The Missing Sock

[Frank Weston]

There is no riddle as to how the marks get there.  When playing octaves or
other very wide intervals spanned by thumb and little finger, the hand is
positioned so that fingernails will gouge the fallboard.  Try it and see
what I mean.

Frank Weston

-----Original Message-----
From: Wimblees@AOL.COM <Wimblees@AOL.COM>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 9:19 AM
Subject: Re: The Missing Sock


>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
>