Feeling Trumps Technique

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I attended a violin workshop with the Irish fiddle player Martin Hayes a few evenings ago. Hayes is known for his lyrical and emotive playing. He has the ability to reveal unexpected beauty in the simplest Irish tunes, even those that are common to the point of cliché.

A lot of what Hayes said in the workshop amounted to:  Feeling Trumps Technique

Here are a few of the ideas I took with me. Most of these are things I have heard and understand well, but they are reinforced when a great musician repeats them. Interestingly, each of these ideas also applies to aikido practice, and therefore, I imagine, to other disciplines.

  • Taking the leap from playing technically well, to playing with your entire body and heart is a big one, and requires a lot of attention and effort. The result may seem very subtle, but it makes all the difference to the way the music affects the listener.
  • In responding to questions about phrasing, slurs, bowing patterns in general, his advice was to sing the tune, and to play the dynamics and slurs as you would sing.
  • There are always people who will play technically better than you, (even if you have received multiple international awards for your playing!). Playing with feeling, playing with your heart, is the most important thing to focus on no matter what your level.
  • Playing slowly or at a "mid-tempo" allows you to bring more out of the tune. You're unlikely to find this subtlety if you are only playing fast.


I've taken on the humbling project of learning the violin in my 50s. It's easy to be overwhelmed when I see 12-year-old virtuosos on YouTube. 

Reminding myself that feeling trumps technique is going to be a larger part of my practice.


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