system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 what do the pedal on a piano actually do? How do they do it?
gpt
The right pedal is connected to felt-covered dampers that press on the strings of the piano. Normally when you hit a key it will actuate a hammer to hit a string, producing a tone that will quickly fade when released. While the key is held down the damper is held back, then allowed to dampen the string when the key is released. What the right pedal does is pull back the dampers from all the strings so notes can be sustained while the keys are not held.

The center pedal is similar to this except it will only hold back the dampers from keys that were depressed at the time the pedal is pressed. This allows certain notes to be sustained while others are dampened.

The left pedal allows a softer note to be played. Pianos don't actually have just a single string for each key but actually a set of three. The left pedal will shift the entire hammer action slightly to the right such that the hammers only strike two of the three strings. This creates a softer, duller tone as opposed to the normal bright tones.