“What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle?”
This is probably the question I am asked most frequently at parties when I tell people I’m a fiddler. You too? Do people whose instinct is to call themselves “violinists” get the same question just as often?
My mom’s favorite description of the difference: “attitude.” And to some extent she’s not totally off base… but she’s also not being quite fair to classical players. There’s plenty of sassy violin music, and sassier violinists, out there. (Ever seen The Red Violin?) For that matter, there are plenty of square dance bands that put me to sleep, to be perfectly honest.
I usually respond, “Genre. It’s the same instrument. They’re sort of interchangeable words, but country-based musicians usually say fiddle, and classical musicians usually say violin.” It’s a pat description, and it works for conversations held over chips and dip. But it still doesn’t really get to the actual differences in approach and technique.
Figuring out those distinctions can be tricky. It’s a project that has occupied quite a bit of the 21 years I’ve been studying the instrument. (Wow, when did I get old enough to say that?)
I had the great fortune to work with several violin/fiddle teachers and professors while I was in school: two classical teachers, an old-time fiddle teacher, and one who taught Texas style and jazz/swing. During that time, I also played fiddle in two bluegrass bands with adults who taught me all kinds of things about bluegrass and about soloing, even though they weren’t themselves fiddlers.
What each of these teachers had in common was a strong grounding in their own tradition, but not a lot of real knowledge about the others. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to play in a folk band or a fiddle contest without receiving the feedback, “you sound like you’re playing a concerto!” Rarely did the critic actually give a technical analysis of what I was doing wrong.
Conversely, classical teachers would periodically assign exercises with the explanation that it would “help me with fiddling,” when I could see that it clearly had little relevance whatsoever. What they meant is that it would help me play fast. The classical music establishment, unfortunately, seems to harbor a lot of stereotypes about what fiddling is–mostly that all we do is move our fingers as quickly as possible, and our bows as sloppily as possible.
Am I right?
Actually, I remember Tony Ludiker, 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion, describing the time he was hired to play Boccherini’s “Minuet in G” as crappily as possible for a TV commercial. Why didn’t they just hire a classical violinist, who would likely have already known that standard piece?
Oh.
So, then, what’s a classical player to do? If you’ve found yourself in love with a folk genre, or maybe even in a band, how do you become “bilingual,” treating folk music and the other musicians around you with respect? How do you expand upon the skills you’ve already got, instead of pretending they don’t exist?
Funny you should ask! I happen to be teaching a class about that, starting on Tuesday.
Hint #1: There are some bowing things. (Of course. There are always bowing things.) No, you don’t have to sound deliberately crappy. You can develop rhythm and bite without sacrificing tone. I will show you how.
Hint #2: Vibrato. Sometimes people will tell you not to use it in fiddle music. Actually, great fiddlers use vibrato to warm up the sound of their long notes, just like classical players do. Fiddlers just typically favor a slower, narrower vibrato. Learning to develop a wider range of vibrato styles will make you a better classical player, too.
Hint #3: Genre familiarity. Don’t be one of those classical players that assumes you can call yourself a fiddler because you bought one book of tunes at random, opened it up, and said, “it’s all eighth notes in first position! This is easy!” Just like a Bach piece and a Shostakovich piece differ in more ways than what’s obvious on the page, fiddle traditions have very specific differences from each other and from classical musics.
So okay, then. The class. Yep, it’s right around the corner. You can register right here.
Who do you know who might be interested? Will you make sure they have the opportunity to be here, by passing along this article?
I’ve been working with private students on this information for the last five years. It seems to be a common issue. But I also realize that I’m only seeing a small fraction of the people who would like this information. Many advanced players don’t realize there’s a teacher out there–in Bellingham, no less–who can help them figure this out without wasting their time with basic violin technique that they already know. I haven’t seen other classes offered on this subject, so I really want to make sure that the right people know about this one so we can discuss and integrate this information together. Your help, even if this class isn’t for you, would be greatly appreciated–just email them a link to this article. Thank you!
