Claim: John Hartford can play the violin.

Fiddle is another name for the bowed string musical instrument more often called a violin . It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres , including classical music . Fiddle playing , or fiddling , refers to various styles of music . Fiddle is also a common term among musicians who play folk music on the violin . The fiddle is part of many traditional -LRB- folk -RRB- styles of music which are aural traditions , taught ` by ear ' rather than via written music .   There are few real distinctions between violins and fiddles , though more primitively constructed and smaller violins are more likely to be considered fiddles . Due to the style of the music played , fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to allow multiple strings to be played simultaneously with more ease , such as the droning in bluegrass music or performing triple stops .   In order to produce a `` brighter '' tone , compared to the deeper tones of gut or synthetic core strings , fiddlers often prefer to use steel strings on their instruments . Among musical styles , fiddling tends to produce rhythms focused on dancing , with associated quick note changes , whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and sustained notes . It is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music , but today , many fiddlers have classical training .