The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the 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.

Common distinctions between violins and fiddles reflect the differences in the instruments used to play classical and folk music. However, it is not uncommon for classically trained violinists to play folk music, and today many fiddle players have some classical training. A lot of traditional (folk) styles are aural traditions, so are taught 'by ear' rather than with written music.

The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira (Greek:λύρα, Latin:lira, English:lyre), a bowed string instrument of the Byzantine Empire and ancestor of most European bowed instruments. The first recorded reference to the bowed lira was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911); in his lexicographical discussion of instruments he cited the lira (lūrā) as a typical instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the rabāb played in the Islamic Empires. Lira spread widely westward to Europe; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments (Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009).

Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school. Shortly after graduation, he was arrested for cocaine possession and spent six months in Wayside County Jail. His music career began in 1992 after his release when he was discovered by Dr. Dre. He collaborated on several tracks on Dre's solo debut, The Chronic and on the titular theme song to the film Deep Cover.

Snoop's debut album Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records making a debut at No.1 on both the Billboard 200 and R&B charts. Selling almost a million copies in the first week of its release, Doggystyle quickly became certified 4× platinum in 1994 and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name" and "Gin & Juice". In 1994, Snoop released a soundtrack on Death Row Records for the short film Murder Was The Case, starring himself. In early 1996, Snoop Dogg was cleared of charges over his bodyguard's 1993 murder of Philip Woldemariam. His second album, late 1996's Tha Doggfather, also debuted at No.1 on both charts with "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" as the lead single. The album sold only half as well, being certified double platinum in 1997.

Natalie MacMaster, CM (born June 13, 1972) is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.

MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland, and MerleFest in the United States.

MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (Beaton) MacMaster, and the niece of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster. She is the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the cousin of two other Cape Breton fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac and Andrea Beaton. She was born on June 13, 1972. In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. In 2011 she moved to Douro, where she built a new house. In December 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Frances Rose. Her second child, a son, Michael Joseph Alexander, was born in June 2007. In 2007, MacMaster learned she was related to Jack White. Her third child, a daughter, Clare Marie, was born in February 2009. Her fourth child, another daughter, Julia Elizabeth, was born in January 2011.

Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region.

Molsky was born in 1955 at New York Infirmary in Manhattan, and grew up in The Bronx. His father, Milton, a mechanical engineer, was a first-generation American descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland.

As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but eventually became absorbed in old-time music while studying engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, beginning in 1972. His playing was influenced by the fiddling of Tommy Jarrell, whom Molsky visited in North Carolina in 1976. He recorded with Bob Carlin in 1990.

Molsky has released several records on Rounder Records under his own name. He recorded with Beverly Smith and Rafe Stefanini as Bruce Molsky and Big Hoedown, in 1997. He has also appeared in instructional videos teaching old time fiddle, both solo and with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

Besides his solo recordings he has also played with the bands Fiddlers 4 and Mozaik and played in many concerts and festivals. He collaborated in 2008 with Norwegian hardingfele player and composer Annbjørg Lien on her CD Waltz With Me and subsequent concerts. He also appears as a guest artist on Andy Statman's 2011 double-CD, "Old Brooklyn" (Shefa Records).

Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961 in Seattle, Washington) is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition. As a teenager he won national string instrument championships for his virtuoso playing of the guitar and mandolin as well as on the fiddle. His mentors include Texas old-time fiddler Benny Thomasson who taught O'Connor to fiddle as a teenager, French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli whom O'Connor toured as a teenager and guitarist Chet Atkins.

At an early age Mark O'Connor was considered a child prodigy winning national titles on the fiddle, guitar and mandolin as a teenager. In 1975 at age thirteen, O'Connor won the prestigious Grand Masters Fiddle Championships in Nashville against amateur and professional competitors of all ages. Later that year in 1975, after turning to age 14, he accomplished the same feat on acoustic guitar at the National Flatpick Guitar Championships in Winfield, KS. At age 19, he won the Buck White International Mandolin Championship in Kerrville, TX. He is a four-time grand champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho —1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984.