Preface - Stillwater Christian School€¦ · Web viewConducting is an art with many reputations. Some see conducting as a job for musicians who couldn’t “make it” as performers.

SCS ChoirsConducting Principles, Patterns, & ExercisesMicah Hunter

Preface

Conducting is an art with many reputations. Some see conducting as a job for musicians who couldn’t “make it” as performers. Some see conductors as demigods; infallible and omniscient in all things artistic. To some, the conductor is to be feared. To others, he is to be scorned. The fact of the matter is that conductors are people, as different from each other as the members of any other group. For this reason, each of the reputations above is undoubtedly true somewhere, in some ensemble, at any given time.

As you will discover in the first chapter of this primer, I do not fall into any of the extreme categories listed above. It is from a far more moderate position that I present you with this short introduction to the art and discipline of conducting. As you make your way through this course, please do not let the brevity of presentation lull you into the security of skimming its contents. I encourage you to actually take the time to complete each exercise in full, even when the object seems simple.

Before beginning this course, you should decide whether or not you will be using a baton. In general, most conductors of bands and orchestras use batons while most choral conductors do not. In reality, it does not matter what type of group you conduct. What matters is how you can communicate most effectively with your ensemble. I am primarily a choral conductor, and I conduct both with and without a baton. In my opinion, it is best for a student conductor to begin by using a baton, because it may well be expected in some ensemble situations. The use of a baton as a beginning conductor also encourages hand independence, which will be stressed in Chapter 3: Expression & Articulation. It also removes the concern of right hand shape for the beginning conductor.

Batons generally come in lengths of 12, 14, and 16 inches, though much longer batons are available. Handles come in plastic, cork, and a variety of hardwoods. Shafts can be wood, plastic, or fiberglass, and any variety of colors, though usually white. Some batons are balanced, so that a minimum amount of effort is required to control the tip of the baton. Some batons are little more than sticks. If you choose to use a baton, spend some time shopping and decide what length and color look best with your body. Also try conducting a variety of tempos, styles, dynamics, and articulations to find the baton that best responds to your touch. Keep in mind that the tip of the baton is the most important part from your ensemble’s point of view. If the tip of the baton shakes when you conduct a heavy marcato, or if it is hard to control at legato pianissimo, then it will present issues for your ensemble.

If you want to invest in a high-quality, well-balanced baton, Mollard is an excellent brand to investigate. Mollard shafts are wood, and extremely light. The downfall to this is that they will break if treated inappropriately. If you are in need of something to withstand the rigors of conducting a middle school or high school band in which you may be prone to throwing your baton at one or more students on a daily basis, you will want to explore the fiberglass selection available at most music stores. King David is a good “middle of the road” brand which makes both balanced and unbalanced batons in both wood and fiberglass.

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Chapter 1: Philosophy

The principles of conducting are many, and there are as many opinions regarding techniques and philosophies of conducting as there are conductors to espouse them. In this short introduction to conducting, I will try to avoid peripheral issues that are controversial. Unfortunately, there is very little philosophically on which all conductors agree. Therefore, the basic principles of conducting that I offer you all stem from my core beliefs about the art and discipline of conducting, outlined below.

1. Conducting is both an art and a discipline. Conductors are capable of tremendous expressivity and communication best resulting from hours of study and practice.

2. Conducting is teaching. At his best, each conductor uses a consistent language of gesture, posture, and expression to communicate and participate with his ensemble.

3. Conducting is musically universal. There is no fundamental difference between the conducting of vocal or instrumental ensembles, though fine points of communication must be observed in different settings.

4. Conducting is intimate. The elitist wall of “professional separation” between many conductors and their ensembles is a hindrance to the symbiotic communication and relationship that is necessary for the most artistic and personally meaningful results. The intimacy and emotional honesty between conductor and ensemble directly affects the artistic quality of their music making, and by extension affects the lives of the conductor, individual musicians, and audience members for whom they perform.

