Arkansas Symbols
Arkansas State Musical Instrument
Fiddle
Adopted in 1987.
The fiddle was adopted as the Arkansas State Musical Instrument by the General Assembly of 1985. Otherwise known as the violin, the instrument has been commonly associated with Arkansas folk music and culture. The humorous tale "Arkansas Traveler"illustrated the fiddle's association with early Arkansas. Today, the art of fiddling is promoted in Arkansas by local folk music societies, a handful of violinmakers and the state's annual Old-Time Fiddling Championship, held each autumn at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View (Stone County).
Arkansas State Musical Instrument: Fiddle
On February 28, 1985, the Arkansas
legislature approved Act 277, designating the fiddle as the official musical instrument of the State of Arkansas. The designation, which originated
as House Bill 749 sponsored by Representative Bob Watts of Harrison (Boone County), asserted that the instrument was "most commonly associated
with the musical education and entertainment of the pioneer families of Arkansas and...continues as a dominant musical instrument in the culture...of
the people of Arkansas."Watts's measure was supported in the chamber by Representative Napoleon Bonaparte "Nap"Murphy of Hamburg (Ashley
County), who delivered a brief oration on the floor of the House on the history of the fiddle from medieval times to its modern form.
This official designation is a tangible acknowledgment of the primacy of the vernacular violin in early American musical life. The words "fiddle"and "violin"describe
the same instrument, the highest-pitched of the viol family of unfretted stringed instruments. The fiddle's design was effectively standardized by
the mid-eighteenth century: a body shaped like an hourglass with a pronounced waist, an ovoid arched fingerboard, four strings usually tuned in intervals
of perfect fifths, an arched bridge or string support, and a wooden tailpiece or string anchor. Any violin, when used for playing vernacular or "folk"music,
is apt to be termed a fiddle, but some folk performers have modified their instruments by flattening the bridge, making it easier to play double notes
or chords. The art of fiddling is promoted in Arkansas by local folk music societies, a handful of luthiers (violin-makers), and the state's annual
Old-Time Fiddling Championship, a competition and reunion of vernacular violinists held each autumn at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View (Stone
County).
The violin, or fiddle, was perhaps the most commonly encountered musical instrument in the years of the United States' westward expansion. The fiddle's
convenient size, relative robustness, high volume, and the ease of rudimentary apprehension made it well suited for carrying on long trips; even the
musically challenged could manage to scrape out the rhythms of sacred and secular melodies for family, community, and congregational gatherings.
The fiddle's association with Arkansas was made manifest in the humorous tale and song "The Arkansas Traveler."Popularized by- and possibly
originating with- Arkansas politician and raconteur Sandy Faulkner, the story turned on a "city slicker"proving his mettle to a rural squatter
by demonstrating skill on the fiddle; the result is an overwhelming outpouring of hospitality. The tale was the subject of a painting by Edward Payson
Washbourne that, in the form of chromolithographs published by both Grozelier and Currier & Ives, hung in thousands of American households in the
mid-nineteenth century.
Arkansas Law
The law designating fiddle as the official Arkansas state musical instrument is found in the Arkansas Code, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 1-4-113.
Title 1 - General Provisions
Chapter 4 - State Symbols, Motto, Etc.
§ 1-4-113 - State musical instrument.
Universal Citation: AR Code § 1-4-113 (2012)
The fiddle is designated the official musical instrument of the State of Arkansas.
