STRINGS

Last but not least, the most common stringed instrument used in the blues (apart from those already mentioned above) is the fiddle or violin. It was present in the earliest recordings and used traditional vibrato and sliding techniques in a non-traditional manner to create all kinds of howling, wailing, and rhythmic accompanyment. The violin is also capable of playing chords and sliding between mid tones and is much suited to the blues. Unfortunately it was never a part of the first wave of electric blues and was very much left behind never to recover. There are still great musicians and exponents of the electric violin but these people remain a rarity.