A fiddle might be altered slightly to help accomplish this, such as swapping the typical strings for steel ones or flattening the bridge.

The group's new live extravaganza, A Violin Sings, A Fiddle Dances, is currently on a 17-city tour, which arrives for three shows at St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theater Friday and Saturday.

If you can't afford it, or just can't find it — make it; motto of Sam Goodall. The violinist had long wanted a five-string fiddle, "I joked I had C-string envy," she says. But under the tutelage ...