While conducting the Colorado Music Educators Association Honor Choir, I was asked to present a workshop on a topic that is near and dear to my heart: Conducting and stick techniques. I expected a small audience, but to my surprise, the room was packed! Most of the attendees were classroom music educators, who were hungry to learn, as their teacher training included very little conducting.
So, I thought I would write a couple of articles about good conducting techniques! (Part 2 coming soon).
Conducting 101
The fundamental goal of any conductor is to facilitate bringing the written (or oral) score to life. The written score is an abstract representation of sound, and a conductor’s role is to interpret and translate that into musical ideas. The way we do that is through both verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication is powerful and yields great results, but it takes time. Non-verbal communication, such as gestures and body language, can improve rehearsal efficiency and is primarily used during performances. While difficult to master, good non-verbal communication is essential to good conducting.
Conducting is an intuitive gestural language that takes advantage of multimodal perception. To perceive the external environment, our brain uses multiple sources of sensory information derived from several different modalities including vision, touch, and hearing. A robust perception depends on an efficient combination and integration of information perceived through these different modalities. Conducting gestures make use of the connection between auditory and visual perceptions. Every gesture we make has a unique sounding consequence.
Our gestural language should, therefore, be as clear, consistent, and as universally accepted and understood as possible.* We should also avoid extraneous information that can confuse and frustrate the musicians, as a conductor’s gestures can dramatically impact an ensemble’s sound. Therefore, the ability to communicate nuances of phrasing and expression through gesture is a crucial part of working with any ensemble.
*Note: While there are universally understood gestures, communication itself is rooted in culture. A specific gesture that works in one culture may have a different meaning in another.
Bad Habits
Conducting pedagogue (and my former teacher) Dr. Rodney Eichenberger said, “What they see, is what you get”. Essentially, if the choir isn’t producing the sounds that you want, it’s probably you and not them.
I consistently see bad habits among conductors (yes, I have some as well), and these bad habits produce bad effects. All unnecessary and involuntary gestures and body movements by the conductor can be misinterpreted by the singers, impacting their vocal production and getting in the way of your musical interpretation.
For example, if you’ve verbally told the choir to sing softly, but show a big pattern, they will sing louder than you intended. Excessive head movements, busy feet, and unnecessary knee bending can distract from your gestures. Unsupported posture and hand placement impacts vocal production.
Series of preparations
Conducting is a series of preparations. We must simultaneously consider what just happened and what is currently happening, in order to inform what is about to happen, making adjustments if necessary. A gesture that is properly prepared will have a predictable outcome for the performers, so much so that the preparation alone, without the final gesture, will produce the desired outcome.
For example, a properly given gesture on beat four will result in singers entering on the downbeat, even without showing the downbeat itself. A gesture on the downbeat should then prepare the singers for what is happening on beat two, and so on.
Building Trust
Remember, teach
Clear, consistent non-verbal communication builds trust with the ensemble. They learn to believe what they see, allowing the conductor more freedom to change their gestures to produce different effects.
This trust goes both ways, and with clear gestures, you may find that less is often more. Many conductors try to control the music-making process, ironically becoming a distraction in the process and resulting in a loss of control. Trust your ensemble. I find that showing less results in greater participation, creativity, and ownership by the singers.
Conclusion and Call to Action
In the following weeks, I will be publishing more information about conducting techniques. In the meantime, please leave a comment below, and let me know what you would like to learn more about!