| Some say the difference is that you never cry when | | | | instrument. If you're considering folk music -- whether |
| you spill beer on a fiddle. Others say it's a fiddle when | | | | it's bluegrass, country and western, irish, gypsy, etc |
| you buy it, but a violin when you sell it. Others say | | | | -- then you're probably thinking fiddle playing. If you |
| that if you can dance to it, then it's a fiddle. | | | | think of cultured classical music -- chamber music, |
| The bottom line is there functionally is no difference | | | | symphonic orchestra, the great masters -- then |
| between a fiddle and a violin -- they're the same | | | | you're thinking violin. |
| physical instrument. Typically, the difference is one of | | | | There are some differences in the playing styles -- a |
| attitude, not of physical difference. There's a sense | | | | fiddler normally stays in first position, where a |
| that a fiddle is a low-cost instrument meant for folk | | | | classical violinist will play up and down the fingerboard. |
| enjoyment whereas a violin is more costly and meant | | | | Fiddlers may hold their instrument against the crook |
| for more cultured usage. | | | | of their elbow rather than under their chin like a |
| The word fiddle didn't always have this folksy | | | | violinist. Fiddlers don't normally incorporate the entire |
| connotation. Early classical masters commonly | | | | scale of bowing techniques that a classical violinist |
| referred to violinists as fiddlers. The origin of the | | | | might use. |
| word is obscure -- although the early Latin vitula is | | | | Still -- in all cases -- the physical instrument is the |
| probably a common root of both fiddle and viola. | | | | same basic instrument. There's no stigma in playing |
| No, fiddle refers more to the usage than the | | | | fiddle music -- or in playing classical violin music! |