5. Music is a Divine Gift. The primary purpose of music is the glorification of its Creator, the Almighty God. Music can move people in a manner unlike any other art. It is the only earthly art which the Bible promises will exist in Heaven, and by extension, the only heavenly art to be granted to mankind. Since conductors are charged with guiding the preparation and performance of ensemble music, they must understand and accept the responsibility of that position.

Exercise 1: Think about your own experience as an ensemble musician. What do you believe about the role of the conductor? Try to come up with at least three basic statements that are always true of a good conductor.

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Chapter 2: Determining Tempo

Determining an appropriate tempo for the music you conduct is absolutely vital to teaching it successfully. In many cases, a tempo will be printed at the top of the score. This may or may not be trustworthy. If the tempo was written by the composer, it is probably close to the best performance tempo for the piece. However, it may be necessary to have a significantly different rehearsal tempo.

Pieces that are very slow tend to drag and get very tedious in rehearsal. It is often wise to rehearse these pieces slightly faster at first in order to maintain a healthy pace in rehearsal, as well as to maintain interest in the piece. Likewise, pieces that are very fast are likely to be impossible to play at performance tempo right away. There will undoubtedly be sloppy instrumental and vocal technique in the ensemble unless the piece is rehearsed slowly at first, with great attention to detail.

Tempos printed at the top of a score are not always trustworthy. If the piece is from before 1900, then any metronome marking has probably been added by an editor or arranger, and should be considered only a suggestion. Even when the original composer has marked a piece with an indicator such as allegro, andante, prestissimo, or langsam, there is a wide variety of tempo contained within the meaning of each word, and the conductor must consider carefully the character and playability of the piece at different tempos to determine the correct tempo for each situation.

Pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque often bore no tempo indications whatsoever in their original manuscripts. In these cases it is important to remember the concept of the Renaissance tactus. The tactus was the general universal pulse around which music was written. It is believed to have been originally related to the human heartbeat, and is generally considered to be between 60 and 75 beats per minute. This is not to say that all Renaissance music was the same tempo. Composers could alter the tempo of their music by changing the note values they used. In studying Renaissance music, it is important to determine what type of note is being used as the beat unit. If the semibreve, usually transcribed as a modern whole note, then consider the tactus as applying to the whole note. If the beat unit was the minim, usually transcribed as a modern half note, then consider the tactus as applying to the half note, just as in cut time.

Baroque music is more likely than Renaissance music to bear some kind of tempo indication. It is important to determine whether the primary influence of a Baroque piece was dance or song. Pieces with dance influences tend to be faster and more buoyant than pieces more closely related to songs or airs.

Editors and arrangers working in the first half of the 20th century tended to over-romanticize Renaissance and Baroque music. In older editions from this time, you will notice a lot of editorial dynamic markings and often very slow tempos. Modern scholarship has improved greatly with the discovery of various autograph scores and treatises on performance practice.

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Exercise 2: Determine appropriate rehearsal and performance tempos (metronome markings) for the following pieces and give reasons for your choices.

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Chapter 3: Basic Patterns

The basic patterns of conducting are largely agreed upon by conductors. It should be noted that the pattern indicated as 4/4 is really a 4-beat pattern. In other words, it will work for any meter containing four beats per measure, whether symmetrical like 4/4 and 12/8 or asymmetrical like 10/8, in which the beats differ in number of subdivisions, and thus total length of time. Likewise, the 3/4 pattern will work for any 3-beat meter, and the 2/4 and 6-beat patterns for 2-beat and 6-beat meters, respectively. The issue of asymmetrical meter will be addressed later.

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Notice that each of the patterns outlined above is written around a horizontal plane on which each beat “bounces.” This horizontal plane is called the ictus. This is not a universally accepted concept, as is demonstrated by the Italian 6 pattern. It is a good idea to practice these patterns using a flat surface as a guide, touching it for each beat conducted. After you have solidified these patterns in your mind and muscular memory, you may find you wish to depart from the stricture of always touching the horizontal plane, for purposes of expression, cues, or musicality.

For now, try to keep the size of your pattern the same at all times. Your horizontal plane should be about the level of your elbow when your arm is hanging relaxed at your side. The top of your pattern should be at about shoulder height, and the width of your pattern should be about the width of your body, offset so that the left side of your pattern aligns with the center of your torso. For the purposes of the first exercises, use only your right hand.

