fiddle vs violin

[shelly0312]

....gads, you guys are a wealth esoteric tidbits! we need to drink a pint together more often. thanks! shelly

[Fiddlehead Fern]

Nobody cares if you spill beer on a fiddle.

 

I identify as both a fiddler and a violinist, and I use the same instrument all the time and use the terms interchangeably to refer to it. I feel like this is the sort of issue that can be debated forever, without ever coming to a suitable conclusion, so my two cents is that it's a highly subjective opinion that changes from person to person.

[AlexCJones]

So, off subject: will someone please edify me and explain "fiddles". Is it a generic term for a style of play; as in Irish fiddle or ol' timey fiddle. Can any of the "violins" family be a fiddle? Can the lower voiced viola be a fiddle? more or less strings on violin vs. fiddle? Or is a fiddle a specific instrument? shelly

 

maybe I should put this in a new subject....

The short answer: "Violin" is anglicized Italian for "small fiddle".

 

Explanation:

"Fiddle" is the English word referring to bowed string lutes. Lutes, referring to all string instruments that have a neck with a fingerboard, as opposed to zithers and harps that do not, and where you play a different string for each note.

 

"Viola" is the Italian word for "Fiddle". I think someone has already covered that they come from the same Latin root. "Violina" is the Italian word for "small fiddle". So, "violin" is anglicized Italian for "small fiddle".

 

Why Italian? Have you ever looked at any sheet music? Pianissimo, Forte, Fortissimo, Soprano, Alto, a capella. Classical music uses a lot of Italian terminology. I am stopping there, rather than going on about Vivaldi and the Renaissance etc.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2012 by AlexCJones

[David Barnert]

I would add that fiddle players often use metal strings and violinists usually use gut or synthetic core strings.

That's not really the case. Modern classical violinists often (usually) use metal strings for the higher strings and metal-wound gut strings for the lower. Violinists playing baroque (or earlier) music on an instrument designed to emulate the instruments of the period use gut strings.

 

I don't know what "fiddlers" use, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same as modern classical violinists.

[Daniel Hersh]

I would add that fiddle players often use metal strings and violinists usually use gut or synthetic core strings.

That's not really the case. Modern classical violinists often (usually) use metal strings for the higher strings and metal-wound gut strings for the lower. Violinists playing baroque (or earlier) music on an instrument designed to emulate the instruments of the period use gut strings.

 

I don't know what "fiddlers" use, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same as modern classical violinists.

I believe that many "fiddlers" use metal-core strings such as these on the lower strings as well as on the higher ones.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Daniel Hersh

[spindizzy]

I having been having the same discussion on Art v. Craft having recently opened my weaving studio (aka garage) as part of the Cheshire open studio event (where all the literature implies "Art").

I had to submit an item to the exhibition and I would say that the difference between art and craft is also around £500.

[daive]

over the years of repairing instruments and playing (not fiddle\violin )

I usually answer the question what is the difference between a violin and a fiddle

with 'the spelling' Daive.