Things I have recently grammed; instantly:

Saturday, July 5, 2008

My online Fiddle Duel

As I was 6 hours into the 8 hour drive home today, I was singing along with whatever came on the radio to keep myself alert. Melissa and Jordan were sleeping and they didn't seem to mind my singing. So there I was cruising and singing when this song came on:



Pretty good song to sing along to, right? Did you know that a fiddle and violin are the same instrument - just played differently? I think I picked up that fact a few years back. Anyway, I'm cruising along singing whatever and change the station and then I get to hear this:



So naturally I get to thinking about fiddles. I noticed a phrase that appeared in both songs. In the first we hear: "Johnny rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard" and the second goes like this: "So rosin up that bow for "Faded Love" and let's all dance".

This led me to wonder what rosin is. So, to truly learn, I looked it up and am here passing along the info. Rosin is "the yellowish to amber, translucent, hard, brittle, fragmented resin left after distilling the oil of turpentine from the crude oleoresin of the pine: used chiefly in making varnishes, varnish and paint driers, printing inks, and for rubbing on the bows of such string instruments as the violin."

To "rosin up the bow" is to put the rosin on the bow in order to play.



Finally, since fiddles are associated with fiddle dueling, I've created a poll as to which of the two fiddle songs I heard today is the best fiddle song. Let me know what you think, you have a week!

2 comments:

Benji said...

Jordan just cast his vote. We had a living room dance party and he decided that the first song is better for stomping and the second is much more appropriate for spinning.

Fat Joe said...

The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a great song for brushing teeth. I think you should play it in your office when you teach patients the proper way to brush.