What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?

Question

I've heard that there is a difference between the two (like one has something the other one doesn't), but I don't know what it could be.

Answer 1

A fiddle and a violin are, in essence, the same instrument. In fact you will find many classical violinists who informally refer to their violins as "fiddles."

Bonnie Rideout, phenomenal Scottish fiddler, has a degree in violin performance and trained classically. Her response to me is that a violin is a fiddle that went to university.

One fiddler I know says that a fiddle tune is easier to play than it sounds and a violin tune is harder to play than it sounds.

I know a fellow that says that if you teach yourself to play it's a fiddle. If you pay to be taught it is a violin.

I've heard it said that whether you are playing violin or fiddle depends on how full the Jack Daniels bottle is when you start to play.

Another classical violinist says something to the effect that the more he skips practice, the more he sounds like a fiddler.

One answer that I have given goes something like, "I play traditional music indigenous to the Southern and MidWestern United States on a 4-stringed wooden instrument, the treble and principal of its family, on which sound is generated by drawing a bow across those strings causing them to vibrate. The vibrations are transferred to the body of the instrument itself via a carved bridge. Vibration of the body causes the sound post and bass bar within to vibrate the air inside the body causing sound, whose waves are carried to the ear of the listener via sympathetic disruption of ambient air moleculss resident between said instrument and said listener. I ain't just fiddling around.

But when I am asked the diference I usually say that the difference between a violin and a fiddle is the difference between a child calling a man "father" and "daddy." It is the same man. The love is the same. The respect is the same. The difference is that when my "father" enters the room I walk over and give him a hug. When "daddy" enters the room I skip over and leap into his arms. It's an attitude thing.

Sometimes there are differences in the set-up of a violin and a fiddle. As has been mentioned, some fiddlers have less of a curvature on the top of the bridge so that in addition to playing "double stops" (playing on two strings at a time) you can more easily play "triple stops" (playing on three strings at a time). Fiddle frequently involves playing melody on one string with the other(s) acting as drones and providing the harmony. But that is by no means a rule.

At times the bridge is moved slightly on the belly of the violin so that there is a brighter sound which "rings" more, where a classical violinist may prefer a more mellow sound.

Another characteristic of some fiddle playing is alternative tunings of the strings. Classically violin strings are tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E (although others are possible--when a violin is tuned to another set of notes the technique is called scordatura). I have heard fiddlers tune to D-G-B-D, to A-E-A-E, and to G-D-A-D among others.


I hope this gets you going in the right direction.

Art Haule
www.ViolinStudent.com
It Doesn't Matter How You Learned
All That Counts is That You Play

Answer 2

Technically, there is no difference. However, some fiddles have the bridge (the large piece of wood supporting the strings in the middle) cut in order to play chords and double-stops (notes played simultaneously) more easily. Fiddles are most commonly referred to in a colloquial sense as well, while the violin has a more formal connotation.

Answer 3

The fiddle can be used as a "blue-collar" or world music instrument. The Violin is used for sophisticated classical music.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Fiddle is just the term used for a violin when it is used in folk music. Often, though, there will be some changes made, for example, cutting the bridge, in order to make it easier to bow faster for the bluegrass style.

Answer 6

The only way to answer this right is to say the instrument is the same, it is a violin. Call the music store and ask for a company that makes fiddlers and they will say there are only violin company's. The difference is in the one who is playing it and how they hold it . - The fiddler holds it lower than a violinist. - The violinist holds it closer to his face VS the fiddler lower shoulder. That's all...Its all in how the wrist is set.

Orchestra

Answer 7

the wood in a violin is aged

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.

Answer 8

I thought the instrument was the same it was the way it is played what made the difference.

Answer 9

a violin is played slower than a fiddle

Answer 10

I always thought they were the same.