Cornstalk fiddle

The cornstalk fiddle is a toy, and a type of bowed string instrument played historically in North America.

The instrument consists of a cornstalk, with slits cut into the shaft to allow one or more fibrous sections to separate from the main body and serve as "strings."

[1] The instrument is attested as far back as pre-revolutionary war America, when the British soldiers used the song "Yankee Doodle" to taunt the shabby militiamen of the colonies.

[2][page needed] Similar instruments are played in Serbia and Hungary, known as the gingara or dječje guslice[3] and cirokhegedű or kucoricahegedű,[4] respectively.

The fiddle contains two strings which are constructed by slitting the section between the two joints so that thin slivers can be raised from the stalk by means of two bridges.