Fiddlin' facts
The arguably most important instrument in old-time music is the classic fiddle. To be clear, the fiddle, according to the Library of Congress, is just another term for "the modern European violin" (LOC). The fiddle quickly became the instrument of choice as it "fostered a revolution in dance music" (LOC). In Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, the reader gets a first-hand feel for how a crowd of migrant workers reacts to the "squeal of the fiddle" (Steinbeck329). At the squealing sound of the fiddle, Steinbeck writes, "the square closes up and the dancing starts, feet on the bare ground, beating dull" (Steinbeck 329). Seeing that the fiddle dates back to Appalachian mountain music, it is common for people to believe that the older the fiddle, the better it sounds and the more it costs. This is seen in the Grapes of Wrath when a migrant worker states, "Fella says they's fiddles four hundred years old, and they git mellow like whiskey. Says they'll cost fifty-sixty thousan' dollars" (Steinbeck 329). Steinbeck also states, "The fiddle is rare, hard to learn. No frets, no teacher" (Steinbeck 328). With that being said, here is a link to a voice recording of Henry Reed playing the fiddle for Jabbour--https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000236/--This recording is a perfect example of how the fiddle cannot be taught, one must just simply sit down, listen, then practice. Moreover, the fiddle has continued to make its evolution in the music industry. According to the library of congress: “Fiddling remains, in one form or another, one of the most vital folk music traditions in America today. Many older fiddlers and a few young Ones still play the traditional repertory that one would have encountered 50 or even 100 years ago, and many young fiddlers have enthusiastically taken up varieties of instrumental music such as bluegrass or western swing which radio, television, and records have brought into their homes” (LOC).