I’m a big fan of cross-tuning, sometimes called “open” tuning. The drones, resonances and double-stops make the fiddle rock & roll.

I have lately been thinking about the best tunings for my two good fiddles. I’ve been keeping one cross-tuned to ADAE and the other in standard GDAE tuning -- which is of course essential for many reasons. That system also keeps both instruments stable.  However, it does require retuning for the AEAE tuning which is also useful for some BG and old-time tunes. 

I still have my starter (gift) violin, a cheap-o which was built to withstand the ravages of 10 year-olds. Its tone is somewhere between scratchy and screechy. I recently saw a suggestion that tuning a cheap violin down could improve the tone, so I tuned the cheap-o to GDGD.

That allows me to practice A tunes with no need for any retuning. (Obviously I’m practicing one full tone low, so I need retune one of my good fiddles for performances and jams. But that does not happen every day.) 

And, astonishingly enough, the cheap-o sounds much, much better when tuned down. It’s like a different instrument, a pleasure to play. What a revelation!

The world of the fiddle never ceases to amaze...

Strabo