second fiddle vs second string

second fiddle

noun
  • A sidekick or subordinate, or the role of such a person. 

  • The person playing second fiddle. 

  • A fiddle part in harmony to the first fiddle. 

second string

noun
  • A unit of players which is considered to have a secondary level of talent and which usually plays after the first string. 

adj
  • Not as good; of a lower quality or condition. 

How often have the words second fiddle and second string occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )