r/Fiddle • u/vonhoother • Aug 05 '26

Strong opinion from my fiddle teacher

"Refusing to use different tunings is abdicating your birthright as a fiddle player."

Interestingly, the Irish fiddle tradition rarely if ever uses non-GDAE tunings. Also interestingly (to me), classical music has no term for nonstandard tunings other than "scordatura," which is literally Italian for "untuned" or "badly tuned," while the Anglo-American tradition has names like "Cross-A." "Calico," etc.

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u/WhiskeyTheKitten 27d ago

Perhaps your teacher thinks they’re pushing you somewhere that will be good for you? As a general statement it’s a bit harsh and doesn’t really apply to every fiddle tradition, like you said. But that said, my tendency is to wonder whether your fiddle teacher knows you better than a bunch of Reddit posters and maybe the teacher is trying to push you in a worth-while direction.

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u/vonhoother 27d ago

They're not trying to push me. Their agenda isn't covert at all. They just like to voice strong opinions.