Good point, Soddy. I know very little about American fiddle music as my focus is Irish music and while it is true that tunes in C, F, Bb and other keys exist in Irish music as well I wonder how many of those tunes were written after dance music ceased to be played exclusively for dancers and became listening music as well.

Now I'm not claiming to be an authority on Irish music either but am just presenting my view on the subject. It does seem that the older tunes, in Irish music, seem to mostly be in D, G, or A. Personally, I'd like to be able to play in all keys but I just don't have the technique at this point.

As far as singing goes, I'm a singer myself and I sing a song where it suits my voice. A lot of times that means keys like Ab or F# which won't stop a guitar player with a capo but will stop a fiddler dead in his tracks. Of course, if you want my opinion, some songs should be sung without any accompanyment.

radriano