Upcoming Events:

June 5, 6 & 7, 2008

Grove Civic Center &

Snider's Camp, Grove, OK

featuring

Grand Lake National Fiddle

& Clogging Contests with Guest Performers

for more information visit: www.grandlakefestivals.com

It is the mission of the National Fiddler Hall of Fame

• to develop and promote public interest in old time fiddling, and country and bluegrass music

• to preserve and educate the public about this musical art form, its musicology, its performance elements and its historical and social significance

• to establish and maintain a tribute to the fiddle, its players, teachers, admirers, and builders.

Here you'll find many good resources for learning, teaching, and promoting all things fiddle. We hope you enjoy your visit, come often, and tell others about us.
 

It has been said that the fiddle is the instrument that "opened" the frontier. In the history of the United States, the fiddle was the instrument that first brought music to each new section as the nation grew from 13 colonies settled by English, Scots, Irish, Germans and others and expanded over mountains and plains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Whether it was a camp in the hills, a dugout on the prairie, a mountain cabin, or a cowboy campfire, it was fiddle music wafting through the air that was the signature of the expansion of the American culture and civilization.

The fiddle had its roots in Europe as it evolved from simple origins to the high art of instruments created by geniuses like Stradivarius and Amati. But, the same instrument that was being put to use by the classical originators of western music also found its way into the hands of ordinary fold. Their old tunes, and new ones were heard in villages across Europe to the voice of the violin. When migration began to the New World, this popular and highly portable instrument came with the early settlers, as did their musical traditions. In the hollows and villages across the New World, new tunes were added and new styles developed until the fiddle was as much a part of life here as it was in the old world.

In fact, the fiddle became a signature for the New World. Countless settlers, townsfolk, pioneers, on their treks, and new villages echoed to the familiar sounds of the fiddle. People danced to it, sang to it, and reminisced to it. It was the sound of early America, and remains to this day, a hallmark of authentic American music.  Echoed in modern recording is the lyric: "If you want to play in Texas, you've gotta have a fiddle in the band."