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Exercise 3: Conduct each pattern at 60, 90, and 120 beats per minute for three minutes at each tempo, using a metronome to guide you. Try to keep your pattern a uniform size throughout the exercise. This is an exercise in muscle memory and in endurance, which will probably be taxed if you do this exercise all at once. This exercise should take about 45 minutes. If you get tired, that is good. Conducting is a physical activity.

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Chapter 4: Expression & Articulation

Conducting is of course quite worthless if employed only to do the job of a metronome. There are innumerable ways to conduct “with expression” but we will look only at those that are largely universal. We will examine the style and size of the conducting patterns, the use of the left hand, and use of facial expression.

The style of our conducting pattern can indicate any number of styles in which music is played. The conductor’s job then, is to identify the most appropriate style for the music he is conducting, and to reflect that style in his pattern. For instance, if the music is marked molto legato, then the pattern must be smooth, and absolutely not choppy. If the music is marcato, then the pattern must carry great weight and each beat must be heavy. Staccato music requires a separation between notes, and therefore must be reflected by a conducting pattern that indicates separation between its beats.

Dynamics are another key element of musical expression, and can be indicated very effectively by the size of the conductor’s pattern. In general, a smaller pattern size indicates a softer dynamic, while a larger pattern size indicates a louder dynamic. Likewise, crescendos and decrescendos can be communicated by gradually increasing or decreasing pattern size. The conductor must be careful not to change tempo when using pattern size as a dynamic indicator. The size of the conductor’s pattern affects the speed at which his hand must move to maintain the correct tempo. Young conductors are notorious for unintentionally altering tempo by the use of different pattern sizes.

The left hand may be used to indicate dynamic changes, whether gradual or subito, but the conductor must be able to maintain the right hand pattern independently of anything the left hand is doing. This is very difficult for some people, and young conductors must often practice hand independence for many hours before it becomes natural. In general, an ascending left hand indicates a crescendo, while a descending left hand indicates a decrescendo.

The position of the conductor’s hands communicates a great deal as well. While there are no universally accepted principles of hand position, the student should practice various hand positions in front of a mirror in order to see which positions communicate his ideas most comfortably and effectively.

Facial expression is one of the most effective means of communicating elements of musical style. It is also one of the least codified. Each person is different, and so each conductor must experiment with facial expressions that communicate his ideas most effectively. A good way to practice facial expressions (short of having your own ensemble) is to search out your full range of emotions, trying to express each one with a different facial expression. This can be an exhausting and frustrating activity, since your “angry face” may be indistinguishable from your “frustrated face.” However difficult this exercise may seem, it is necessary if you are to grow into an intimate conductor.

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Exercise 4a: Choose six songs that have different styles, tempos, moods, and dynamic levels. Practice conducting to your recordings. Practice in front of a mirror. Use facial expression, pattern style and size, and left hand gestures to reflect what is going on the music. Feel free to experiment, but never let your right hand fall out of the appropriate pattern.

Exercise 4b: With your right hand conducting a 4-beat pattern at 60, 90, and 120 beats per minute, practice raising and lowering your left hand. Try to keep your left hand motions smooth, with no indication of the beat at all. Be sure to keep your right hand a consistent size and style.

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Chapter 5: Mirroring

Now that you have spent hours training your left and right hands to hate each other, its time to bring them back together again. Mirroring is the practice of conducting a pattern with both hands at the same time. For some, this practice comes quite naturally. For others, it is seemingly impossible at first. In any case, Practice Makes Perfect!

For most students, the hardest part of mirroring is remembering to reverse the directions of horizontal beats for their left hand. For instance, in a 4-beat pattern, the right hand comes straight down, then across the body to the left then back across to the right, then back up to where it started. When mirroring, the left hand does not copy the right, it mirrors the right; down, across to the right, across to the left, and back up. The same is true of the 2-, 3-, and 6-beat patterns.

