Una Corda

Una corda (Italian for 'one string') is the left pedal on a grand piano, which shifts the entire hammer mechanism slightly to the right so that hammers strike fewer strings per note, producing a softer, more veiled tone colour. The term dates from the early piano when the shift was large enough that hammers literally hit only one string instead of the usual two or three. On modern grands the effect is subtler — it changes the timbre more than the volume, giving passages an intimate, muted quality that cannot be achieved by simply playing more quietly. Use the una corda pedal for passages marked 'pp' or 'ppp', or wherever you want a colour change rather than just a volume reduction, and remember to release it (marked 'tre corde' or 'tutte le corde') when the composer indicates.