Pedal Action

To sum up Pedal action in Legato: The Pedal must ascend as the next key or group of keys is descending, and this ascent must be so timed that the dampers reach the strings at the very moment that the next sound commences ; or they must do so slightly later, if Legatissitno is required.
A "Sostenente" Pedal is added to a few instruments, and forms a supplementary Damper-Pedal. This is so contrived, that Its depression, immediately after the depression of any key or keys (as in the act of ordinary correct pedalling), will prevent these implicated dampers alone from falling upon their strings until this pedal is again released. It thus enables us to sustain individual sounds by means of the foot. There is the pedal operated by the left foot the "soft pedal." Several distinct devices have been adopted by different makers in connection with this pedal. None but the true Una Corda pedal should however be encouraged, since that is the effect intended in the works of Beethoven, CHOPIN, Liszt, and others of the great Pianoforte Masters, an amply sufficient reason.
The danger of the una corda being ousted from the Horizontal Grand is happily now past ; but it appears to have become quite customary to omit it from the Upright, and this is greatly to be deplored.
This una-corda device the "mit Verschiebung" of the Germans shifts the whole of the instrument's" action " a little to one side. Consequently, in the older instruments (which possessed but two strings to each note) one string only was reached by each hammer, whence the term. In modern instruments the hammers are only shifted to the extent of missing one of their three strings.
The adjustment should be so arranged that the less-used, softer, and un-cut surface of the hammer reaches the remaining strings. Thence partially arises that peculiar, softer tinge of tone-quality obtainable from this device. The main cause of the difference however is : that with the shifted action, we have one string excited sympathetically entirely without percussion. The hammer reaching only the other two strings ; this gives a mellowness to the sound that is quite unattainable by any other means ; not even by the most perfectly "sympathetic" key-treatment or "touch."

To achieve legato in piano playing, one needs to use the sustain pedal, which is also known as the damper pedal. This pedal allows the piano strings to continue vibrating even after the keys are released, thus creating a smooth and connected sound between notes, which is the essence of legato playing. To use the sustain pedal effectively for legato, you would typically play the first note or chord, then engage the sustain pedal as you release the keys. This allows the sound to continue while you move on to play the next note or chord. As you play the next note or chord, you would release the sustain pedal just before or as you play the new notes, which captures the sound of the previous notes and creates a seamless transition. It's important to practice the timing of the pedal action in relation to the notes you are playing to create the desired legato effect. The sustain pedal can also be used in combination with other techniques, such as the delayed pedal and the preliminary pedal, to further enhance the legato sound and create different expressions in your playing.

The substitutes for the true una corda are of two kinds:
The first consists of a strip of felt, which is made to intervene between the hammer and the strings when the pedal is depressed. It is an execrable contrivance, the effect of which reminds one of a dog with his head in a sack.
The other device is a less objectionable one, inasmuch as it is at all events not evil-sounding. Here the depression of the pedal brings the whole of the hammer-heads closer to the strings. As this lessens the distance the hammer-heads can travel, this reduces the leverage the mechanism offers under ordinary circumstances; whence it follows that the same degree of energy delivered to our end of the key will nevertheless create less speed at the hammer-end, and hence less tone. Such power-cheating device is a quite unnecessary appendage to the instrument, since the very softest sound is quite easily attainable, once the true principles of muscularly producing it are understood; for absolute pp is then found to be at once the simplest, easiest, and most secure of all touch-kinds.

To deprive the instrument of this beautiful effect for the sake of convenience and cheapness in manufacture, or from faddist ideas as to its being injurious to the instrument," is in fact a piece of sheer commercialism and vandalism. Granted that the relentless use of the u. c. its continuous use, and under a rough imperfectly trained touch, will tend to throw out the unisons, and may under severe treatment even tend to twist the hammer-shanks ; nevertheless this forms no indictment against the u. c., for an appliance can only be designed for use, not for mis-use