Hi Kat ... very interesting thoughts you just posted! For many years, I used to 'poke' my friend Lauren, remember he was a formally trained violinist, by calling his violin a "fiddle." This would always upset him, which is why I did it. Up here in Seattle, we have been blessed by the presence of one the masters of fiddling, Vivian Williams. My memory says that she won the Weisor,Idaho competition when she was a teenager. My friend Lauren heard her once, and grudgingly commented that was pretty good. The irony in this story is that my friend Lauren's daughter, is also a concert violinist. Sometime ago, she mentioned to me that she's getting intrested in fiddling. Go figure? CHEERS, Bob (in fairness to my friend it's important to remember that he had perfect pitch, and the sliding and slurring of pitches drove him nuts).