@PearlclutchersInc
Whats the difference between a violin and a fiddle? Is there one?
No-one would ever consider a fiddle posh but its the same instrument just a different genre thats played on it?
(Question because I'm really not sure!)
@pearlclutchesInc: The instrument is the "same". The technique is completely different. The cost is different, especially over time. Entry levels for all violins/fiddles is pretty much the same but an advanced violin player, think teen/full size violin will probably have an instrument costing about 3k, even 5k upwards. A folk/trad player will produce a fine sound on something costing a tenth of that price and better still on a fiddle inherited from granny or grandad that might only fetch 80 pounds at auction.
A bow that may have cost 1k, 5k or 10k may not be at all suitable for trad tunes beyond the slowest air. A carbon fibre bow (sniffed at by many classical violin teachers) may be the perfect weapon for trad/folk.
My DC learns both violin and fiddle. She uses the same instrument but different bows for each genre. A player may be very technically accomplished on classical violin and be absolutely shit at trad/folk music, in fact my DC has been known to have tears (of mirth) in her eyes listening to one of her orchestras attempt to play the most basic trad tunes. They have no idea how to put nuance and craic into the music outside of the classical genre. So trad/folk players have a degree of snobbery about how to play the instrument too. In her current orchestra, the director will only allow the trad players to play the trad tunes in order to avoid any embarrassment.
Different learning styles too, advanced violin requires you to be fully competent in sight reading sheet music, that's an extra weekly theory class to be sourced. Many trad/folk players learn by ear and cannot read sheet music.
@Soubriquet OP you are getting a hard time on here but thank you for the link and thank you to the PPs for the other interesting links.