Why Learn Fiddle?

Edited: January 5, 2026, 11:02 PM · I live in an area (southwestern Virginia) where fiddle music is quite popular and many of my violin acquaintances enjoy going to fiddle jams. I'm often asked why I don't fiddle.

I've never pursued bluegrass or old-time fiddling because my tastes lean more toward jazz. I'm also a jazz pianist so I spend a good bit of time on that genre. You're not going to learn a genre that you don't listen to -- not ever -- and I don't enjoy listening to bluegrass or old-time music all that much. So there's that. Mark O'Connor performed here in Blacksburg some years ago and I attended that show and enjoyed it, but the best part of the show was when he performed a jazz piece -- his piano accompanist for the evening was Dan Strange, a notable jazz pianist who teaches at Frost (Miami). I also attended a "group lesson" hosted by April Verch and found that interesting but not something I ever followed up on. Can't do everything.

For young violin students, I think learning something about fiddling is useful, but maybe for different reasons that Nickie listed. The fiddle culture is one in which tunes are learned by ear. (Some of the local jams do not allow fake books, which I find exclusive and very off-putting.) And for that matter, the Suzuki Method also emphasizes learning by ear. Fiddling also highlights the relationship between music and dance. Nobody ever dances a minuet or a gavotte to a movement of solo Bach. Fiddling offers a young student more opportunities to play in ensembles and to build a wider network of violin-friends.

I don't happen to agree that fiddling helps anyone build violin technique any better than classical music. Especially not shifting or vibrato. Many of the well-known fiddlers model poor technique such as posture and hand positions, but certainly there are also many who have excellent form.

January 6, 2026, 12:21 AM · One thing I would say, as someone who learned fiddle music directly from masters in American and Irish fiddle traditions, it's worth considering leaving aside your assumption that you can play, and adopt a "beginner's mind" to re-learn your approach to playing. Humble yourself a bit. Listen widely, and choose a style that moves you and then concentrate on it. Learn by ear and observation, and forget notated music for awhile until you have learned the language, which has to be by ear. I noticed that you mentioned "Celtic tunes"... there is truly no "Celtic music"--there's Irish (several regional styles), Scottish, Cape Breton, etc. Pick the one that rocks your world and spend some time with it. Find the players you like and imitate their sound--your sound will arise naturally as you learn. With bluegrass, it would be ideal to start with some traditional fiddle tunes, and then introduce improvisation and soloing/accompaniment. While it is true that some styles introduce shifting and vibrato, I would caution that the use of these things is different in fiddle music and you should pay attention to these differences. If you come to a traditional Irish session with shlurpy vibrato and going up and down the neck, it can seem disrespectful to the tradition. So my advice is that the way to go is to learn the music as close as possible to the way that the masters learned it.

January 6, 2026, 12:40 AM · Fiddling is an important aspect of contra and square dances, so that can provide some social intractions (and exercise) in addition to the jam sessions.

Edited: January 6, 2026, 9:50 AM · Paul D,
I almost mentioned Gypsy Jazz, as it is one of my favorite genres. Except that none of it is played around here. There is a band called Gypsy Star, but it commonly doesn’t use the fiddle, and is a spin off of gypsy Jazz.
Paul S, Don,
I shouldn’t have used Celtic as an uMbrella term for all those wonderful genres. I didn’t mention dancing, because I don’t dance anymore. That was selfish. There’s a lot of clogging, etc in fiddling. Contra is very popular, I used to square dance as a child, but I don’t know if it’s still done. I love to watch cloggers, and the fiddle is central to that. Have you ever watched Hillary Klug?

January 6, 2026, 1:07 PM · What Paul Smith wrote about taking a humble approach rings true to me. I have taught jazz and pop to piano students who entered with a finite level of technical skill, having had already a few years of classical lessons, for instance. First I make sure they know what major and minor triads are. Always yes, they say. Then I have have them close their eyes while I play some triads and triad-inversions to see see if they can recognize major from minor. Not always yes. Sometimes no.

January 6, 2026, 4:31 PM · Knowing the technical or musicology names for things isn't always necessary. Some people just really good without being educated on any of that stuff.

January 6, 2026, 4:50 PM · Because it's fun.

January 6, 2026, 5:06 PM · Quite a few members of our local chamber orchestra have taken up harddanger (sp)fiddle playing. Lots of Scandinavian folks around, so that kind of makes sense. Instead of a new genre, I am playing cello in addition to violin. I’ve met some really nice people from 20 to 80 years old in the last few years playing music. Where else is that going to happen.

January 6, 2026, 5:55 PM · For me, it is the love of classical music and love of the violin that I have had ever since I can remember. I am not a professional musician, but I'd like to think that I've had an impact on helping other people open their hearts to the true beauty of this art.