Fiddle-singing

Fiddle-singing is a vocal–instrumental performance practice in which a musician sings while simultaneously playing the fiddle (violin), often maintaining rhythmic bowing patterns or melodic counterpoint beneath the vocal line. The technique is found in multiple traditional music cultures, including Métis, Québécois, Appalachian, Scandinavian, and Celtic traditions. It is particularly associated with dance music repertoires in which the fiddle serves both melodic and rhythmic functions.

Fiddle-singing differs from simple accompaniment in that the fiddle part frequently retains structural independence from the vocal melody, sometimes sustaining ostinato figures, drone textures, or interlocking rhythmic bow strokes while the performer sings.

According to Gabriella Medina in the Garnette Report, "Fiddle singing is an extremely difficult technique seen most in old-time folk music. While singing and playing the guitar or the piano together is common and doable, doing so with a fiddle takes an extreme amount of skill. Not only must the player navigate the coordination of playing the notes and singing the melodies, but they must do so with the fiddle quite literally jammed into their throat. The position of the chin on the violin also distorts the face which affects the singing."