Fiddling is one of the strongest, most long-lived forms of American music. The "modern" fiddle repertory in the United States has its roots in the body of popular dance music and tune types that crystallized throughout the British / Irish diaspora in the mid- to late-18th century. Numerous local repertories and performance styles have developed on top of this older core of tunes, and influence from popular culture has been a constant factor in shaping the corpus of American fiddle tunes. There also has been considerable cross-cultural musical interchange centered around the fiddle, resulting in a multi-layered musical tradition (or perhaps set of traditions) that is distinctly "American."

 This volume will consist of two sections. The first will be case studies of some of the most widely-known tunes and tune families. Multiple versions and variants of tunes will be presented, drawn both from early printed sources and 20th century recordings. The second section will be studies of the repertoires of selected individual fiddlers from various regional traditions.