How do you play the middle D and F in this passage?
This is from a piano song called "Jane's Song" by Christopher Norton. There are two whole notes that are held for the entire measure, but the left hand is also holding a note way into the bass and the right hand has to do a short run. Unless I have more hands than the average pianist, I can't possibly hold these notes. Is the notation just indicating that the pedal is what's holding them?
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There is sometimes a middle pedal on pianos, called the sostenuto pedal. Its role is to hold only the notes played when it's operated. so here, using that sostenuto pedal, the three semibreves can be held with it, which doesn't affect the other notes.
Using the sustain pedal, found on all pianos, will obviously hold the long notes without having to hold the keys down, but will also make the other, shorter, notes last until the sustain pedal is lifted.
It's not clear whether the long notes are tied into the next bar - a shot of that as well would make things clearer.
This line refers to the pedal:
You are holding the pedal down before, at the triangle you release it and hold it down again for this bar. So, you can use the pedal to hold down the notes you cannot stretch your fingers for.
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