UCLA

Fiddling Is My Joy Companion is an open access publishing platform to accompany the book, Fiddling Is My Joy: The Fiddle in African American Culture.  The Companion has been created for two reasons: (1) to provide additional information on the history, context, and culture of African American fiddling in the rural South and Midwest, including the Appalachian and Ozark mountains, and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and (2) to reveal the creative aspects of rural Black fiddlers by analyzing selected aspects of their musicking. In addition to detailed discussions and analyses of history, music, demographics (population trends), the Companion contains maps, photos, musical transcriptions, song lyrics, data on repertoires and publications (audio/video recordings and newspaper articles) by and about fiddlers profiled in the book.