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A fiddle is a bowed string
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
, most often a
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a ''brighter'' tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional ( folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught " by ear" rather than via written music. Fiddling is the act of playing the fiddle, and fiddlers are musicians who play it. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and sustained notes. Fiddling is also open to improvisation and embellishment with ornamentation at the player's discretion, in contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer's notes to reproduce a work faithfully. It is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers (e.g., Alasdair Fraser, Brittany Haas, and Alison Krauss) have classical training.


History

The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira (, , ), a bowed string instrument of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and ancestor of most European bowed instruments. Lira spread widely westward to Europe; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms ''fiddle'' and ''lira'' interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-century northern Italy. The earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around the same time as the words "violino" and "vyollon" are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the ''Epitome musical'' by Jambe de Fer, published in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
in 1556. By this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. The fiddle proved very popular among both street musicians and the nobility; the French king Charles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560. One of these instruments, the ''Charles IX'', is the oldest surviving violin. Over the centuries, Europe continued to have two distinct types of fiddles: one, relatively square-shaped, held in the arms, became known as the viola da braccio (''arm viol'') family and evolved into the violin; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, was the
viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...
(''leg viol'') group. During the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
the gambas were important and elegant instruments; they eventually lost ground to the louder ''viola da braccio'' family.


Etymology

The
etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
of ''fiddle'' is uncertain: it probably derives from the Latin ''fidula'', which is the early word for ''violin'', or it may be natively Germanic. The name appears to be related to Icelandic and also
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
. A native Germanic ancestor of ''fiddle'' might even be the ancestor of the early Romance form of ''violin''. In medieval times, ''fiddle'' also referred to a predecessor of today's violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another family of instruments that contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the
viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...
s, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards.


Ensembles

In performance, a solo fiddler, or one or two with a group of other instrumentalists, is the norm, though twin fiddling is represented in some North American, Scandinavian, Scottish and Irish styles. Following the folk revivals of the second half of the 20th century, it became common for less formal situations to find large groups of fiddlers playing together—see for example the Calgary Fiddlers, Swedish Spelmanslag folk-musician clubs, and the worldwide phenomenon of Irish sessions. Orchestral violins, on the other hand, are commonly grouped in sections, or "chairs". These contrasting traditions may be vestiges of historical performance settings: large concert halls where violins were played required more instruments, before electronic amplification, than did more intimate dance halls and houses that fiddlers 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 that 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. Various fiddle traditions have differing values.


Scottish, with cello

In the very late 20th century, a few artists successfully reconstructed the Scottish tradition of violin and "big fiddle", or cello. Notable recorded examples include Iain Fraser and Christine Hanson, Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hanson's Bonnie Lasses, Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas' Fire and Grace, and Tim Macdonald and Jeremy Ward's ''The Wilds''.


Balkan, with ''kontra''

Hungarian, Slovenian, and Romanian fiddle players are often accompanied by a three-stringed variant of the viola—known as the '' kontra''—and by
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
, with cimbalom and
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
being less standard yet still common additions to a band. In Hungary, a three-stringed viola variant with a flat bridge, called the '' kontra'' or ''háromhúros brácsa'' makes up part of a traditional rhythm section in Hungarian folk music. The flat bridge lets the musician play three-string chords. A three-stringed double bass variant is also used.


Styles

To a greater extent than classical violin playing, fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic or
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound.


Europe


Great Britain

*
English folk music The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical music, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and List o ...
fiddling, including ** Northumbrian fiddle style, which features "seconding", an improvised harmony part played by a second fiddler. ** Lakeland or
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
n fiddling has a repertoire largely based upon hornpipes but also incorporates reels and jigs. * Scottish fiddling, including: **
Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
fiddling, which includes trowie tunes said to come from peerie folk. The style is characterised by "ringing strings" and syncopated rhythms. **A North East (particularly
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
and
Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...
) tradition strongly influenced by baroque violin technique with staccato and Scotch snap bowing techniques and double stops. **A
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...
tradition with a repertoire heavy in hornpipes and with heavy use of double stops. **A
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
tradition, highly influenced by the ornamentation and mixolydian scale of the Great Highland Bagpipe, as well as smoother bowing than other Scottish fiddle styles and a swinging of the 6/8 jig rhythm. **A West Highland and Hebridean Tradition, very closely related to the Highland tradition with major influence from the Gaelic song tradition. **An
Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...
tradition with simpler bowing and ornamentation but with tunes featuring accidentals. * Welsh fiddling (Welsh ''Ffidil''; see Ar Log), a recently revived tradition.


Ireland

* Irish folk music fiddling including: ** Donegal fiddling from the northwest in
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, which features mazurkas and a Scottish-influenced repertoire including Strathspey and Highland Fling dances. Fiddlers tend to play fast and make heavy use of
staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...
bowing and may from time to time "play the bass", meaning a second fiddler may play a melody an octave below where a first fiddler is playing it. **
Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
fiddling from northern
Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
, which like Donegal fiddling tends to be fast, but with a bouncier feel to the bowing. **
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
fiddling southern
Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
, which is slower than Sligo or Donegal traditions, with a heavier emphasis on ornamentation. Tunes are occasionally played in Eb or Bb to match the tonality of flat pipes. ** Clare fiddling from northern
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
, which tends to be played near the slower Galway tempo yet with a greater emphasis on the melody itself rather than ornamentation. ** Sliabh Luachra fiddling from the southwest in
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
, characterized by a unique repertoire of polkas and slides, the use of double stops and drones, as well as playing the melody in two octaves as in Donegal.