Mirroring is sometimes effective for very large ensembles, and sometimes is simply the best choice for a conductor for practical or musical reasons. Whatever the case, every conductor must be able to mirror as well as to conduct with independent hands.

Exercise 5: Repeat Exercise 3 while mirroring at all times.

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Chapter 6: Cueing, Preparatory Beats, Cutoffs, & Fermatas

Cueing is one of the most important jobs of a conductor. Cueing is especially important in very difficult polyphonic musical textures, or when difficult meters make counting especially difficult. Choirs are also unique in their need for cues in performance because they so often perform without music.

Cues indicate to a person or section when and how to begin playing or singing. They are especially necessary after a musician or section has had a long period of rest during which they are likely to have lost track of their place in the music. Cues are generally given the beat before an entrance, as this gives the musician time to react. Cueing the beat before an entrance also allows the conductor an entire beat to communicate the style, dynamic, and articulation of the entrance. If the entrance occurs on the fraction of a beat rather than directly on the beat, it is still usually preferable to cue the entire beat before. In some cases, such as very slow tempos, this may be redundant, and may be more than the musician needs. In this case, cueing the beat of the entrance may be sufficient. In this chapter, we will examine the three primary types of cues; the right hand cue, the left hand cue, and the head cue.

The right hand cue is a beat directed with the right hand, in the appropriate tempo, dynamic, and style, at the person or section about to enter. The gesture may depart from the pattern, but only for the length of time necessary for the cue.

The left hand cue is a beat directed with the left hand, in the appropriate tempo, dynamic, and style, at the person or section about to enter. The left hand cue should not disrupt the pattern of the right hand.

The head cue is a beat directed with the head, whether by eye contact, nod, or both, in the appropriate tempo, dynamic, and style, at the person or section about to enter.

Preparatory beats (or “prep beats”) are often the subject of great debate and entire sections of conducting classes. In reality, a preparatory beat is just a cue that comes at the beginning of a piece of music. This cue is usually given with both hands, often mirroring. Conductors must of course be careful to effectively communicate the appropriate tempo, dynamic, style, and articulation within that one preparatory beat. In rehearsal, conductors often rely on the count-off of an entire measure to prepare their ensemble. While sometimes necessary, this is rarely a good practice in performance, and so should be avoided in rehearsal whenever possible so that it does not become a habit.

The beat on which the music begins will determine the beat that is given as a preparatory beat. Since the beat before the entrance is generally given as a preparatory beat, the beat in the pattern will follow this rule as well. If the music begins on a downbeat in 4/4, then beat 4 will be given as a prep beat. If the music begins on beat 3, then beat 2 will be given as a prep beat.

Cutoffs are necessary whenever the music is unclear as to when a note should end. For example, sometimes a whole note will be tied across a barline to a quarter note. When does the cutoff come? The answer is up to the conductor. In a choral setting, the issue is one of the final consonant. If the pitch must be held for all five beats for purposes of harmony or support of other voices, then the

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consonant must occur on the beat after the quarter note. What if there is no break in the music for the consonant to occur? Then the consonant must come before or during the quarter note, which means that the actual pitch will not be held for all five beats for which it is notated. As you can see, this can often be a confusing issue, but it is important to remember that when the music is not perfectly clear for itself, it is the conductor’s job to decide. He must consider issues of phrasing, diction (in choral music), and harmony. In the end, it is more important that the entire section cuts off together than that the composer’s “original intent” is realized. If a composer had considered a particular cutoff to be vital to his intent, he would have notated it very clearly.

The simplest technique for conducting a fermata is to stop your conducting pattern on the beat on which the fermata occurs. When you wish to continue through the fermata, you must give a preparatory beat since the beat has essentially stopped. The beat given as a preparatory beat must be the beat preceding the note following the fermata. For example, if the fermata occurs on beat 3 in a 4 pattern, then the baton would stop indefinitely on beat three. Since the music continues on beat 4, beat 3 must be given again as a preparatory beat for the continuation on beat 4.

