...where the term "frog" came from in reference to a part of the bow of a stringed instrument? It's the part traditionally made out of ebony next to the screw of the bow - my class's orchestration book referenced it as the heel, and that sparked a class discussion about the origin of the term "frog", and no one knows where it came from. Any help would be well appreciated.
P.S. Wikipedia was 0 help. Already tried.
2007-01-21 14:26:14 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
the term 'frog' is almost certainly a corruption of 'frock', the term used by luthiers for the small vice in which a frog is shaped and fashioned. Just as the vice gripped the ebony, ivory or whatever material the luthier was using at the time, so the 'frog' provides purchase, or grip, from the player (though,of course, that grip should not be vice-like but light and responsive). Why the word was changed from 'frock' no-one seems to know, but a full explanation of the derivation is to be found in 'Histoire des Luthiers Francais, Ses Techniques et Ses Traditions', by Rene Sottises (publ. Poisson d'Avril, Paris, 1968)
2007-01-21 14:36:12 · answer #1 · answered by nappy_roots_girl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