I’ve heard a few different ways to answer this question. A violin dealer told me the following:
“It’s a fiddle if I’m buying it from you. It’s a violin if I’m selling it to you.” Good one!
I’ve also heard that it’s a fiddle if it’s playing solo or in a folk band; it’s a violin if it’s in an orchestral band. Or it’s a violin if it’s played in Europe, a fiddle if it’s played in America. Perhaps it’s a fiddle if you’re self-taught, a violin if you’ve studied it with classical music.
Anybody have any good info to share on the matter? Please post in the comments. I love ‘em both!
Now, let’s say you wanted to learn to play the violin, or you want your child to learn, but you can’t afford all those pesky lessons. There is a cool self-teaching program available that I had the chance to take a look at last year, thanks to a vicarious interest in having one of my sons play. I would love to learn myself, but I have some wrist and neck problems which I think would preclude me. Guess it’s the steel drums for me! Anyway, this program does not require any musical training or background, just the discipline to actually purchase and use it. (And, no, I am not an affiliate.) Visit Ebaru for more info.
But on this one I am…
Virtual Sheet Music – Classical Sheet Music Downloads
21 June 2008 at 6:06 pm |
I had a fiddler tell me that the art of playing a fiddle is making easy music sound hard whereas the violinist makes hard music sound easy. My thought is that the difference between a violin and a fiddle is the difference between the word Father (violin) and the word Daddy (fiddle). When the two year old runs to her “Father,” he bends down and gives her a big hug and a kiss. When she runs to her “Daddy,” he picks her up, swings her around, and sets her down on his knee. They’re the same man. They have the same love. The relationship is the same. The difference is style.
22 June 2008 at 11:43 pm |
That’s a very interesting analogy. Thank you for sharing it, Arthur!