Cornstalk fiddle facts for kids

The cornstalk fiddle is a simple toy instrument. People in North America used to play it a long time ago. It's a type of string instrument that you play with a bow. This fiddle is made from a cornstalk. Small cuts are made in the stalk to lift thin parts that become the "strings." Tiny pieces of wood are placed under these strings. They act like a "nut" and "bridge," which help the strings make sounds.

You can play the cornstalk fiddle with different kinds of bows. Some bows are made from another cornstalk. Others can be a shoelace or a piece of string. You could even use a regular violin bow!

This fun instrument has a long history. People were playing it even before the American Revolutionary War. During that time, British soldiers sang "Yankee Doodle" to make fun of the American colonists' soldiers. One part of the song mentions the cornstalk fiddle: "And then they'd fife away like fun and play on cornstalk fiddles, and some had ribbons red as blood all bound around their middles."

Similar instruments are played in other countries too. In Serbia and Hungary, they have instruments like the gingara or dječje guslice and cirokhegedű or kucoricahegedű.

How to Make a Cornstalk Fiddle

Making a cornstalk fiddle is quite simple. You need three sections of a cornstalk for the fiddle itself. For the bow, you'll need two sections.

Building the Fiddle Strings

The fiddle usually has two strings. To make them, you cut thin slivers from the cornstalk. You do this in the section between two joints of the stalk. These thin slivers are then lifted slightly from the main stalk. Two small "bridges" are used to hold these slivers up.

Crafting the Bow

The bow used to play the fiddle typically has one string. This string is made in the same way as the fiddle's strings. You cut a thin sliver from a cornstalk section and lift it to create the string.

Playing the Cornstalk Fiddle

The sounds, or pitches, of the instrument are made by dragging the bow across the strings. Even though these instruments were mostly toys, they could make different sounds. The way the strings were stretched, how wide they were, and their length all affected the sound. When the strings were wet with water, they could even make two clear, "soft and scraping" tones.