Bow

Bow (Fr.: archet; Ger.: Bogen; It., Sp.: arco), one of the oldest musical implements of man, reaching back to the Stone Age. We find that the *musical bow was first plucked by the fingers or tapped with a small stick, then rubbed, and subsequently bowed with a second bow. But its home is still unknown; it may ultimately prove to be India. Primitive bows everywhere assume the form of a flexible stick of wood or a tube (bamboo) held under tension by a string. Three fundamental shapes can be…