Fiddle
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The term fiddle refers to a
violin
when used in folk music. 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.
A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the
kind of music being played with it. The word "violin" is derived from
Italian and the word "fiddle" is
English.
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: "When you are buying it, it's a
fiddle. When you are selling it, it's a violin," 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
In performance, solo fiddling is the norm, though twin fiddling is
represented in some North American, Scandinavian, and Irish styles.
Violins, on the other hand, are commonly grouped in sections. These
contrasting traditions may be vestiges of historical performance
settings: large concert halls in which violins were played required
more instruments, before electronic amplification, than did more
intimate dance halls and houses fiddles were played in. The difference
was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music
and fiddle music. Historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance
music, while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was
something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness which
fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat, did not always follow - in
situations that required greater volume, a fiddler (as long as they
kept the beat) could push their instrument harder than could a
violinist. (Different fiddle traditions had different values, as
detailed below; these explanations are meant to present the
differences between fiddle music and violin music generally.)
Following the folk revivals of the second half of the 20th century,
however, it has become common for less formal situations to find large
groups of fiddlers playing together -- see for example the
Swedish
Spelmanslag folk-musician clubs, and the world-wide[1]
phenomenon of
Irish sessions.
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. Bows are usually made
from wood, but are more commonly seen in glass and other substances
nowadays. Wood is becoming less common and more expensive, as it is a
better quality.
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:
