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A fiddle is a
bowed Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to t ...
string 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 ...
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 Bariolage is a musical technique used with bowed string instruments that involves rapidly playing alternated notes on adjacent strings, one of which is generally left open,Stowell, Robin (1990). ''Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the L ...
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 Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
) 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 Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...
and sustained notes. Fiddling is also open to improvisation and embellishment with
ornamentation An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration * Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts * Ornamental turning * Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals ...
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 Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May 1955, Clackmannan, Scotland) is a Scottish fiddler, composer, performer, and recording artist. Fraser operates Culburnie Records and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded various summer fiddling prog ...
,
Brittany Haas Brittany Caroline Haas (born 1987) is an American fiddle player, who also sings and plays the banjo. She is a member of the Boston-based alternative bluegrass band Crooked Still, which is currently on hiatus. She was a regular performer on Live ...
, and
Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...
) have classical training.


History

The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the
Byzantine lira The Byzantine lyra or lira () was a medieval bowed string musical instrument in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. In its popular form, the lyra was a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by stopping ...
(, , ), 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 Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...
. 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 Philibert Jambe de Fer (fl. 1548–1564) was a French Renaissance composer of religious music. This composer is only known from his publications. The first known publication is a chanson for 4 voices (a motet), which dates from 1548. It appeared i ...
, 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 Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural ''viole da braccio'') is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to whic ...
(''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 Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Spelmanslag The spelmanslag () is an amateur organization of Swedish folk musicians, usually dominated by fiddles, who play tunes together. Often these groups play tunes from the specific area of Sweden with which they are affiliated. The term has also the ...
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 Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May 1955, Clackmannan, Scotland) is a Scottish fiddler, composer, performer, and recording artist. Fraser operates Culburnie Records and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded various summer fiddling prog ...
and
Natalie Haas Natalie Haas is an American cellist, originally from Menlo Park, California. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she has toured and recorded extensively with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. She has also toured and recorded with Mark O'Connor ...
' 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 The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
—known as the ''
kontra A kontra (, 'three-stringed viola') is a Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Romani instrument common in Transylvania. Construction The ''kontra'' can be constructed new, but is most often a classical viola which has undergone s ...
''—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 The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...
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 A kontra (, 'three-stringed viola') is a Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Romani instrument common in Transylvania. Construction The ''kontra'' can be constructed new, but is most often a classical viola which has undergone s ...
'' 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
hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms and their associated tunes, played and danced in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh As ...
s but also incorporates reels and jigs. *
Scottish fiddling Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strat ...
, 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 The Lombard rhythm or Scotch snap is a syncopated musical rhythm in which a short, accented note is followed by a longer one. This reverses the pattern normally associated with dotted notes or '' notes inégales'', in which the longer value pr ...
bowing techniques and
double stops In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a String instrument, stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often emp ...
. **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
hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms and their associated tunes, played and danced in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh As ...
s and with heavy use of
double stops In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a String instrument, stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often emp ...
. **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 Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic sca ...
scale of the
Great Highland Bagpipe The great Highland bagpipe ( 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British Armed Forces, British mili ...
, as well as smoother bowing than other Scottish fiddle styles and a swinging of the 6/8
jig The jig (, ) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles, and was adopted on mainland Eu ...
rhythm. **A West Highland and
Hebridean The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These isla ...
Tradition, very closely related to the Highland tradition with major influence from the
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
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 In musical notation, an accidental is a symbol that indicates an alteration of a given pitch. The most common accidentals are the flat () and the sharp (), which represent alterations of a semitone, and the natural (), which cancels a sharp or ...
. * Welsh fiddling (Welsh ''Ffidil''; see
Ar Log Ar Log (Welsh for "for hire") are a Welsh folk band. They have performed since the 1970s and are recognized as the first professional Welsh folk band. They perform instrumental music and songs in Welsh. Career The original 1976 members were D ...
), a recently revived tradition.


Ireland

*
Irish folk music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...
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
mazurka The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...
s and a Scottish-influenced repertoire including Strathspey and
Highland Fling The Highland Fling is a solo Highland dance that gained popularity in the early 19th century. The word 'Fling' means literally a movement in dancing. In John Jamieson's 1808 ''Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language'', the Highland Fl ...
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 Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...
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 Sliabh Luachra (), sometimes anglicised Slieve Logher, is an upland region in Munster, Ireland. It is on the borders of counties County Cork, Cork, County Kerry, Kerry and County Limerick, Limerick, and bounded to the south by the Munster Blackw ...
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
polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...
s and slides, the use of
double stop In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...
s and drones, as well as playing the melody in two octaves as in Donegal.


