fiddle

Any instrument from a widespread family of bowed lutes consisting of one or more strings stretched the full length of a fingerboard terminating in a soundbox. The timbre of a fiddle depends on the resonance of the soundbox, which depends on the frequency of the sound vibration. The lower the frequency (the lower the pitch of the note) the larger the soundbox needed to produce a full tone. ‘Fiddle’ is also the colloquial name given to instruments of the violin family.

Most fiddles are flat-backed; the 13th-century rebec, however, is tear-shaped and has a convex back like a lute. Many fiddles incorporate sympathetic strings which vibrate when the string next to them is sounded, enriching the overall effect.

The American Apache fiddle has a hollow tubular body, often made of cactus; the Middle East spike fiddle rests on the leg and has a dish-shaped soundbox; African fiddles take many forms, including the shoelike rebab; Asian fiddles include the Japanese ko-kiu, the Mongolian morinchur, and the Chinese erh-hu. Medieval and Renaissance fiddles held at the shoulder are the immediate predecessors of the violin.

In folk fiddle traditions, from the gypsy music of Eastern Europe to US country music, the violin was widely adopted as the successor to the fiddle. In Norway, four sympathetic strings were added to create the Hardanger fiddle.