New, interesting book I’m reading on the fiddle has a very long title but its Amazon page has the most succinct (if almost equally long) summary of the instrument that I’ve seen:
“A 16-ounce package of polished wood, strings, and air, the violin is perhaps the most affordable, portable, and adaptable instrument ever created. As congenial to reels, ragas, Delta blues, and indie rock as it is to solo Bach and late Beethoven, it has been played standing or sitting, alone or in groups, in bars, churches, concert halls, lumber camps, even concentration camps, by pros and amateurs, adults and children, men and women, at virtually any latitude on any continent.”
It’s also been cursed, as “the devil’s box,” and, indeed, it’s origin remains unclear. In Texas, they used to say (might still do, for all I know) that the only people who played guitars were those who weren’t good enough to play the fiddle. Oh, and just as a warning: learning to play one is quite addictive.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 