Nordic countries

* Norwegian fiddling (including
Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...
fiddling; see also
Bygdedans Bygdedans (or village dance) is the regional, traditional dance of Norway. Bygdedans are the oldest and most distinctive among Norwegian folk dances.Gammaldans Gammaldans (Swedish and Nynorsk) or Gammeldans (Danish and Bokmål) (literally "old dance") is a small set of Nordic dances that became broadly popular in the late 19th century. These were also the dances of the Nordic immigrant communities in t ...
), including traditions from: **
Røros Røros may refer to: Places * Røros Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Røros (town), a town within Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Røros Church, a church in Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, No ...
and
Nord-Noreg Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norwa ...
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 Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...
styles, both using the
Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...
. **
Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the val ...
, which uses both standard and Hardanger fiddles. * Swedish fiddling (including
Låtfiol Låtfiol () is an expression and concept that originates from the 1980s when Swedish folk musicians became more interested in violins with sympathetic strings and were trying to find a Swedish equivalent to the Norwegian hardanger fiddle. The Norw ...
playing; see also
Spelmanslag The spelmanslag () is an amateur organization of Swedish folk musicians, usually dominated by fiddles, who play tunes together. Often these groups play tunes from the specific area of Sweden with which they are affiliated. The term has also the ...
and
Gammaldans Gammaldans (Swedish and Nynorsk) or Gammeldans (Danish and Bokmål) (literally "old dance") is a small set of Nordic dances that became broadly popular in the late 19th century. These were also the dances of the Nordic immigrant communities in t ...
), including traditions from: **
Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...
**
Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...
* Finnish fiddling, including the regional styles of: **
Kaustinen Kaustinen () is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population about 4300 and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Halsua, ...
** 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 Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...
fiddling *
Polish fiddling The music of Poland covers diverse aspects of music and musical traditions which have originated, and are practiced in Poland. Artists from Poland include world-famous classical composers like Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutos ...
* Music of Portugal, Mainland Portuguese and Azores, Azorean fiddling * Romanian fiddling


Americas


United States

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


=Traditional

= *Blues fiddling *Cajun music, Cajun and Zydeco fiddling *Native Americans in the United States, Native American fiddling, including: **Cherokee **Muscogee, Creek **Tohono O'odham Chicken scratch, waila music, a style heavily influenced by Mexican fiddling and featuring irregular counts and harmonies in thirds, fourths, and sixths. *Old time fiddle, Old time fiddling, including: **Fiddling from Appalachia, 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. **Midwestern fiddling, highly influenced by Scandinavian music. **Ozarks fiddling, faster and crisper bowing than Appalachia. **Texas fiddling, with influences from Music of Mexico, Mexican fiddling and an emphasis on competitive playing. **New England fiddling, with strong influences from Quebec, Québécois/French Canadian and British repertoires. **Pacific Northwest, Northwest fiddling, with influences from both Ozark and Midwestern fiddle styles, though with a strong emphasis on competitive playing like Texas fiddling.


=Modern

= *Bluegrass fiddle, Bluegrass fiddling *Country music, Country fiddling *Western swing style fiddling


Canada

Fiddling remains popular in Canada, 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 fiddling including "crooked tunes", that is, tunes with irregular beat patterns. *Métis fiddle, Métis fiddling, of central and western Canada featuring strong French Canadian influence, but with even more "crooked" tunes. *Newfoundland fiddling, also featuring many crooked tunes, colloquially termed ‘singles’ or ‘doubles’. *Maritimes, Acadian or Downeast style of fiddling, which has many similarities to Cape Breton fiddling *English Canadian fiddling or Anglo-Canadian fiddling


Mexico

Music of 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 * Music of Peru, Peruvian violin


Africa, Asia and Australia

*African fiddle *Australian folk music traditions *Huqin Chinese fiddles *Morna (music), Morna fiddling from Cape Verde *Indian fiddle *Indian classical music


Related instruments


Variants

*
Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...
*Stroh violin or phonofiddle, known in Romanian as ''Vioara cu goarnă''.


Near relations

*Cello *Double bass *Kontra * ''
Låtfiol Låtfiol () is an expression and concept that originates from the 1980s when Swedish folk musicians became more interested in violins with sympathetic strings and were trying to find a Swedish equivalent to the Norwegian hardanger fiddle. The Norw ...
'' *Rebec *''Rabeca'' *Viola


Distant relations

*Apache fiddle *Byzantine lyra, the medieval bowed instrument of the Byzantine Empire *Lyra (Cretan), Cretan Lyra *Crwth *Gadulka *Gudok *Gusle *Hurdy-gurdy 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