Jap fiddle

For the traditional Japanese bowed instrument, see Kokyū.

Commonwealth troops with a Jap fiddle during World War I

The Jap fiddle or Japanese fiddle was a one-stringed bowed instrument used by street performers, music hall performers, and vaudevillians ^[1] around the start of the 20th century, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States. The instrument was particularly associated with Cockney blackface performer G. H. Chirgwin. ^[2] A variant was later produced with a vibrating membrane and horn for amplification, ^[3] as a one-stringed phonofiddle. ^[4]

The instrument was likely named for its vague similarity to the Japanese kokyū, as in the late 1800s interest in East Asia had been piqued (see Chinoiserie ) by the opening of Japan to foreign trade (see Foreign relations of Meiji Japan ). ^[5]

References

1. Experimental Musical Instruments. Experimental Musical Instruments. 1994. p. 13. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
2. Rachel Cowgill; Julian Rushton (December 2006). Europe, Empire, and Spectacle in Nineteenth-century British Music. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 273–. ISBN   978-0-7546-5208-3 . Retrieved 1 April 2012.
3. Christine Hunt (1985). I'm ninety-five – any objection?. Reed Methuen. p. 36. ISBN   978-0-474-00040-9 . Retrieved 1 April 2012.
4. English Dance and Song. The English Folk Dance and Song Society. 1983. p. 10. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
5. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society. American Musical Instrument Society. 2000. p. 201. Retrieved 1 April 2012.