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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
GUEST,Frank Hamilton 'Fiddle' vs 'Violin'???? (79* d) RE: 'Fiddle' vs 'Violin'???? 11 Feb 07


I think that there is a stylistic difference based on geography. The "classical" approach to violin is suited to the European repitiore under which most so-called "classical" pieces fall.
The African-american approach of a Stuff Smith or blues players would almost have to ignore the "classical" style to enable their playing. Regina Carter attempts to bridge both worlds like Wynton Marsalis and is somewhat successful but it's like comparing Wynton or Rafael Mendez to Louis Armstrong.

There are very few formalized violinists that can approach the fiddling expertise of Jean Carignan, McMasters or Mairead Nesbitt or the Mairead of Altan let alone James Morrison, Micheal Coleman and Schnuckenack Reinhardt. It's a different world as exemplified by the difference of the playing of a traditional blues guitarist and a "classical" one in the Bream or Segovia methods. There is a fundamental difference in the two styles, "classical" and "fiddling". The European oriented "classical" players tend not to be able to approximate the lilt of a good Irish fiddler no matter how much technique they have at their disposal.

Frank Hamilton


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