1. Music Appreciation 101 By Daryl Marsh
Fiddle vs Violin
Music Appreciation 101 By
Daryl Marsh

2. Overview Are they the same? History Parts Why named differently?
Differences?
Examples of each

3. They Look the Same
Fiddle
Violin

4. But are they the same? Merriam-Webster defines a violin as;
a bowed stringed instrument having four strings tuned at intervals of a fifth and a usual range from G below middle C upward for more than 41⁄2 octaves and having a shallow body, shoulders at right angles to the neck, a fingerboard without frets, and a curved bridge
Merriam-Webster defines a fiddle as;
a bowed stringed instrument having four strings tuned at intervals of a fifth and a usual range from G below middle C upward for more than 41⁄2 octaves and having a shallow body, shoulders at right angles to the neck, a fingerboard without frets, and a curved bridge

5. So are they the same? Same number of strings Played with a bow
Played off the shoulder
Made with the same materials

6. Yes, they are the same…..

7. History of the Fiddle
Traced back to the lyra, sometime around 10th century
11th and 12th century writers interchanged the words lyra and fiddle
Many countries developed their own stringed instruments

8. History of Violin Early 16th century Cremona, Italy Famous makers
As we know the violin today
Cremona, Italy
Famous makers
Amati
Stradivari
Guarneri
Salo

9. Parts of violin/fiddle

10. Pegbox – the part of the violin that holds the tuning pegs
Bridge - device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.
Fine Tuners - used with solid metal or composite strings that may be difficult to tune with pegs alone
F-Holes - allows some of the vibrations which have been set in motion inside the instrument to travel outside the instrument.

11. So why the different names?
They come from the same Latin root
Violin comes from Romance language
Fiddle comes from the German language
Name comes down to the type of music being played
Violin plays Classical and Jazz
Fiddle plays everything else
Does a violinist get mad when you call him a fiddler?

12. Differences? Fiddlers – customize their instruments
Cut down bridges to make them flat
Uses steel strings
Soundpost modified
Larger shoulder rests
5 strings
Violinists – tend to make no modifications
Use gut or synthetic strings

13. Fiddle Playing Mikayla Roach Video taken when she was 9 years old
started when she was 6
Has a band and travels the midwest

14. Violin Playing Leonidas Kavakos Began playing at age 5
plays the "Abergavenny" Stradivarius of 1724

15. Interesting quotes I found
'The violin sings, the fiddle dances‘
‘The difference between a fiddle and voilin is about $5000’
"Music is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful." Plato
"The music comes from the fiddler's heart, through his strings and straight into your heart." Father John Angus Rankin, Cape Breton musician

16. Sources
The Violin. (2010, December 28). Retrieved May 4, 2012, from 9 Year old Fiddler:
Fein, A. (2011, December 11). The History of the Violin. Retrieved May 4, 2012, from The Violin Shop:
Joshel. (2006, July 22). More History of the Fiddle. Retrieved May 4, 2012, from Fiddle Music:
Leonidas Kavakos. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2012, from Wikipedia:

17. Tribute
I ran across this video of an old song sung by a few big names in country music. One of them being Johnny Cash. Since the main instrument in the song is a fiddle, I thought I’d include it here as a tribute to Johnny Cash