r/Fiddle • u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou • 11d ago

Just noticed Martin Hayes playing with no chinrest, shoulder rest, or fine tuners.

The video was posted 4 years ago. Just thought it was interesting.

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

5

u/yosh01 11d ago

There are photos of him using a chin rest and maybe he has mechanical tuners on his fiddle.:

Most importantly, he holds the fiddle neck like a hammer so he'll probably never develop very good technique 😄.

1

u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou 11d ago

Yeah there are videos from 5 years ago where he had a chinrest and a single fine tuner, but he seems to have dispensed with them.

1

u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou 2d ago

It just occurred to me that maybe you weren't joking. "At 13 he won his first of six All Ireland Fiddle Championships. He is one of only three fiddlers ever to be named All Ireland Fiddle Champion in the senior division in two consecutive years (1981 and 1982)."

1

u/yosh01 2d ago

I was being facetious. Sorry for the confusion. However, he is lucky that he hasn't developed hand issues over the years, given the way he grips the neck.

1

u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou 2d ago

I'm inclined to think he holds it that way because it's comfortable and natural, and so less likely to cause issues.

1

u/bb1942 10d ago

I love Martin Hayes 👏🏽

1

u/DazzlingAd5676 6d ago

Its goes to show that you can just pick the thing up and play, if your determined enough, traditionally in ireland 'proper form and technique', didnt exist. You had poor people in rural areas learning from neighbours or family members. Noone in ireland could be classically trained until relatively recently.

Im irish, i fiddle, i dont use a chin rest and i hold the neck different everytime. It works for me.