What is the difference between a Fiddle and a Violin.?

Answer 1

this is the same instrument, but the term is dependant on the application.

Violin is usually for classical music, played by trained musician who can read music.

Fiddle is played by "usually" less formally trained persons in a "folk" or "bluegrass" or "celtic" way, or whatever.

I'd day Violin is for formal music, fiddle for iNformal.

Answer 2

From the Violin/Viola FAQ:
(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.

Answer 3

Violin vs. fiddle
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.

Historically, the word fiddle also referred to a predecessor of today's violin. Like the violin, it tended to have 4 strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another series of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle was the viol, which was played while held between the legs, and has a fretted fingerboard.

One very slight difference between "fiddles" and ordinary violins may be seen in American (e.g., bluegrass and old-time music) fiddling: in these styles, the top of the bridge may be cut so that it is very slightly less curved. This reduces the range of right-arm motion required for the rapid string-crossings found in some styles, and is said to make it easier to play double stops and shuffles (bariolage), or to make triple stops possible, allowing one to play chords.

Most classical violinists prefer a more rounded curve to the top of the bridge that allows them to articulate each note more easily and clearly. In practice, most instruments are fitted with a rounded bridge to better accommodate the shape of the fingerboard. (One exception is the 3-string kontra or bracsa, a viola used in Hungarian and Transylvanian folk music fitted with an absolutely flat bridge to allow all three strings to be played simultaneously.) In any case, the difference between "round" and "flat" is not great; about a quarter or half a millimeter variation in the height of one or two strings. A fiddle strung with steel will work best with a bridge as much as a millimeter lower overall. For gut, nylon or other synthetic-core strings, the action may be set suitably higher. As a violin's bridge is relatively easy to replace, modifying the bridge does not permanently make a violin into a fiddle.

In construction, fiddles and violins are exactly the same. Various clichés describe the difference: "When you are buying it, it's a fiddle. When you are selling it, it's a violin," The violin sings, the fiddle dances," or "A fiddle is a violin with attitude," or "No one cries when they spill beer on a fiddle." As might be expected from the differences between classical and folk music, violinists tend to be formally trained and fiddlers tend to be informally trained, although crossing over is not uncommon.

Answer 4

A fiddle is a violin with attitude! I've always understood that a fiddle is simply a nickname for a violin. It is true that some fiddlers prefer to flatten the bridge. Even though double stops can be played with either a high-arched or lower,flatter bridge, they can go between adjacent double-stops faster and easier if the bridge has less curvature.

Answer 5

I would have to agree with Ecky Boy there. That´s really the only different of the instruments, that is, the occasions for which you use them. And im not sure about this, but i do think that the tuning of the 2 instruments must be somewhat different, cuz i dont think the fiddle´s usual tone is something you can use in classical music, without it sounding a little unorthodox, maybe.

Answer 6

Fiddle was the name of a violin manufacturer who produced so many instruments that the name 'Fiddle' was used to mean violin...a little like we might say Hoover when we mean vacuum cleaner..

Answer 7

The non-serious answer: “Nobody cares if you spill beer on a fiddle.” Itzhak Perlman calls his Strad a fiddle. You wouldn’t spill beer on it, though.

The two quick answers to this are,

1. A fiddle is a cheap violin covered in rosin dust with a flattened bridge, and
2. There is no difference in the instrument itself, only in the way that it is played.

Answer 8

When the instrument was originally developed, it was called a "violino" which was shortened to "violin". "Fiddle" developed as a slang anglicanized term, based on the name of one of the predecessors to the violin, the viol (which developed into the viola, then violoncello (cello) (big viola) and violino (violin)(little viola)).
They are the same instrument, but mostly the word "fiddle" is used when Celtic and celtic-derived music is involved.

Answer 9

A full set of teeth. Sorry, couldn't resist. Hillbillies play "fiddles"; "real" musicians play violins, see? Two names for the same instrument.

Answer 10

There is no difference, the word fiddle seems to be a more dated word, as it's used in old songs and rhymes. Both words are the same instrument though.