# Fiddle Faddle **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570 "2013-02-17T02:44:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/1 "2013-02-17T02:44:17Z")
What, if any , is the difference between a violin and a fiddle? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/2 "2013-02-17T02:46:35Z")
I asked a violinist this very thing not too long ago. Her answer was that a violin has strings and a fiddle has strangs. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/3 "2013-02-17T02:55:35Z")
I asked a fiddler once. He said about $50,000 of student loan debt. As the term “fiddle” is used in the US, there is no difference in the instrument itself, just the style of playing it. “Fiddle” can refer to other stringed instruments in other countries, but not so much here. [Fiddle - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddle) ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/4 "2013-02-17T03:06:38Z")
You carry a violin in a case. You carry a fiddle in a gunny sack. (I’ll be here all week. Try the possum. :D) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/5 "2013-02-17T03:40:55Z")
It’s hard to violin about. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/6 "2013-02-17T03:43:10Z")
Yet sex and fiddles is quite fun! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/7 "2013-02-17T04:23:31Z")
Depends where yer standin’. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/8 "2013-02-17T05:22:54Z")
To echo **WhyNot** , it’s pretty much defined by how much you play in a pentatonic scale, do slurs, and play chords. If you don’t do them very often, you’re probably a violinist. If you spend most of your time doing them, you’re probably a fiddler. If you have a steel guitar in the band, it almost doesn’t matter how you play. You’re almost certainly a fiddler. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/9 "2013-02-17T06:09:54Z")
Ah, crap. I thought this thread was gonna be about caramel corn! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/10 "2013-02-17T09:16:24Z")
Legend has it that at least one fiddler, suitably equipped with said instrument, is required if one plans to play in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/11 "2013-02-17T15:55:54Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Ah, crap. I thought this thread was gonna be about caramel corn! > ~VOW You are not the only one. I came here to kvetch about how awful Cracker Jack is and how, in my area at least, Crunch 'n Munch has taken over the market. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/12 "2013-02-17T17:40:27Z")
You can spill beer on a fiddle. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/13 "2013-02-17T18:22:25Z")
Tuning and technique, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/14 "2013-02-17T19:06:37Z")
I think there’s also a tendency for fiddles to be steel-strung, while violins are usually strung with gut or some reasonable approximation thereof. Though of course, exceptions abound. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/15 "2013-02-17T20:38:57Z")
I thought this thread was going to be about the popcorn confection :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/16 "2013-02-17T23:14:48Z")
> [@NadaHappyCamper](#): > > What, if any , is the difference between a violin and a fiddle? A friend of mine played fiddle. His father played violin in an orchestra. I asked him this question and he said… **“The kind of music you play on it.”** Seriously. As a corollary, fiddlers tend to play by ear – most/many can’t read sheet music – and use open strings any chance they get. Violinists tend to play from sheet music – most/many can’t readily play by ear – and would eat a slug before playing an open string. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/17 "2013-02-18T00:04:10Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > I thought this thread was going to be about the popcorn confection :mad: I did, too. My son plays fiddle and violin. On the same instrument. It’s mostly what you play and how you play it. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/18 "2013-02-18T00:13:30Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > You are not the only one. I came here to kvetch about how awful Cracker Jack is and how, in my area at least, Crunch 'n Munch has taken over the market. We need a separate thread. What I wouldn’t give for a box of Screaming Yellow Zonkers! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/19 "2013-02-18T01:48:04Z")
“Open string” meaning without pressing on the frets, so you get the full length of the string? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570/20 "2013-02-18T02:42:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Open string” meaning without pressing on the frets, so you get the full length of the string? Correct. Except that fiddles/violins don’t have frets. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiddle-faddle/650570.md?page=2)