Fermatas are difficult things to interpret. There are three basic types of fermatas:

1. Fermata with pregnant pause2. Fermata with breath3. Fermata with no break

The fermata with a pregnant pause is usually notated with a caesura following it to indicate a long pause. The fermata with a breath afterward is sometimes determined by a breath mark following the fermata. The fermata with no break afterward is sometimes seen with a phrase mark, tie, or slur connecting the held note to the note after it. These clearly notated situations present little difficulty in interpretation. More often than not, one will simply see a fermata, and must decide how to treat it based on the situation. The chorales of J.S. Bach are laden with fermatas, and they make excellent exercises for young conductors to practice their conducting technique and their interpretation.

Exercise 6a: Get three or four of your friends to sing a round together, (Row Row Row Your Boat, Ah Poor Bird, Hey Ho Nobody Home, etc.). Practice cueing the different parts as they enter. Use right hand, left hand, and head cues, and practice in a variety of tempos, dynamics, and styles. Don’t tell them what you want. Ask them to follow you as best as they can. This will give you feedback on whether your gestures are communicating effectively. (It may also simply tell you that your friends can’t follow very well, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get what you want right away).

Exercise 6b: Conduct and sing the chorale harmonization by J.S. Bach on the following page. Practice conducting all three kinds of fermatas. Try ignoring

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certain fermatas to see which result you find the most musical. Make note of your favorite results.

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Chapter 7: Asymmetrical Meters

So far, we have dealt with symmetrical meters: those meters whose beats all consist of the same number of subdivisions. Sometimes, conductors must conduct music whose beats consist of different numbers of subdivisions. These asymmetrical meters include 7/8, 10/8, 11/8, and any other meter in which accents do not fall regularly.

Beats are usually beamed together in these meters. This helps the musicians to read the music more easily.

As you can see, there are three beats in each measure of this 7/8 example. Therefore, we should use a 3-beat pattern to conduct it. The beats are grouped as 2 + 2 + 3, therefore the first two beats of our pattern will be two eighth notes in length, while beat three will be three eighth notes in length.

A similar process must be used to determine how to conduct any asymmetrical meter. The number of overall beats in each measure will determine the type of pattern employed, while the number of subdivisions in each beat will determine the length of each beat.

When cueing in an asymmetrical meter, the conductor should still cue the entire beat before the entrance, unless it is more appropriate to cue on the beat of a fractional entrance. Preparatory beats should be of the length of the first beat to be played. For example, if conducting the exercise above, the conductor should give a preparatory beat equal to two eighth notes in length, not three.

Exercise 7: Conduct in 7/8 time using a 3-beat pattern, alternating between 2 + 2 + 3, 2 + 3 + 2, and 3 + 2 + 2, for about 5 minutes. Next, conduct in 10/8 time using a 4-beat pattern, alternating between 2 + 2 + 3 + 3, 3 + 3 + 2 + 2, 3 + 2 + 2 + 3, 2 + 3 + 3 + 2, 2 + 3 + 2 + 3, and 3 + 2 + 3 + 2, for about 10 minutes. Finally, try your hand at 5/8 time using a 2-beat pattern.

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Chapter 8: Score Study

In my opinion, score study is the most important part of a conductor’s job. If you enter a rehearsal with a perfect, intimate knowledge of your music, then you are far more likely to be able to pull the sound you desire from your ensemble. Even poor conducting technique can be overcome by outstanding knowledge of a score. When all is said and done, your ability to communicate effectively with your ensemble is what will determine the quality of your music making. Where does this communication begin? At your desk, pencil in hand, metronome at the ready, stereo turned OFF!

The issue of practicing with recordings is much debated among conductors and conducting teachers, but I stand firm on one side of the issue. I believe it is wrong for a conductor to learn a score by ear. That is not to say that listening to recordings of your scores is wrong, only that using those recordings to learn your scores is irresponsible. Each conductor must determine for himself what message, what expression, what art must be pulled from a score. Repeated listening to other conductors’ interpretations inevitably influences one’s own.

It is no secret that honesty breeds trust, and clearly we desire that our ensembles trust us. If you are to be truly intimate and honest with your ensemble, you must come before them from the first day of rehearsal with knowledge and understanding of the score so far superseding their own that they have no choice but to trust you!

