Re: Frets on fiddles.....why not?
It wouldn't sound like a fiddle if it had frets. The sound of a string stopped by flesh and ebony is quite different than the sound of a string stopped by a steel fret. In particular, when notes are stopped or unstopped while the bow is being played it would sound very wrong and very harsh to have the string arriving and departing from a fixed piece of metal. When you do an upward slur on a fiddle that's nothing at all like a hammer-on with a fretted instrument because the bow is continuing to supply continuous energy to the string.
There's also a whole world of microintonation utilized by good fiddlers that would cease to be available with frets. At any given instant a fiddler has total freedom to play a pitch that is microscopically different than an "in tune" note. In fact, in some styles of fiddling they are in effect using scales/modes that are microtonal.
One other thing. If you've never played a fiddle you won't realize how tiny, light and delicate a fiddle's neck and fingerboard is built. Much more dainty seeming than a fretboard, which it can be because you don't need room for the frets (and because of the different hand position).
The first man who whistled
thought he had a wren in his mouth.
He went around all day
with his lips puckered,
afraid to swallow.
--"The First" by Wendell Berry
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