A good point raised there, Jon... in my opinion, one of the best Bluegrass fiddlers in the world is Kenny Baker (used to play for Bill Monroe)-when Kenny plays you can hear the 'violin' touch, and yet its pure Bluegrass.. I'm fairly sure that I've heard Kenny mention that he did have some classical training along the way, and also had such varied influences as Stephan Grepelli (sp?) and Django Reinhardt.

To answer Laura's query tho, I'd have to go with Louie Ray's advice...learn him a little music reading, but for a fiddle player the ability to play by ear is essential! The classical training would probably be more useful along down the line.