JUST FIDDLING AROUND WITH THE VIOLIN

Crystal Plohman grew up in Canada, but sounds born in Ireland, Scotland, Louisiana, Appalachia and Nashville, Tenn., pour from her fiddle. That's to be expected from the director of the fiddling program at Vanderbilt University.

The Nashville university is one of only a few where fiddling is an academic pursuit.

The 27-year-old Plohman inherited her position from the heralded performer Mark O'Connor. She has done session work with SHeDAISY and has toured Ireland and Japan. She was one of the musicians on stage during the CBS special of the 70th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry.

Monday, she brought her fiddling expertise to students at Franklin, Cape Central and Alma Schrader schools. Today she is scheduled to play at Jefferson, Schultz and Blanchard schools.

Her appearance is sponsored by Shivelbine's and by Knilling String Instruments. Her goal in these demonstrations is to inspire students to think about the possibilities of the instrument.

Versatile instrument

At Cape Central, she instructed orchestra students in the school band room, playing her wireless, amplified instrument while walking about the risers. She pointed out to the students how familiar the fiddle and the violin -- the same instrument, only played differently -- are in the music they listen to, from the Dixie Chicks to Dave Matthews to Metallica.

Whipping into familiar tunes like Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and the fiddle chestnut "Orange Blossom Special," Plohman drew applause for her playing, especially when she hit the accelerator.

She also spent some time playfully mimicking a student who doesn't want to practice. Thirty minutes of procrastination, daydreaming and improper posture don't pay off, she said. Half an hour of concentrated effort will.

Plohman invited students to take out their instruments and try some of the techniques she showed them. Only sophomore Kody Neighbors was brave enough. He has tried fiddle tunes on his violin ever since orchestra director Steve Schaffner played "Boil that Cabbage Down" for his seventh-grade students.

"I love playing fiddle music," Neighbors said afterward.

Plohman grew up in Manitoba, Canada. Her father was a fiddler but started her on the Suzuki method. Playing both classical music and fiddle tunes helps musicians become more versatile, Plohman says. Soon she was playing in competitions that led to the title of Canadian national fiddle champion.

Next fall, she will appear as guest soloists with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, which will premiere her first orchestral commission.

This summer she will direct the university's first International Summer Fiddle School.

One student asked how long it took before she could play like that.

She couldn't cite a date but did recall the means.

"I practiced a lot, and I listened a lot," she said.