Fiddle

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This article is part
of the Fiddle & Violin series.

Violin construction
Playing the violin
Making and maintenance
History of the violin
Musical styles
Violinists
Fiddlers
The fiddle is a violin played as a folk instrument. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, is a style of music.

Contents

1 Differences
2 Fiddling

2.1 Bows used in fiddling
2.2 Fiddling styles

3 List of notable fiddle players
4 See also
5 Further reading and external links

Differences

A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the kind of music being played with it. The words "violin" and "fiddle" come from the same Latin root, but "violin" came through the Romance languages and "fiddle" through Germanic languages.

Historically, the word fiddle also referred to a predecessor of today's violin. Like the violin, it tended to have 4 strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another series of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle was the viol, which was played while held between the legs, and has a fretted fingerboard.

One very slight difference between "fiddles" and ordinary violins may be seen in American (e.g., bluegrass and old-time music) fiddling: in these styles, the top of the bridge may be cut so that it is very slightly less curved. This reduces the range of right-arm motion required for the rapid string-crossings found in some styles, and is said to make it easier to play double stops and shuffles (bariolage), or to make triple stops possible, allowing one to play chords.

Most classical violinists prefer a more rounded curve to the top of the bridge that allows them to articulate each note more easily and clearly. In practice, most instruments are fitted with a rounded bridge to better accommodate the shape of the fingerboard. (One exception is the 3-string kontra or bracsa, a viola used in Hungarian and Transylvanian folk music fitted with an absolutely flat bridge to allow all three strings to be played simultaneously.) In any case, the difference between "round" and "flat" is not great; about a quarter or half a millimeter variation in the height of one or two strings. A fiddle strung with steel will work best with a bridge as much as a millimeter lower overall. For gut, nylon or other synthetic-core strings, the action may be set suitably higher. As a violin's bridge is relatively easy to replace, modifying the bridge does not permanently make a violin into a fiddle.

In construction, fiddles and violins are exactly the same. Various clichés describe the difference: "The violin sings, the fiddle dances," or "A fiddle is a violin with attitude," or "No one cries when they spill beer on a fiddle." As might be expected from the differences between classical and folk music, violinists tend to be formally trained and fiddlers tend to be informally trained, although crossing over is not uncommon.

Fiddling

There is quite often only a single fiddle playing in any given venue. Twin fiddling is represented in some North American, Scandinavian and Donegal styles. A Scandinavian spelmanslag often contains a collection of traditional fiddlers all playing together. By contrast, violins often play in sections, since sound reinforcement (before electronic amplification) was only possible by adding instruments. The Italian ripieno may be translated as "filling" (or "stuffing" in the culinary sense) since many instruments "fill out" the sound.

In the very late 20th century, a few artists have successfully attempted a reconstruction of the Scottish tradition of violin and "big fiddle," or cello. Notable recorded examples include Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hanson's [Bonnie Lasses] and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas' [Fire and Grace].

Bows used in fiddling

Most fiddling styles that use the standard violin also use the standard violin bow, the same as so-called "classical" players. However, there are a few styles which use other bows. One notable example is the folk music from Hungary and Transylvania used in the táncház tradition. While the violinist uses a standard bow, both the kontra (3-string viola) and bass are played here with short, heavy and crude "folk bows", consisting of a stout stick, usually hand-hewn, with the hank of horsehair attached at the tip and tied around the frog. The player tensions the hair by squeezing it when playing.

Fiddling styles

To a greater extent than classical violin playing, fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic or folk music traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound, including, but not limited to:

American fiddling, including
*Old Time fiddling
*New England style fiddling
*Cajun fiddling
*Texas style fiddling
*Contest Fiddling
*Bluegrass fiddling
Arab Music
Balkan Music, Táncház (Hungarian) and Romanian music

Newfoundland fiddle player Patrick Moran

Canadian fiddling, including
*Cape Breton fiddling, with a distinct Scottish and Acadian influence
*Québécois fiddling, influenced from the Brittany area of northern France
*Métis fiddling, of central and western Canada, with French influence
*Newfoundland fiddling, with a strong Irish Sliabh Luachra style of playing
English fiddling
French fiddling (including a rich Breton fiddling tradition)
Irish fiddling (with many distinct styles, including, for example, the Donegal fiddle tradition)
Nordic folk fiddling (including Hardanger fiddling)
Peruvian violin
Scottish fiddling
Slovenian fiddling
South Indian Carnatic fiddling

Fiddle

Differences

Fiddling

Bows used in fiddling

Fiddling styles

List of notable fiddle players

See also

Further reading and external links