page_title: American fiddle
section_title: Types of tunes
hierarchical_section_title: American fiddle / Types of tunes
caption_attribution_description: "Migrant family from Arkansas playing hill-billy songs. Farm Security Administration emergency migratory camp. Calipatria, California" 1939
context_page_description: American fiddle-playing began with the early settlers who found that the small viol family instruments were portable and rugged. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in the North and is credited as being the first known fiddler on American soil". Early influences were Irish fiddle styles as well as Scottish and the more refined traditions of classical violin playing. Popular tunes included "Soldier's Joy", for which Robert Burns had written lyrics, and other such tunes as "Flowers of Edinburgh" and "Tamlin," which were claimed by both Scottish and Irish lineages.
  Soon these tunes were Americanized; local variations developed in the Northern and Southern colonies. In contemporary American fiddle styles, the New England states are heavily influenced by all Celtic styles, including Cape Breton fiddle-playing; whereas Southern or "Dixie" fiddle styles have tended to develop their own traditions, which emphasize double stops and in some instances the incorporation of dance calls or simple lyrics.
context_section_description: Reels
  Hornpipes
  Polkas
  Jigs
  Slip Jigs
  Double Jigs
  Waltzes
  Songs with lyrics
caption: Woman playing fiddle (right) with her family in a California migrant camp, 1939
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