2007-01-14 18:57:16 · 14 answers · asked by martina_ie 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
I know that the music played is different but my question is... are they different instruments or not? My understanding is that the term 'fiddle' is just a word given to a violin which is used to play folk/country music, such as jigs and reels, whereas the same instrument, when played classically, is just called a violin. Is this correct?
2007-01-14 19:15:49 · update #1
(3) Are the violin and the fiddle the same instrument?
Well, yes and no, it depends. What it depends on is who's playing it, and in what cultural context you're speaking. Growing up in the midwest, I felt uncomfortable using the term fiddle, because what that meant, then, was country and western fiddle, and I wanted no part of that. However, you hear violinists of the highest calibre, like Stern and Perlman, for example, referring to the violin as a fiddle...but their cultural context is Eastern European, which included gypsy-like so-called "fiddle" music, which is not the same at all as the American genre. The instrument itself may be the same, though folk players of violin (and other players who are playing something besides art music) may take more liberties with respect to the way the instrument is held, its fittings, and so on. Aside from some small details, however, the instrument is pretty much the same; there is no separate genre, fiddle, which is not also a violin. I get asked this a lot.
2007-01-15 01:33:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing. It is the same instrument the Fiddle is just played more free form. The bow is held only on right way if you are playing a violin. Fiddlers hold the bow however they want. The fiddle is a folk instrument.
2007-01-14 19:08:38 · answer #2 · answered by DDLynn l 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Learn Violin From WorldClassViolinist : http://www.ViolinsLion.com/Helper
2015-08-17 06:30:47 · answer #3 · answered by Otis 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I can't use a Violin to do my taxes but I can fiddle them ;0)
2007-01-14 19:11:07 · answer #4 · answered by snikleback 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the fiddle is sharper, is less versatile and rather country-like and I've never actually seen one in person. A violin is very professional whereas the fiddle might be a shabbier version of it.
2007-01-14 19:01:09 · answer #5 · answered by Memyselfi 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are several key differences between violin and fiddle music.
The goal of violin music is beauty and power. The goal of fiddling is danceability.
Violin music is often harder to play than it sounds. Fiddle music is usually easier
to play than it sounds.
Violin performance takes more strength and concentration to play than fiddle music.
Fiddle music is usually improvised in part. Violin music is rarely improvisational.
It's easier to learn how to fiddle than how to play violin.
2007-01-14 19:00:40 · answer #6 · answered by richard_beckham2001 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
no, just the way that they're played. The fiddles used more with country music
2007-01-14 19:00:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe it's half an octave higher (fiddle) and the sound box is shallower so resonance is less sonerous. Which is why the Devil has the best tunes!
2007-01-14 19:20:59 · answer #8 · answered by stephen t 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, they are the same instrument, the only difference is the way they are played.
2007-01-14 19:05:00 · answer #9 · answered by Shadow_Dancer 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Easy.........the fiddle is smaller.........the strings on the fiddle are shorter making it a higher sound.........:)
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It appears as the same instrument only the fiddle is a smaller version..............:_
2007-01-14 19:06:23 · answer #10 · answered by Minx 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