Missouri fiddling

Missouri fiddling is a unique style and repertoire of traditional folk violin playing practiced in the State of Missouri in the United States. Historian and fiddler Howard Wight Marshall has been active in the preservation of this musical style and has published several full-length books on the topic.

Regional variation
Some historical analyses of Missouri fiddling support the idea that Missouri fiddling can be roughly classified geographically under three umbrella regions. These geographic styles from South to North are termed Ozark style (Missouri section of the Ozarks), Little Dixie (Missouri) style, and North Missouri style. These classifications should be seen as rough guidelines or oversimplifications of the differences between folk regions in Missouri. However, there is still utility in their designation. The Ozark region includes a portion of southern and central Missouri as well as parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Some elements of traditional French settler folk music persist in the Ozarks, but German and English influences overshadowed them during the nineteenth century. Ozark fiddling is generally characterized by strong, rhythmic, and short bow strokes. This rhythmic emphasis combined with simple backup instrumentation helps create fast, upbeat dance music characteristic of the Ozark style. Performances within the Ozark style vary because of a departure from these traditional aspects of fiddle playing due to the influence of fiddling contests and the commercialization of fiddle playing within the Ozark area. These external factors pressure performers to play much smoother, making the hard-driving sound that defines Ozark style rarer.

Though geographically farther north than what is considered the Ozark region, the Little Dixie region is more strongly associated with the Southern historical character of Missouri. Little Dixie’s high concentration of enslaved persons before the Civil War led to it having the most African-American influence of the three regions. Though the initial settlers of this region were British, German immigrants in the nineteenth century significantly impacted the style of Little Dixie fiddling. Keys less typical of old-time fiddle tunes like F, B-flat, and E-flat are more common in works from this region due to the violin’s stronger association with classical German music. Longer bow-strokes are more prominent in Little Dixie style compared to Ozark style, and the melodies tend to be more complex. Backup instrumentation is more varied and present in tunes of this style. The North Missouri area had a much higher concentration of settlers coming from the northeastern states. Its fiddling style has more in common with the Little Dixie region than the Ozark region, particularly in its backup instrumentation. North Missouri style is distinct in slower-paced melodies being more common. It is often referred to as the hornpipe style because it has more elegant and regal aspects that seem more characteristic of wind repertoire when compared to other fiddle styles.