Generically, fiddles are bowed lutes. The fiddle term denotes the existence of a stringed instrument that has a neck that bears strings sounded through the use of friction rather than the use of striking or plucking as with other musical instruments.

Playing the Fiddle

In nearly all fiddle instruments around the world, the friction that creates the sound is provided by the use of a bow that is strung using rosined horsehair. The hair tension is created by the springiness of the instrument's bow, or it is held in tension using the player's fingers, or even sometimes by tightening a mechanism involving a screw.

The most common playing position for a fiddle instrument is to hold them vertically rather than under the chin such as with a violin. When held vertically, the sound box is made to rest either on the ground or on the knee, and then the instrument is bowed in a fashion that is not unlike how a cello would be bowed. In other words, the bow hand would be palm faced variously upward and then downward. A few of the smaller fiddles are held in a horizontal fashion on the arm, and there are a very small number that are played with the sound box of the instrument resting on the shoulder with the neck facing downward and then the strings being stopped using the joints of the left hand's fingers with the palm of the hand facing inward toward the instrument.

The Erhu

The Erhu is a member of a family of instruments known as huquin, which is found en masse in China. The Erhu is an example of a spike fiddle, which is essentially like a spike lute, except that it is bowed rather than being plucked as a spike lute would be. These instruments are found all over china. The Erhu comes with a small sound box that is either cylindrical in shape, hexagonal in shape or octagonal in shape, and it is open in the back and has a sound board made of snakeskin that supports a small bridge made of wood. It has a thin stick like neck that is also cylindrical in nature that has no fingerboard present.

This instrument also has two large friction pegs made out of wood at the top. Below this, there are two strings that are run through a loop of either nylon or silk that forms an adjustable type of nut, and then onward over the bridge to the spike's stub. The strings are stopping using the fingers rather than pressed against the neck. The hair of the bow runs between both strings which are tined to be a fifth apart perfectly, which is a feature that makes this instrument dramatically different from the fiddles from western countries.

Photo Credits: dalbera

Originally posted 2009-08-18 19:02:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Acoustic Musical Instruments, Erhu, Fiddle, Instrument History

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cello, Erhu, existence, fiddles, fingers, friction, horsehair, instruments around the world, joints, left hand, lute, musical instruments, palm, screw, shape, snakeskin, spike fiddle, stringed instrument, tension, Violin