Methods of score study are as different as conductors themselves. Some prefer to study transposing scores so they can see what their players see. Some prefer to study “C scores,” or scores written entirely at concert pitch, so they can hear the music more accurately. Some prefer to mark their scores so heavily that no one else can read them, while others make all their notes on separate sheets of paper or note cards, leaving their scores unmarked.

Personally, I prefer to study and conduct from a transposed score, so heavily marked by all manner of pencil and colored pencil that the notes themselves are often invisible. I scribble notes in the margins, I draw arrows spanning multiple pages, and I connect the most seemingly disparate musical moments by heavy dark lines. Obviously, this will not work for everybody. You must develop your own style and practice of score study, just as you must develop your own nuances of conducting technique.

Here are some basic goals and questions a conductor should ask himself during the process of score study:

1. The big picture: Learn the major structural elements of the piece such as form and the compositional techniques being used. Learn every part!

2. Melody: Learn which voices should be the most prominent at any given point. Are there themes? Motifs? Where is there imitation? Sequence? Are there interesting contrapuntal treatments of thematic material? What are they? Where are they? Learn every part!

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3. Harmony: Learn the chord progression. What is the harmonic rhythm? Are there mostly primary chords? Are there extended harmonies? Is the harmony functional or incidental? Learn every part!

4. Cadences: Learn natural “breathing” points in the music. Where do musical sentences begin and end? Learn every part!

5. Phrasing: Learn every part!6. Dynamic scheme: Learn every part!7. Texture: Is the piece monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic? Are there

elements of each? What is the voicing? Learn every part!8. Potential problems: Learn where the difficulties are in each part. Anticipate

what will happen at that point. Be able to diagnose, treat, and fix as many problems as possible before they ever occur. Learn every part!

9. Devise a teaching strategy: Should we start at the beginning and work our way through? Should we learn the hardest part first? Should we sight read as an ensemble or in sections to begin? Learn every part!

10. Artistic Issues: As a conductor, you must have a very accurate and very specific artistic goal in mind for each piece you conduct. There are issues you will face that cannot be defined by any list in a conducting book. The ability to recognize, face, and accept these unique and difficult challenges is a sign of the musical maturity necessary to be an honest and intimate conductor. Learn every part!

11. Historical context: Learn all you can about the composer and/or arranger of each piece you conduct. Where were they from? In what time period did they live? Does their music reflect the style of their place and time? Was their music particularly innovative or otherwise significant? Was this piece written for a particular occasion? Was it originally scored in this setting? Learn every part!

12. Text: Make sure you can correctly pronounce and translate any and all foreign text in the score, whether instructions or lyrics.

There are any number of other questions to be asked during the process of score study. As you gain experience as a conductor, you will realize which questions are the most relevant for each particular piece you conduct. There is tremendous joy to be had in the knowledge of your music. I encourage you not to think of the process of score study as daunting or a “necessary evil,” but rather as a difficult and exciting journey whose end brings unimaginable (yes, I do mean unimaginable) joy! It is hard to believe that such an arduous and lonely task can bring excitement and joy until you experience it for yourself. Until then…trust me!

The following choral pieces range in style, tempo, texture, and voicing. The Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods of music history are represented as well. There are unique challenges in each piece for the singers as well as the conductor. I hope you enjoy studying and learning these timeless pieces as you develop your techniques of score study and conducting!

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Exercise 8: Do as thorough a score study as you can for the choral scores on the following pages. Practice marking your score as well as making notes on a separate sheet of paper. Learn every part! Sing every part while you conduct in front of a mirror. The ability to sing every part in your score is necessary for choral, band, and orchestral conductors. Try to observe your musical goals in your conducting technique, and see if your voice matches that technique. Practice mirroring, using the left hand, cueing, and conducting different styles at different times.

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Preface - Stillwater Christian School€¦ · Web viewConducting is an art with many reputations. Some see conducting as a job for musicians who couldn’t “make it” as performers.

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