Among the big GRAMMY nominees this year there’s one stand out: the fiddle. Or the violin if you’re not feeling all that country. From Album of the Year nominees Mumford & Sons, fun. and Jack White to Song of the Year nominee Ed Sheeran, loads of GRAMMY nominees couldn’t have done it this year without a string section.

Side note: Gotye managed to have (and play himself) almost every instrument except a fiddle/violin. We’re talking autoharp, banjo, bells, dulcimer, flute, mandolin, music box, synthesizer, omnichord and unspecified strings just to name a few. It’s possible he did work a violin in somewhere.

In fact, there are the same number of albums with a fiddle credit in the Album of the Year category (Jack White and Mumford) as there are in the Best Country Album category (Jamey Johnson and the Time Jumpers).

Could the fiddle be the secret ingredient to a winning GRAMMY formula? The only way to find out will be tuning in to the GRAMMYs on CBS – February 10, 2013 at 8PM EST. And keep a fiddle tally.

-Courtney E. Smith, Radio.com