THE PIANO

My thanks to Wanda Coleman for “Off the Same Boat” (On the Town, May 8). I remember once when a fine grand piano was delivered to my pupil’s house. Her father, mad as hell, summoned me to his house. “You chose this piano for us! What the hell is the matter with it?”

The piano movers were either forgetful or inexperienced. There is a hidden lever that locks a piano’s dampers away from contact with the strings during transport. No matter what one does, the strings cannot be muted and will continue to sound, when struck, until they die away naturally--quite a long time in music.

I did not release the lever immediately but staged an impromptu music lesson, showing how certain notes and chords can be mixed, resulting in marvelous colors; how even harsh dissonances can be reconciled.

It was not my first such demonstration--not by a long shot--but I remember thinking, on my way home, that, counting myself, the girl and her parents, there were at least five very different ethnicities represented in that music room. I say at least five for I am not sure that I know all of my own inheritance.

FRED SEIFERS

Downey