World Fiddle Day

World Fiddle Day Scartaglin is a commemoration of the Fiddle and Traditional Music and Song of area surrounding Scartaglin, Cordal, Castleisland, and people who enriched it by visiting and playing.

World Fiddle Day is an annual musical celebration held on the third Saturday of May. Although World Fiddle Day was established in 2012, it has gained worldwide popularity within a few years. It was created to celebrate and teach the playing of bowstring instruments around the world by hosting participatory and inclusive events. The fiddle is a type of stringed instrument, used by players of all genres, including classical music.

World Fiddle Day happens once a year and celebrates all that people love about the fun, fun, and vibrant art of fiddle music. You'll find it held on the third Saturday of every May. Fiddle has always been known to be something positive, with all the songs and notes it is high energy, entertaining and brings something positive. Make the room feel like dancing, wherever the piano sounds.

Around the world, World Fiddle Day is celebrated with dance, music and of course lots of fiddle games!

History of World Fiddle Day

Before we talk about this day, it's best to have a better understanding of the Fiddle being held! The fiddle is a four-stringed musical instrument in the string family, also commonly referred to as a small violin. Like the violin, it is also played with the bow. The term fiddling or fiddle play actually refers to a style of music, most commonly folk music. The origin of the name 'fiddle' is not known but it is believed to have originated from an early violin or from the Old English word 'fithele'. The fiddle is popular with British folk, Irish folk, Scandinavian, Austrian, French, Hungarian, Polish, American, and Latin American, African and even Australian music. There is no difference between a fiddle and a violin other than the name and type of music the instrument is used in.

A fiddle has many parts including neck, fingers, tuning pegs, coils, case, bridge, outlet, strings, tuners, connectors, bass bar, body, accompaniment, knobs, backplate and bowstring. The earliest fiddles (or violins) are derived from bow instruments from the Middle Ages.

When it comes to crafting a high-quality guitar, craftsmen can take up to 200 hours to build a professional guitar, showing that for a relatively simple and fun looking instrument, it takes a lot of craft and craftsmanship to make a guitar.

Traditional fiddle ropes are made with the intestines of a pig, goat, horse or sheep. Today they are made from steel or aluminum on a nylon core. Now, the last fun fact you might want to take off for your next trivia game is that the fastest recorded violin/fiddle player is Ben lee, who played 'Flight of' the Bumblebee' for just over a minute in 2010. He averaged 13 notes per second out of a total of 810 notes in all. Now that's pretty impressive, so now that the fiddles are explained, what about the date?

This day was founded in 2012 by Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, a professional poker player from Donegal in Ireland. This day was born out of deep respect for one of the most respected and professional violin makers in history.

This month was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Italian violinist Antonio Stradivari back in 1737.

The Stradivari is today regarded as the most important violin creator in history, with his surviving instruments considered today to be the most prized and finest instruments ever made. Although he also built larger stringed instruments such as the cello and violin, it was the violins he loved to craft for which he was most famous and remembered.

Although only a few hundred of his works have survived, they have been known to fetch some hefty prices at auction and are particularly sought after among professional violinists.

How to celebrate World Fiddle Day

If you learned how to play the violin at school, or you often play it for fun or for work, today is a great day to get out of your hands and play some tunes! Maybe play a little with friends or family, or show your child how to play some simple themes. If you don't own one or don't know how to play, this could be a great time to learn. Learning a new instrument is always fun and exciting, so why not start learning the art of playing the fiddle and maybe next year's celebration you can play with the world what you've learned!

If you weren't lucky enough to learn how to play this string instrument, you can celebrate its day by listening to some great performances by string artists that can be easily found on Youtube or Spotify. It is happier like a spring to your daily commute with some Mozart, Barber or Brahms!

And if you've always enjoyed trying out the violin, perhaps today you could take a trial lesson to learn how to play? Who knows - by the time the next World Fiddle Day arrives, you'll be able to play along with everyone who's been playing with others!

Whatever you're doing, have a Happy World Day!