI # for the sustain pedal on the hardware and then adjust it to 64.
You want the Midi Monitor to display it as follows:
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On: Channel 1, Channel 64, Channel 127
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Channel 1, CC64, and 0 are turned off.
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If you’ve tried various pedals and still can’t get this to work, try the instructions below – this is an example where for off, it states Channel 1, CC64, 40 rather than Channel 1, CC64, 0:
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In Edit mode, when at the concert level, choose the onscreen pedal.
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You must add a mapping to “Send to All>Keyboard 1 Destinations> 64 Sustain” in the Inspector at the bottom of the screen.
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After you’ve completed the mapping, click the little bar graph section under the Max and Min values for the mapping. It will be designated “transform.”
A window with a diagonal line from bottom left to top right will appear. Drag the bottom left dot to the right until it reads “0, 40”. Make sure that it does not travel any higher on the graph, just to the right.
FAQs
How does a sustain pedal on an electric piano work?
The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, enabling notes to ring out for extended periods even when the keys are no longer held down. That’s why it’s also known as the “damper” pedal. It’s challenging to find a piece of music or a song that doesn’t make use of the sustain pedal.
When is it time to replace my sustain pedal?
When the chord changes to a new chord and the sustained notes and overtones build up, creating a discordant sound, let off of the pedal. If the song has a lot of fast melodic playing, you should use the pedal-less.
Can I play the piano without using pedals?
Most novices will be relieved to find that playing the piano does not need pedals. Typically, what you do with your hands will be the same.
Is one sustain pedal sufficient?
A sustained pedal is required. It appears in 99.99% of piano music. My instructor never permitted light pedaling unless it was mentioned in the music, which is unusual. Even so, you may learn to play exceptionally quietly.
What is the procedure for resetting a sustained pedal?
There is a simple method to fix this:
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Depress and hold the sustain pedal while powering off the device with the unit switched on, and the sustain pedal plugged in.
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Once the device has been switched off, depress the sustain pedal.
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Restart the device.
Final words
Learning how to fix the sustain pedal on an electric piano is easy if you take the time to learn and study it carefully. Hope the information in this article will help you. Good luck fixing your sustain pedal on the electric piano. In the worst case when you can’t fix the pedal, hopefully with the information in this article, you can also find yourself the best beginner electric piano.

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