Dear Mr. Chappell:

The sound of a note lingers long after I release the key. Any idea what causes this and what to do about it?

— Lingerer

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Dear Lingerer:

The damper (felt-lined object that sits on the strings and that raises when you push a key down or use the pedal) is stuck and is not returning down properly to stop the strings from vibrating. A professional piano tuner/technician can fix this. You shouldn’t try because you might bend the wire that operates it.

Meanwhile, try jiggling the pedal up and down if the sound won’t stop. That might shake the damper loose so that it falls back down to the strings. Or if you’re playing a grand, you can reach inside and knock the damper back down (totally inconvenient while playing).

The highest strings on the piano don’t have dampers because the sound of the shorter strings doesn’t last as long. There’s no built-in way to stop those notes from sounding as long as they do.

— J.C.