The fiddle is the mainstay of most Scottish and Irish music and came into prominence in Ireland during the sixteenth century. It is exactly the same as a violin; fiddle is simply the term used in traditional music.

The instrument has dominated Irish dance music ever since, and every county in Ireland boasts its own style of bowing and fingering, as well as considerable cross-pollination with each other and with Scottish players. In earlier times, before the onslaught of mass media, it was easier to hear a musician's teachers and travels, but regional differences are often clearly audible even today.