the difference between a violin and a fiddle (long)

[Dan Slosberg]

As a fiddler (definitely *not* a violinist), I feel compelled to add a few
notes to the violin/fiddle question:

>A violin player holds the instrument firmly under the
>chin and provides only intermittent support - if any -
> with the left hand, a fiddle player rests the
>instrument against the chest or shoulder and supports
>it with the left hand...

It's a bit more complicated than that.

Violin: A single, unified tradition, like ballet is to dance. The tradition
encompasses every aspect of playing, including the "right" way to hold the
instrument and the bow, how to interpret written music, etc. You need a
well-trained ear to distinguish between different violinists playing the
same piece of music.

Fiddle: Every region of the fiddle-playing world has its own fiddle
"dialect," it's own style (or did until the advent of mass communications).
The style of a fiddler from the Sand Hills region of North Carolina would
be easily distinguishable from the style of a fiddler from elsewhere in the
state, which would be even more easily distinguishable from the style of a
Quebecois fiddler, whose style would be easily distinguishable from that of
a fiddler from the Shetland Islands or Mexico or Hungary. Like dialects,
these styles weren't studied; they just happened.


Fiddlers play, in general, by ear, learning their tunes from other fiddlers
and from recordings, while violinists learn from written music. I perform a
one-man show about Pierre Cruzatte, the main navigator and fiddler with the
Lewis and Clark expedition. Cruzatte not only couldn't read or write music,
but he probably couldn't read or write, period, but he was still a
wonderful fiddler. (For more on Cruzatte, and a photo of a genuine
fiddler--i.e. me as Cruzatte, with fiddle in hand--please visit
http://www.cruzatte.com.) Many contemporary fiddlers have learned how to
read music, though reading is not necessary to pursue their craft;
violinists, on the other hand, must know how to read to pursue theirs.

>Most modern "fiddlers" are violin players.

Some fiddlers--Richard Green or Mark O'Connor, for instance (contemporary
American fiddle masters)--fit this description. Many modern fiddlers you
hear on recordings do, too. But the vast majority of fiddlers, those out
there in the musical trenches playing for dances (i.e. doing what fiddlers
have done for hundreds of years) are not violin players by any stretch.

For more, much more, on the fiddle, on fiddlers, and on fiddling, you can
check out the Fiddle-L mailing list, *the* electronic meeting place for
folks who love and wrestle with the instrument:
http://www-openmap.bbn.com/users/gkeith/fiddles/fiddle-l.html


You might also want to check out
http://www.members.home.net/stump/fiddle.htm
for a number of other responses to the eternal question. My favorite:

"I always heard the difference was you're not supposed to spill beer on a
violin."

-Daniel Slosberg, fiddler
   cruzatte at lewisandclark.org