would prevent quick repetition. For catching the hammer at a short
distance from the string, a felted piece of wood suspended on a wire,
called the back check, rises when the key is depressed, and returns
when the key is released, allowing the hammer to regain its resting
position.

A damper, for stopping the tone of the string when a key is released,
must leave the string just before the hammer strikes, and return the
instant the key is released.

A means must be provided for releasing all the dampers from the
strings at the will of the performer. The loud pedal, as it is
called, but more properly, the damper pedal, accomplishes this end by
raising the dampers from the strings.

In the square and the grand piano, the action is under the
sound-board, while the strings are over it; so the hammers are made to
strike through an opening in the sound-board. In the upright, the
strings are between the action and the sound-board; so no opening is
necessary in the latter.

The "trap-action" consists of the pedals and the parts which convey
motion to the action proper.


QUESTIONS ON LESSON II.

1. What have been some of the salient obstacles necessary to
overcome in producing the perfected piano?