I used to grip the violin with my neck until 1976 when I broke my neck in a car accident. Then I dropped it down to my chest the way the old Scottish fiddler, Neil Gow is shown in his photos and that stopped me getting a sore neck. Playing it that way, I found it easy to sing at the same time, though it takes a bit of practice to be able to sing something different to what you are playing, such as a harmony or cross rhythm. After a while, I found that I could even call the dances we played for without losing the tune. As Australian music is based on Irish and Scottish music mostly, the more "lazy" style of playing on the chest fitted in really well. My violin was given to me by an old retired classical player who always called it his fiddle, so I guess the name is just a matter of taste.