Talk:Bow (music)
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[edit] Origin of terminology "frog"
Does anyone know the origin of the term "frog" as used in the context of the bow? I looked it up in the OED and could find nothing.
- I'm afraid no one seems to know for sure! J Lorraine 09:37, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
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- Hmm, the original poster apparently didn't have the most up to date version of the OED. In 1993, they added: "Mus. (orig. and chiefly U.S.). [tr. G. Frosch; cf. am Frosch (played) near the nut." Of course, this doesn't explain why Germans refer to this part of the bow using their word for "frog". Perhaps it looks a bit like a crouching frog? Opus33 15:09, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Let's glorify Persians
there should be mention of the persian use of the bow, as it seems to me that those who invented the first string instruments, should have been the first to use the bow. They have in Iran now instruments in which they use the bow, i dont know the name. Still i know they are very old instruments.
it also seems logical for the persians to have had something to do with the bow, as they were practically all of central asia at those time ( the persian empire) and that they were the first group of people to domesticize and use the horse, seems logical that they would have been the first to put some use to horse hair.
- I don't think this gets history, either of Central Asia or of the bow, very accurately. For better information, I suggest reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica's article Steppe, which is excellent; also the references cited in the article. Opus33 15:09, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Mechanism of vibration
Can someone add information on the mechanism of vibration to this article? (ie, a physics perspective) I think I understand how a bow works, but when I came to Wikipedia for confirmation, naught was found...As I understand it, it involves friction and resonant frequencies. Could one craft a bow in such a way as to interact more with an instrument than a traditional bow? --Morbid-o 20:52, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Hm, maybe adding a section about "how the bow works" is worth considering. Meanwhile, check out this which might answer some of your questions. J Lorraine 09:50, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] No major edits without scholarly sources
Hello Jagged85--
I'm not opposed to the Indian-origin theory in principle, but it's not allowed on the Wikipedia to put in a major change without citing your reference sources. If you want to include the Indian theory, please include text like this:
- Smith (1997) has proposed that the bow originated in ancient India around 3000 B.C. She bases this claim on ...
Then, at the end of the article, you provide a bibliographic reference for Smith (1997).
If, however, the Indian theory is your own theory, then I'm sorry, but the rules of the Wikipedia do not permit it to be included. For the applicable policies, please consult Wikipedia:Citing sources and No original research.
Yours sincerely,
Opus33 14:37, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] fiddlestick???
Who refers to the bow as a 'fiddlestick'? I have never heard this term used for a bow in either formal or vernacular english speech. At most, it's only used two ways: as an interjection in speech somewhat akin to a mild expletive, (expressing disappointment or frustration), or as a brand name for devil sticks (fiddlesticks redirects there) J Lorraine 20:46, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
- Well, the Oxford English Dictionary gives "The bow strung with horsehair with which the fiddle is played" as the first definition. But I, too, seldom hear this word used literally. It might be good to move it later than the opening paragraph. Opus33 14:59, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] McKean reference
The McKean book is a published, authoritative, and very useful reference; to remove it from the article does not help our readers. Also, whoever removed the reference didn't bother to notice that it had been cited in the text, thus leaving the citation stranded.
Opus33 14:52, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Bowed Guitar
There should be a quick reference to the bowed guitar, (a method of playing guitar by using a bow) made famous by Jimmy Page. I'm not quite sure where it would fit in to the current article though.
- Hello, we already had this under String instrument. I put in a cross-reference. Opus33 15:43, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Curved Bows
Hello. Being a violinist myself, I was told several times that musicians during the baroque era used bows that had a very strong curvature, as compared to the quasi-linear bow used nowadays. Such bows would allow them to play chords containing more than two notes, which happen quite often in this kind of music (take Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, for example). Recently, Michael Bach used a curved bow to play the Number Piece entitled One8 by John Cage. Anybody knows more about curved bows historically and technically ? Alex
I definietly know that when a bow is shown in older art it's stick is concave instead of convex. It seems to be general consensus in society that the bow used for playing insturments was at one point more like the bow used for shooting arrows in terms of the stick, however the article makes no mention of this. I have not heard about playing more than two notes at once, but I'm not exactly a music history expert. I will add something to the article about medival concave bows, but it would probably be worth doing more research on it than I currently have time to do. Heavy Metal Cellisttalkcontribs
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- This is mentioned in the article on the baroque violin, although there should probably be a mention of it here as well. Also take a look at Viol#Viol_bows. Another place you can find an ambiguous reference to a 'highly curved' bow and a mention of playing several strings at once (although it may be due to the bridge and not the bow) is in the article Lira da braccio. As for my own hearsay, I've been told that the idea that the baroque bow makes triple and quadruple stops easier is not necessarily true, nor is it the main or first difference one notices when playing with a baroque bow after only using modern bows! J Lorraine 06:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
