They Got Me for a California Stop

Yesterday I received a little nicety in the mail informing me my credit card had been automatically docked $100.00. Seems I was caught on camera in my last rental car for ‘failure to stop where posted.’

When the ticket came back to the rental car people they just paid it. I was accused, tried, convicted and charged without even knowing a thing about it.

Gotta love all the wiz-bang gadgetry we’ve got today.

Now just so you don’t think I’m a reckless menace on the road, forgive me if I tell you just how ticky-tack this violation was.

I was coming out of a parking area for some hiking trails in the Santa Monica mountains. As I approached the stop sign in question I was going about 5 miles an hour, and I had a clear view of the street I was turning right onto for a good few seconds.

There was no chance of my not seeing traffic coming from my left.

It was a bogus ticket if ever there was one.

By the way, that ticket came from the California Parks Authority. Seems they’ve found a great cash cow to offset budget cutbacks. Bet they’re doing quite a business on that little stop sign.

Alrighty, now that I’ve got that off my chest let’s turn it around and see if there’s anything that can be learned about violin playing from the experience.

Phrase endings in music are a lot like stop signs. Only difference is, in music they’re not there to check for onstage cross-traffic.

They give the music punctuation; they allow it to breathe. And they allow the meaning of the music to sink in to the listener.

Phrasing is almost synonymous with breathing, actually. The better a breather you are the more likely you are to give phrase ending their full do. But as those of you with some experience reading these newsletters know, it’s not just any kind of respiration we’re talking about here. Shallow, chest-heaving gulps aint going to get it done.

The real action is in the diaphragm, aka belly.

Now, all my courses talk about this and give you insight into how to do it. But the best little lesson you can get on this indispensable and neglected skill is found on a DVD called Dynamic Breath Control for Violinists.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Just finished recording a great set of lessons for my Allegro Players yesterday. This is a wonderful program for lower intermediate players needing a few more ‘chops’ before heading into ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.’ Come take a look.