Page 60 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2019

The Violin

Sings the Blues depostiphotos.com

By Anne Harris are two different instruments. The answer is no, these are simply
When I was three, I remember sitting in a movie theater two different names used to describe the stylistic differences
with my mother and sister, watching Fiddler on the Roof. In the in playing – the violin being more commonly associated with
classical music and the fiddle being associated with folk and roots
opening sequence, a silhouetted Isaac Stern plays a violin on
a rooftop. I turned to my mother and pointed at the screen and styles of music. I consider myself a fiddle player. Many people
said, “Mommy, that’s what I want to do!” And I pretty much feel the violin resembles the human voice more than any other
wouldn’t stop bugging her about it. For years. My persistence instrument, which is why it has such an emotional resonance with
won its case, and when I was around eight, I finally began people. It is also why the voice of a fiddle can fit such a wide
formal training. range of musical genres so perfectly, and why I feel it has such a
I studied with a private instructor for the next 10 years – all beautiful range of expression for blues music.
classical repertoire. I was trained in the Suzuki Method, which I only have one violin, and it’s the same one my parents
emphasizes beginning at a very young age, learning to play bought me when I grew into a full-size instrument: a 1961 Roth
by ear and the importance of environment – being saturated in violin that is a reproduction of a 1734 Guarnarni. I installed a
a musical community. The head of the school orchestra, Shirley LR Baggs pickup on it to amplify the sound and I play through a
Mullins, along with my private teacher, Mary Schumacher, were LR Baggs D.I. I play in standard tuning. As far as using pedals, it
two vibrant souls who were critical to my formative years as a really depends on the gig, but in general I only use a few pedals
musician. I learned technique and a deep respect for not only and pretty sparingly. In most of the scenarios I play, I don’t mess
the instrument, but for music in general. with the natural sound of my fiddle too much. I love its natural,
I was fortunate to be raised in a small, extremely liberal rich tone.
college town in southwest Ohio that placed an exceedingly high History of the Violin
value on music in the public schools. Additionally, my parents Although the Italian luthier Andrea Amati is widely credited
had a big LP collection that was incredibly diverse – from operas with creating the modern template for the violin and violin family
to gospel to blues to pop to rock, classical and beyond. I soaked in the 16th century, bowed stringed instruments were around
it all up, finding beauty and connection in all of it. R&B, funk, long before in many places around the world.
soul and blues became my passionate spirit food. While there are records of stringed instruments existing in
Description of the Violin Europe in the Middle Ages, it is thought that some of the first
The violin is the smallest and highest pitched member of bowed stringed instruments may have originated in Central Asia
the violin family, which includes violins, violas, cellos and with instruments such as the morin khuur from Mongolia. These
double basses. Traditionally made of wood, this is a bowed Central Asian instruments then traveled via trade routes to other
instrument with four strings tuned in fifths, strung across a fretless parts of the world.
fingerboard. The bows are traditionally strung with horsehair. Africa also has a rich history of one-stringed, bowed
The most common question I get asked is if a violin and a fiddle instruments dating back to the Stone Age, found all over the

58 Blues Festival Guide 2019