Editing Fiddle (section)

{{Short description|Bowed string instrument}}
{{About|the musical instrument and its playing styles|the Indian film|Fiddle (film){{!}}''Fiddle'' (film)}}
{{Redirect|Fiddler}}

{{Infobox Instrument
| name           = Fiddle
| names          = [[Violin]]
| image          = Morris fiddler - Festivals of Winds, 2012.jpg
| image_capt     = A [[morris dance]] fiddler playing a fiddle.
| background     = string
| classification = [[Bowed string instrument]]
| hornbostel_sachs = 321.322-71
| developed      = Early 16th century
| range          = [[Image:Range violin.png|130px|center]]
| related        = *'''[[Violin family]]''' ([[viola]], [[cello]])
*[[Viol]] family (includes [[double bass]])
| musicians      = *[[List of fiddlers]]
| builders       = *[[:Category:Bowed string instrument makers|Luthiers]]
}}

{{Violin}}

A '''fiddle''' is a [[Bow (music)|bowed]] [[String instrument|string]] [[musical instrument]], most often a [[violin]]  or a bass.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gyles|first=Mary Francis|title=Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned|journal=[[The Classical Journal]]|date=January 1947|volume=42|issue=4|pages=211–17|jstor=3291751}}</ref> It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including [[European classical music|classical music]]. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a [[Violin construction and mechanics#Bridge|bridge]] with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of [[bariolage]] involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reiner |first1=David |last2=Anick |first2=Peter |date=1989 |title=Mel Bay's Old-Time Fiddling Across America |publisher=Mel Bay Publications, Inc. |page=37 |isbn=978-0-7866-5381-2 |quote=Double shuffle: syncopated string crossing on a chord, with the top note changing. }}</ref> To produce a [[Timbre#Brightness|''brighter'']] tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional ([[Folk music|folk]]) styles, which are typically [[Music#Oral and aural tradition|aural traditions]]—taught "[[Playing by ear|by ear]]" rather than via written music.<ref name="OKHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FI001|title=Fiddling|last=Harris |first=Rodger |publisher=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|date=2009|website=Okhistory.org|access-date=2017-04-07}}</ref>

'''Fiddling''' is the act of playing the fiddle, and '''fiddlers''' are musicians who play it. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more [[vibrato]] and sustained notes. Fiddling is also open to improvisation and embellishment with [[Ornament (music)#Celtic music|ornamentation]] at the player's discretion, in contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer's notes to reproduce a work faithfully. It is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers (e.g., [[Alasdair Fraser]], [[Brittany Haas]], and [[Alison Krauss]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nodepression.com/article/alison-krauss-bluegrass-rose-blooms|title=Alison Krauss - The bluegrass rose blooms &#124; No Depression|date=29 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229100342/http://nodepression.com/article/alison-krauss-bluegrass-rose-blooms|access-date=21 April 2021|archive-date=2016-12-29}}</ref>) have classical training.