1. It's a good luck thing.
2. Back in the old day's a fiddler might hang his fiddle up outside on the porch when he/she was not fiddling. Mud daubers or wasps found the inside of the fiddle an ideal home by flying into the "F" holes. The fiddler would put a rattle snakes rattler inside his/her fiddle so when the wasp got inside it's wings would vibrate the rattle, thus, scaring the varmint off.
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In this
video clip from the documentary “Sprout Wings and Fly”, Tommy Jarrell talks about putting the rattler in to keep spiders from building cobwebs in the fiddle. His fiddle, in the Smithsonian now, had two rattlers in it. wonder if you can buy rattlesnake rattles at the local music shop? Fun topic...thanks! Submitted by: Christine Lovelace |
Submitted by: Janet Lettrich, fiddler, 3rd Sunday String Band |
When I was a small boy playing the Fiddle, my Dad gave me a Rattle Snake tail to put in my Fiddle! I wondered at the time why he did this? Only to find out later. If you are sawing too hard, you could hear the buzz of the rattles. The smooth playing produced a sweeter sound and the tail didn't buzz. The Snake is the bad one in the Bible, and creates all kind's of noise in our lives. It's better to play with the grace of the Lords gift, than to beat the fiddle to death trying to play it! If you put a rattler's tail in your Fiddle, listen for the buzz. If you hear it, just take a deep breath and look up! Play it again, you'll feel better and you won't hear the buzz, and that Fiddle under your chin, will make you, and everyone around you feel relaxed and happy! Submitted by: Billy starfiddler1@live.com |
Alan Jabbour, retired field researcher for the Smithsonian (and the guy who collected many of those great recordings!) has a rattler's tail in his fiddle. He says it is to lend "a rhythm section" to his playing. Now, I don't know when he is doing a dance that anyone can hear it (although, he does amplify, now...) but when he plays live or on some of his recordings you CAN hear the swishing of the dried tail inside his instrument!
STRINGcerely,
Jan Farrar-Royce, President CT ASTA
A violin sings. A fiddle dances.
The player makes it music!
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I read that some believe it "sweetens" the sound of their instrument. And recently someone told me that mice like to enlarge the f holes in a violin, if the violin is left lying on a table at night. But if a mouse jumps onto the violin and hears the rattle inside, it will get scared and go away. Anyway, it's a charming tradition that some continue to follow. Submitted by: Scott Pendleton sp@isystant.com |
Submitted by: Bev Conrad. |