Nordic countries

* Norwegian fiddling (including Hardanger fiddling; see also Bygdedans and Gammaldans), including traditions from: ** Røros and Nord-Noreg styles, both using the standard fiddle. **
Finnskogen Finnskogen ("Forest of the Finns") is an area of Norway and Sweden situated in the counties of Innlandet and Värmland respectively, so named because of immigration of Finnish people in the 17th century, the so-called ''Forest Finns, Skogfinner/"Fo ...
, using the standard fiddle, but featuring some flatted notes influenced by Finnish folk music. **
Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...
and Telemark styles, both using the Hardanger fiddle. ** Setesdal, which uses both standard and Hardanger fiddles. * Swedish fiddling (including Låtfiol playing; see also Spelmanslag and Gammaldans), including traditions from: ** Jämtland ** Dalarna * Finnish fiddling, including the regional styles of: ** Kaustinen ** Ostrobothnia, heavily influenced by Swedish fiddling.


Continental Europe

* Austrian fiddling * French fiddling, including an old tradition from
Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...
and a revived one from
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
*
Hungarian folk music Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...
traditions * Italian fiddling * Klezmer fiddling * Polish fiddling * Mainland Portuguese and Azorean fiddling * Romanian fiddling


Americas


United States

American fiddling is a broad category including traditional and modern styles:


=Traditional

= *
Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
fiddling * Cajun and Zydeco fiddling * Native American fiddling, including: **
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
** Creek ** Tohono O'odham waila music, a style heavily influenced by Mexican fiddling and featuring irregular counts and harmonies in thirds, fourths, and sixths. * Old time fiddling, including: **Fiddling from
Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
, the most well-known style today, featuring heavy use of droning and double-stops as well as syncopated bowing patterns. ** Athabaskan fiddling of the Interior Alaska. **
Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
ern fiddling, highly influenced by Scandinavian music. **
Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...
fiddling, faster and crisper bowing than Appalachia. **
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
fiddling, with influences from Mexican fiddling and an emphasis on competitive playing. **
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
fiddling, with strong influences from Québécois/
French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
and British repertoires. **
Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
fiddling, with influences from both Ozark and Midwestern fiddle styles, though with a strong emphasis on competitive playing like Texas fiddling.


=Modern

= * Bluegrass fiddling *
Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
fiddling * Western swing style fiddling


Canada

Fiddling remains popular in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and the various homegrown styles of Canadian fiddling are seen as an important part of the country's cultural identity, as celebrated during the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. * Cape Breton fiddling, with a distinct Scottish influence *
French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
fiddling including " crooked tunes", that is, tunes with irregular beat patterns. * Métis fiddling, of central and western Canada featuring strong French Canadian influence, but with even more "crooked" tunes. *
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
fiddling, also featuring many crooked tunes, colloquially termed ‘singles’ or ‘doubles’. * Maritimes,
Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...
or Downeast style of fiddling, which has many similarities to Cape Breton fiddling * English Canadian fiddling or Anglo-Canadian fiddling


Mexico

Mexican fiddling includes *Danza indígena * Mariachi *Son arribeño * Son calentano * Son huasteco *Son planeco *Violín-tambora *Violín tuxtleco *Violín mixteco


South America

* Forró, a type of music from Brazil, including the '' rabeca'' fiddle tradition * Peruvian violin


Africa, Asia and Australia

* African fiddle * Australian folk music traditions * Huqin Chinese fiddles * Morna fiddling from
Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
* Indian fiddle *
Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...


Related instruments


Variants

* Hardanger fiddle * Stroh violin or phonofiddle, known in Romanian as ''Vioara cu goarnă''.


Near relations

*
Cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
*
Double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
* Kontra * '' Låtfiol'' * Rebec *'' Rabeca'' * Viola


Distant relations

* Apache fiddle * Byzantine lyra, the medieval bowed instrument of the Byzantine Empire * Cretan Lyra * Crwth * Gadulka * Gudok * Gusle *
Hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
also known as the wheel fiddle * Kamancheh * Lijerica * Nyckelharpa * Rebab * Erhu * morin khuur


See also

* Fleadh Cheoil * List of All-Ireland Champions * List of fiddlers * Jazz violin


References


Citations


Sources

* ''The Fiddle Book'', by Marion Thede, (1970), Oak Publications. . * '' The Fiddler's Fakebook'', by David Brody, (1983), Oak Publications. US ; UK . * ''Oldtime Fiddling Across America'', by David Reiner and Peter Anick (1989), Mel Bay Publications. . Has transcriptions (standard notation) and analysis of tunes from multiple regional and ethnic styles. * ''The Portland Collection'', by Susan Songer, (1997), (Vol. 2 ) *''North American Fiddle Music: a research and information guide'' by Drew Beisswenger (2011) Routledge.


External links


Faroese
fiddling

an encyclopedia of historical notes on tunes from British, Celtic, and American traditions
Differences
between fiddle and violin
Polish Fiddles

mazankizłóbcoki

Złóbcoki (fiddles) - “Instruments with Soul” documentary

Violoneux.fr
background information on fiddlers of different French regions in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In French. {{Authority control Cajun musical instruments Celtic musical instruments Czech musical instruments English musical instruments American musical instruments Fiddles Irish musical instruments Scottish musical instruments Welsh musical instruments Violins