The Missing Sock

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 6/12/99 9:02:07 AM !!!First Boot!!!, rrg@nevada.edu writes:

<< I was talking with a client who was wondering why grand
 pianos sometimes develop wear marks on the fall board above
 the keys.  Admittedly I had no definitive answer.  I'm sure
 you have all notice this, particularly above the sharps.
 Sometimes the wear can be so bad that it can extends well
 into the wood.  But then you have to stop and wonder how
 they got there.  For technical reasons you do not play the
 piano that close to the fall board.  In observing a pianist
 playing I have never seen any kind of technique that would
 suggest a reason- even in aggressive playing.  Certainly
 there are other case parts on a piano that receive rougher
 treatment.  Nevertheless somehow these wear marks appear
 very defined and consistent.  So here then is the riddle:
 How do these marks get there?  Is there a particular type of
 maneuver required by the pianist?  Is it avoidable? Can you
 find the missing sock?
 
 Rob Goodale, RPT
  >>


Very energetic players carve the fall board with their fingernails. I had a 
customer who complained to me that I put the nail marks on her piano when I 
tuned it. These gouges were so deep, it would have had to use a chisel to 
carve them. I told her she did it. She didn't believe me. I then asked her to 
play some of her favorite music. Within 5 minutes she had hit the fall board 
a dozen times. It wasn't until I pointed it out to her that she realized she 
was doing it. 

Willem Blees