Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.

Check out our 2023 Group Christmas Project HERE

AAA
Avatar
Please consider registering
guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope




Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed Topic RSSsp_TopicIcon
Family Fiddles
Just curious how many of us are playing family fiddles
Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 (0 votes) 
Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 24, 2013 - 10:18 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

DD from Georgia has a fiddle from his grandpa that recently passed. My fiddle was made by my husband's great-grandfather. It got me thinking...

 

How many people have fiddles that have been in the family? violin

 

 

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
October 24, 2013 - 10:24 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Great question. I know there have been quite a few others on this site as well. Lucky people :)

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Avatar
RosinedUp

Honorary tenured advisor
Members

Regulars
October 24, 2013 - 10:41 pm
Member Since: September 7, 2012
Forum Posts: 985
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

NewFiddlerGirl said
How many people have fiddles that have been in the family? violin

I can name ten members who have inherited fiddles.  I am one of them.  It came from my great-great-grandfather, and that's how I happened to take up fiddle.

Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 24, 2013 - 10:49 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Great-great grandfather!!! How old is your fiddle? I place mine between 1900 and 1910 since Great-grandpa Ezra passed in the late 1920's. And I thought that was old.

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 25, 2013 - 2:03 am
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

For all of us who have family fiddles with history.....

 

Talk to me fiddle

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Avatar
dionysia
Members

Regulars
October 25, 2013 - 10:38 am
Member Since: January 25, 2012
Forum Posts: 666
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I have a whole thread about my Grampa's fiddle:

https://fiddlerman.com/forum/t.....as-fiddle/

 

My biggest regret is that I didn't pester Grampa into teaching me how to play when he was alive. When I was young, he used to remark that my long fingers would make for some good fiddin'.

Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 25, 2013 - 12:54 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Very cool story. Do you still play it?

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Avatar
Georganne
Members

Regulars
October 26, 2013 - 5:07 pm
Member Since: August 28, 2013
Forum Posts: 993
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

My grandpa played but he died before I was born and I have no idea where his fiddle went.  

 

Opportunity is often missed because it wears suspenders and looks like hard work.

 

Alaska, the Madness; Bloggity Stories of the North Country

Avatar
JackL
Andros Island, Bahamas

Member
Members
October 27, 2013 - 3:59 pm
Member Since: January 28, 2013
Forum Posts: 15
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I'm not playing a family fiddle yet, but hope to be doing so soon. My late mom played violin and would be thrilled to know that I've begun to do likewise. I'm trying to coordinate with my brother to get hold of her surviving fiddle and have it reworked. If I recall correctly it's a fairly decent German trade fiddle, probably from sometime between the 1920s and 1950s. I'm looking forward to getting it back into playing condition.

 

Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 27, 2013 - 9:18 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
10sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

Very cool. There seems to be some magic in playing something that has been in the family. Good lick getting your mom's violin working.

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
October 28, 2013 - 8:28 am
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429
11sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

JackL, it's great that you will be learning and joining the community/family :-)
Look forward to hearing about it.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Avatar
RosinedUp

Honorary tenured advisor
Members

Regulars
October 30, 2013 - 1:25 am
Member Since: September 7, 2012
Forum Posts: 985
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
12sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

NewFiddlerGirl said
Great-great grandfather!!! How old is your fiddle? I place mine between 1900 and 1910 since Great-grandpa Ezra passed in the late 1920's. And I thought that was old.

Well, hard to say how old my inherited fiddle is.  My GGGF lived about 1841 to 1914.  I'm quite sure it's 19th Century, made in Saxony.  When I got it, I'm pretty sure it hadn't been played in at least 60 years.  But it had been stored well. The bridge and soundpost were down, and it needed strings, and so it happened that I learned to set a soundpost before I ever played a  note on a violin.  A day or two after I first set it up and played it, the endpin snapped, which, I can say, can be sort of distracting.

Avatar
NewFiddlerGirl

Advanced member
Members
October 30, 2013 - 11:40 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2013
Forum Posts: 90
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
13sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

Wow! It's been great to hear other's stories about their family fiddles. Bet it sounds great. 

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 696
Currently Online: Mouse, stringy
Guest(s) 107
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Members Birthdays
sp_BirthdayIcon
Today Michael Browder, EBurrell
Upcoming Sofia Leo, TKDennis, FiddleDetroit, CookiesViolin, JPferrman, Designer 88, LyleA, Stephen, Dorque, Trisha, Elaisa, Gordon Shumway, dougga, Russionleo, JohnG
Top Posters:
ELCBK: 7759
ABitRusty: 3915
Mad_Wed: 2849
Barry: 2690
Fiddlestix: 2647
Oliver: 2439
Gordon Shumway: 2425
DanielB: 2379
Mark: 2149
damfino: 2113
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 3
Members: 31662
Moderators: 0
Admins: 7
Forum Stats:
Groups: 16
Forums: 81
Topics: 10589
Posts: 134215
Newest Members:
SoCal335, Jan Howard, edwardcheng, Oscar Stern, bryanhanson, bittruster, fiddlecastro, jackdaniel, romanmills08, creativestringsinfo
Administrators: Fiddlerman: 16429, KindaScratchy: 1760, coolpinkone: 4180, BillyG: 3744, MrsFiddlerman: 2, Jimmie Bjorling: 0, Mouse: 5305