Instrument
Fiddle sheet music
3,406 titles in the index · page 1 of 71
A fiddle is a violin. The instrument is identical; what differs is the repertoire, the ornamentation and, sometimes, the tuning. That means every violin edition in this catalogue is playable, and a great deal of fiddle repertoire is free.
The listing below covers traditional tune collections, regional styles, technique books and arrangements with accompaniment.
Oriental Hora
- Guitar
- Fiddle
- violin
Der Gasn Nigun
- Guitar
- Fiddle
- violin
Matchmaker
- Piano
- Guitar
- Fiddle
Sing Out
- Guitar
- Fiddle
- bass
Cripple Creek
- Piano
- Guitar
- Fiddle
A Celtic Fantasy
- Fiddle
- Flute
- strings
In the Garden with Him
- Piano
- Guitar
- Fiddle
Miracle Of Miracles
- Piano
- Guitar
- Fiddle
Sunrise, Sunset
- Piano
- Fiddle
Turkey In The Straw
- Fiddle
- bass
- Drum
Brødrene Bast's Violin Tune Book
- Fiddle
Early Scottish Melodies; Including Examples from MSS. and Early Printed Works, along with a Number of Comparative Tunes, Notes on Former Annotators, English and Other Claims, and Biographical Notices, Etc.
- Fiddle
Virginia Reels, a Collection of the Most Admired Reels, Dances &c. Selected & Arranged for the Piano Forte
- Piano
- Fiddle
A Collection of Slow Airs, Reels & Strathspeys
- Piano
- Fiddle
- Cello
The Complete Collection of Irish Music
- Harp
- Fiddle
- Flute
4 Collections of Strathspeys, Reels & Country Dances
- Piano
- harpsichord
- Fiddle
A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys & Jigs with a Bass for the Violoncello or Piano Forte
- Piano
- Fiddle
- Cello
Carnival of Venice
- Piano
- Harp
- Fiddle
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Oh Christmas Tree
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
On Christmas Day In The Morning
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
The Saint Day Carol
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Christmas In The Morning
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Good King Wenceslas
- Piano
- Fiddle
- Cello
Hail The Blest Morn!
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Joy To The World
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Once In Royal David's City
- Piano
- Fiddle
- Cello
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Deck the Halls
- Piano
- Fiddle
- Cello
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
O Holy Night
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
The Snow Lay on the Ground
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
We Three Kings
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Frost And Snow
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Jingle Bells
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
The Sussex Carol
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
A Merry Christmas
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
O Come, All Ye Faithful
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Wassail, Wassail
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
What Child Is This
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
As I Sat On A Sunny Bank
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Christ Was Born on Christmas Day
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
He Is Born, The Divine Christ Child
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
In the bleak midwinter
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Silent Night
- Piano
- Fiddle
- violin
Buying guide
What to know before you buy
What actually differs from violin music
Fiddle tunes are printed as bare melodies. What makes them sound like the tradition rather than like a violin exercise — the rolls, cuts, drones and bowing patterns — is usually not written down, because it varies by region, by player and by night.
Editions that do notate ornamentation are teaching editions and are worth having if you are learning a style rather than a tune. A plain collection is more useful once you know how the music goes.
Regional styles are different repertoires
Irish, Scottish, Old-Time, Bluegrass, Cape Breton, Québécois and Scandinavian fiddling share instruments and almost nothing else — different tunes, different bowing, different ornaments, and in some cases different tunings. A collection labelled simply "fiddle tunes" will lean towards one of them, usually Irish or Old-Time, and the cover does not always say which.
Cross-tuning
Some Old-Time repertoire is played in cross-tuning (also called scordatura): the strings are retuned, most often to AEAE or ADAE, so that drones ring. A tune written for cross-tuning is playable in standard tuning but loses the effect it was written for. Good editions name the tuning at the head of the tune.
Common questions
- Is a fiddle the same as a violin?
- The instrument is the same. The word describes the repertoire and playing style, so violin sheet music is directly usable and vice versa.
- Why does the printed tune sound plain?
- Ornamentation is usually left off the page because it varies by region and player. Teaching editions notate it; collections aimed at players who already know the style do not.
- Is fiddle music free?
- Overwhelmingly. Traditional tunes and the great historical collections are out of copyright. What a paid edition offers is selection, sensible keys, chords and a page you can read on a stand.