# Violins and fiddles-what's the difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140 "2006-02-19T00:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/1 "2006-02-19T00:14:00Z")
Seriously-what’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/2 "2006-02-19T00:20:51Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294649](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294649) was where I gave a basic answer. However, it doesn’t really go into the complexity of the matter - fortunately [this current thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=359499) fits the bill ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/3 "2006-02-19T00:22:57Z")
It refers more to the style of play, it’s the same instrument, but when playing Mozart etc. it’s called a violin. When playing bluegrass or other traditional folk music, it’s 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 19, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/4 "2006-02-19T00:25:52Z")
I asked a violin/fiddle player (one who was adept at both classical and bluegrass styles of playing) what the difference is. Her answer: A violin has _strings_ and a fiddle has _strangs_. Works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/5 "2006-02-19T00:27:34Z")
Ah, thanks. My nine-year-old cousin has taken up the violin, and I asked her, and she said in fiddling, you don’t use your fingers. But I still wondered if the instruments were different. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/6 "2006-02-19T00:29:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > she said in fiddling, you don’t use your fingers Assure her that professional violinists will still talk about the ‘fiddle section’, or ‘where the feck’s my fiddle?’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/7 "2006-02-19T00:48:59Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Ah, thanks. My nine-year-old cousin has taken up the violin, and I asked her, and she said in fiddling, you don’t use your fingers. But I still wondered if the instruments were different. :dubious: Does she mean that you don’t use your fingers to stop the strings, or does she mean you don’t use your fingers to pluck the strings, like you sometimes do in classical violin? If it’s the former, then “fiddling” is going to be a very limited art with a very limited repertoire, and it’s not that at all. The latter I can see, but pizzicato isn’t the defining characteristic of classical violin, so I don’t see how it’s a relevant distinction. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/8 "2006-02-19T00:51:42Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > It refers more to the style of play, it’s the same instrument, but when playing Mozart etc. it’s called a violin. When playing bluegrass or other traditional folk music, it’s a fiddle. A friend of mine who plays the violin/fiddle says that a fiddle has a flatter bridge to make playing easier. The linked threads may go into this. I’d say you could play fiddle music on a violin and vice-versa, it just might be trickier. The definition you gave is one I have heard and seems a reasonable one, but apparently there can be a physical difference in the instruments. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/9 "2006-02-19T00:55:32Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > A friend of mine who plays the violin/fiddle says that a fiddle has a flatter bridge to make playing easier. The linked threads may go into this. I’d say you could play fiddle music on a violin and vice-versa, it just might be trickier. Depending on what is being played, a flatter bridge may or may not be helpful. In music where ‘double stopping’ and drones (i.e. playing multiple strings at once) is common, a flatter bridge is helpful. In classical violin playing, the curvature of the bridge is essential (although on occassion it’s still possible to hit three or four notes at once) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/10 "2006-02-19T00:56:36Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > :dubious: > > Does she mean that you don’t use your fingers to stop the strings, or does she mean you don’t use your fingers to pluck the strings, like you sometimes do in classical violin? If it’s the former, then “fiddling” is going to be a very limited art with a very limited repertoire, and it’s not that at all. The latter I can see, but pizzicato isn’t the defining characteristic of classical violin, so I don’t see how it’s a relevant distinction. I honestly don’t know. Keep in mind, she’s only nine and very much a beginner. ---
**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 19, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/11 "2006-02-19T02:28:40Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I honestly don’t know. Keep in mind, she’s only nine and very much a beginner. What she probably half-understood was that as a matter of style, fiddlers tend to play open strings (untouched by the hand) whenever possible, whereas I believe violinists virtually never play an open string. So more accurately stated, fiddlers don’t use their fingers on all the strings all the time the way violinist do - they don’t use their fingers **as much.** Years ago I asked a fiddle-playing friend, whose father was a symphony violinist, what the difference was between fiddle and violin. He said, “The kind of music you play on it.” ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/12 "2006-02-19T03:11:01Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > A friend of mine who plays the violin/fiddle says that a fiddle has a flatter bridge to make playing easier. The linked threads may go into this. I’d say you could play fiddle music on a violin and vice-versa, it just might be trickier. > > The definition you gave is one I have heard and seems a reasonable one, but apparently there can be a physical difference in the instruments. The flatter bridge makes it easier to perform the double stops and open string drones that give “fiddle” music its distinctive sound. Think of it more as the same instrument, with a crucial modification from the base model. Here’s an analogy: The clarinet shows up classical music as well as in folk and popular music throughout Central/Eastern Europe and Greece. Performers of classical music will use the instrument pretty much as it comes from the maker, but performers of folk/popular music routinely widen the bore to achieve a distinctive timbre characteristic of the tradition. BTW, I tried to get that sound out of my \*clarinet \* for years, and gave up. Years later someone finally told me that you get that sound by drilling out the bore. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/13 "2006-02-19T03:25:32Z")
A violin is traditional tuned. A fiddle may not be. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/14 "2006-02-19T09:14:59Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > A violin is traditional tuned. > A fiddle may not be. A classical violin may not be, if the composer has asked for a different tuning to be used (‘scordatura’ - Saint-Saen’s _Danse Macabre_ and the second movement Mahler’s fourth symphony are two examples) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/15 "2006-02-19T11:45:32Z")
The expression _violin-dee-dee_ serves no useful purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/16 "2006-02-19T15:40:38Z")
All that said, violin and fiddle are still synonymous to a very large extent. Classical musicians themselves call the classical violin a “fiddle” when talking among one another. As an accompanist, I have rehearsed a sonata with a violinist from the Cleveland Orchestra, who always called it a “fiddle.” There was an anecdote about the cruel humor of the conductor George Szell. Once the concertmaster had to cancel rehearsal because he’d fallen down the stairs. Szell’s only reaction was: “Did he break his fiddle?” Fiddle is also the name given by musicologists to a class of bowed stringed instruments in general, in whatever culture they’re found. For example, the Chinese _erhu_, the Persian _kamancheh_, and the Indian _sarangi_ are all fiddles in the musicological sense. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/17 "2006-02-19T15:46:29Z")
**Q:** How do you get a classical violinist and a folk fiddler to agree on something? **A:** Put a jazz musician in the room with them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/18 "2006-02-19T16:42:01Z")
I grew up playing the violin/fiddle, and I remember what my music teacher (the classical one) told me. Someone once asked Itzhak Perlman the difference between a violin and a fiddle. “This is a violin,” he answered, and held up his instrument and played a beautiful pasage from Mozart. “And this is a fiddle,” he continued, tucking the instrument back under his chin and sawing away with a hornpipe. Yeah, some fiddlers flattent he bridge, but not all. There’s no technical difference recognized by any musicla association that I’m aware of; nearly everyone uses it to refer to the style, or just as synonyms to refer to the instrument. Congratulate your cousin on her choice of instruments, and encourage her to fiddle around with it! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/19 "2006-02-19T23:51:48Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness"This is a violin," he answered, and held up his instrument and played a beautiful pasage from Mozart. “And this is a fiddle,” he continued, tucking the instrument back under his chin and sawing away with a hornpipe.[/QUOTE] Like I said! :rolleyes: “And this?” asked a student, tearing into the first 8 bars of Joe Venuti’s _Wild Cat._ “That,” Perlman replied, “ain’t fitten to talk about.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140/20 "2006-02-20T00:33:52Z")
If I could be certain that it was Perlman (or whoever) that made such a comment, I’d be happy to dismiss them as a ‘stupid twat’. However, I suspect that the story is apocryphal and has been applied to many big names over many years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violins-and-fiddles-whats-the-difference/345140.md?page=2)