 Amorris dance fiddler playing a fiddle. | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Violin |
| Classification | Bowed string instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322-71 |
| Developed | Early 16th century |
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| Part ofa series on |
| Violin |
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| Violinists |
| Fiddle |
| Fiddlers |
| History |
| Musical styles |
| Technique |
| Acoustics |
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| Luthiers |
| Family |
Afiddle is abowedstringmusical instrument, most often aviolin or a bass.[1]Fiddle is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, includingclassical music. Although in many casesviolin andfiddle 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 abridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form ofbariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings.[2] To produce abrighter tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typicallyaural traditions—taught "by ear" rather than via written music.[3]
Fiddling is the act of playing the fiddle, andfiddlers 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 morevibrato and sustained notes. Fiddling is also open to improvisation and embellishment withornamentation 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,Brittany Haas, andAlison Krauss[4]) have classical training.
The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from theByzantine lira (Ancient Greek:λύρα,Latin:lira, English:lyre), a bowed string instrument of theByzantine Empire and ancestor of most European bowed instruments.[5][6]
Lira spread widely westward to Europe; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the termsfiddle andlira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments.[5]
The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-centurynorthern Italy. 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 theEpitome musical byJambe de Fer, published inLyon in 1556.[7] By this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughoutEurope. The fiddle proved very popular among both street musicians and the nobility; the French kingCharles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560.[8] One of these instruments, theCharles 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 theviola da braccio (arm viol) family and evolved into the violin; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, was theviola da gamba (leg viol) group. During theRenaissance the gambas were important and elegant instruments; they eventually lost ground to the louderviola da braccio family.[9]
Theetymology offiddle is uncertain: it probably derives from the Latinfidula, which is the early word forviolin, or it may be natively Germanic.[10][verification needed]
The name appears to be related to Icelandicfiðla and alsoOld Englishfiðele.[11] A native Germanic ancestor offiddle might even be the ancestor of the early Romance form ofviolin.[12]
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 theviols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards.[13]
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,SwedishSpelmanslag folk-musician clubs, and the worldwide phenomenon ofIrish sessions.[14][15]
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,[3] 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.[citation needed] Various fiddle traditions have differing values.
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,[16]Alasdair Fraser andNatalie Haas' Fire and Grace,[17] and Tim Macdonald and Jeremy Ward'sThe Wilds.[18]
Hungarian, Slovenian, and Romanian fiddle players are often accompanied by a three-stringed variant of theviola—known as thekontra—and bydouble bass, withcimbalom andclarinet being less standard yet still common additions to a band. In Hungary, a three-stringed viola variant with a flat bridge, called thekontra orháromhúros 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.
To a greater extent than classical violin playing, fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic orfolk music traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound.
American fiddling is a broad category including traditional and modern styles:
Fiddling remains popular inCanada, and the various homegrown styles ofCanadian fiddling are seen as an important part of the country's cultural identity, as celebrated during the opening ceremony of theVancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Mexican fiddling includes
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Double shuffle: syncopated string crossing on a chord, with the top note changing.
The ultimate origin is obscure. The [Teutonic] word bears a singular resemblance in sound to its [medievalLatin] synonymvitula,vidula, whence [Old French]viole, Pr. viula, and (by adoption from these [languages]) [Italian], [Spanish], [Portuguese]viola: see [viol]. The supposition that the early [Romance]vidula was adopted independently in more than one [Teutonic language] would account adequately for all the [Teutonic] forms; on the other hand,*fiÞulôn- may be an [Old Teutonic] word of native etymology, although no satisfactory [Teutonic] derivation has been found.(Subscription orparticipating institution membership required.)
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