The fidola, folk viola or fideola is the size of a
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
but shaped like a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
. It has five strings strung like a standard
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
and viola (CGDAE). It was invented in the 1980s by Luthier Alan Carruth of
Newport, New Hampshire
Newport is a town in and the county seat of Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. It is west-northwest of Concord, the state capital. The population of Newport was 6,299 at the 2020 census. A covered bridge is in the northwest. The area ...
. It is played with a standard
viola bow, often strung with black and white hair for a courser, less classical sound.
Development
The fidola was the culmination of a research effort aimed at producing an
instrument that is equally resonant over all five
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
, in contrast to earlier five-string violins and violas, which tended to sound dull at either the low (C) or high (E) end. The instrument became popular among Scottish and
Contra dance
Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is a form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples.
It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th c ...
fiddlers through the 1990s, first in New England and then in
northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
. A photograph of a fiddler in concert playing a five-string viola explicitly identified as a fidola appears in the scholarly journal ''
Pragmatics
In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the int ...
'', 11(2):155-192, June 2001.
Other uses
Among traditional fiddlers in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, the term ''fidola'' was generalized in the late 1990s and came to be used more broadly to refer to any five-string viola, regardless of shape. In
the UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the term ''fidola'' has come into use more recently to refer to a standard four-string violin or viola tuned as a viola (CGDA).
External links
Luthier Alan Carruth - New Folk Viola
Violins
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