Questions tagged [conducting]
Directing the performance of a piece of music or a musical ensemble by way of visible gestures.
51
questions
1
vote
1
answer
227
views
Do conductors sometimes show a downbeat with an upward movement?
What
I noticed some unusual gestures that Karajan has when he conducts. The standard beat patterns use exclusively downward movement for downbeats. However, I recently watched quite a few live ...
- 334
4
votes
2
answers
585
views
What does it mean when a conductor puts their finger on their temple?
What does it mean when a conductor puts their finger on their temple? That the singers need to pay more attention to intonation?
- 611
9
votes
2
answers
773
views
Unknown notation: square brackets, triangles, and numbers
What do these square brackets, triangles, and the numbers next to them mean, in Le Marteau sans maître by Pierre Boulez.
- 91
1
vote
2
answers
452
views
Is there a standard way to conduct 5/4 and 7/4, amongst other irregular time signatures?
We expect the downbeat to be signified with exactly that from a conductor - a downstroke of the baton. With 3/4 and 4/4, and often 6/8, that's pretty straightforward to achieve, with a maximum of 4 ...
- 188k
24
votes
10
answers
4k
views
Why are conductors' movements shifted with respect to the musicians?
I have noticed that, in a concert, the conductor moves in advance: sometimes, they move all of a sudden, and the musicians start playing louder only a little time after.
I wonder why this is so: as an ...
- 349
8
votes
4
answers
409
views
Why do famous conductors rarely conduct ballet?
Why do famous conductors rarely conduct ballet?
However, many famous conductors spend a large chunk of their time conducting operas beside just symphonic works.
- 81
1
vote
1
answer
127
views
How long to wait before following up with conductors? [closed]
An emerging composer is seeking to have some of their work performed by a smallish professional orchestra (i.e. not something like the Boston Symphony, but a fairly well-known regional symphony). The ...
- 4,408
6
votes
2
answers
923
views
Do conductors scores ("partitur") ever differ greatly from the full score?
I believe most conductor’s scores are full scores, with all instruments appearing on them in a prescribed order, in the same notation the player will see
However, it seems like there would be ...
- 403
0
votes
3
answers
176
views
If the conductor went missing post-rehearsal....?
I know that the Kronos Quartet do not use a conductor, and a lot of "modern classical" music doesn't use one. For example, I don't think I've ever seen a conductor at a performance of a ...
- 403
7
votes
1
answer
101
views
Approach to teaching a conducting class virtually
This question is more vague than I would prefer, but I am really struggling with this issue, so any help would be appreciated.
So, due to COVID, the school where I teach has gone virtual for the first ...
- 1,556
4
votes
1
answer
215
views
How to conduct a fermata over a rest?
I'm currently learning how to conduct Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique - Reveries and Passions. In the first few bars there are fermatas over a few rests and I know I'm supposed to prolong and hold the ...
- 43
1
vote
2
answers
744
views
How to understand the pattern in conducting?
I know the conducting patterns but how do I decide which song needs which pattern?
I know it depends on beats and all, but I just can't get the sure shot method of finding the right pattern.
can the ...
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
85
views
which conducting pattern is this?
the Indian national anthem is conducted on this pattern. I want to know more about it.
the baton starts from the top...goes down...back up....back down......and now to the outer side...back in.....out ...
- 21
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How does an orchestra hold groove?
I am used to symphonic orchestras playing classical music which does not take a rhythm as a constant, but rather as a variable which could be adjusted based on stylistic demands of the context (I ...
- 213
2
votes
1
answer
95
views
How should choir music be notated to best suit how conductors need to conduct?
How should choir music be notated to best suit how conductors need to conduct, to make it easier for singers to follow the conductor?
I see at least two issues here:
what are the beats that the ...
- 5,164
5
votes
2
answers
98
views
Proper course of study for someone who wants a career as a conductor
I have a friend who recently graduated at the top of his class at a prestigious east coast music conservatory. (He graduated with a bachelors of music.) He wants to be a conductor and applied to a ...
- 51
1
vote
3
answers
665
views
Why oughtn't conductors use and mirror both hands to indicate the beat?
Wikipedia doesn't, but let's, assume and focus on those moments when the non-dominant hand isn't necessary to cue ictuses or indicate "dynamics, phrasing, expression, and other elements".
While ...
user26407
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How does one "practice conducting"?
This is my first post on the site!
I'm 15, a pianist, and have been interesting in conducting for a long time. I know quite a bit about it, I bought a book on it, have a few batons, a favourite ...
- 103
1
vote
4
answers
1k
views
What are the characteristics of an easy piece to conduct? Examples?
Pieces like Beethoven's 5th Symphony have been described to me (by conductors) as "notoriously difficult." So what do they start beginners on? And what makes certain pieces more challenging than ...
- 3,847
8
votes
1
answer
519
views
Why does the conductor also play harpsichord when there is already a harpsichordist in the orchestra?
When listening to Baroque chamber music, it is not uncommon to see the harpsichordist or the soloist being also the conductor.
However, there were two harpsichords in this concert, one dual manual ...
- 399
12
votes
1
answer
601
views
What are the main schools of thought on conducting?
Conductor Kevin Purcell writes on his personal website:
There are schools of conducting thought that have evolved over the years. Some of the more prominent of these (in no specific order) are ...
- 3,847
4
votes
1
answer
361
views
How long was Adrian Boult's baton? Why did he use such a long one?
This question is fairly self-explanatory -- watching Boult conduct is almost magical. There are some excerpts from a BBC documentary floating around that explain in part the development of is singular ...
- 3,847
19
votes
3
answers
18k
views
What are the baton movements for different time signatures?
How does the baton move up and down and at a curve to determine the time signature? What are the different movement patterns for 2/2, 3/2, 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 time?
- 305
10
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Aren't conductors like Valery Gergiev hard for orchestras to follow?
All of the conductors I've had in the past have had a very... English style of conducting. They show you what they want with the baton and then you play it, but God forbid that you play with or (gasp) ...
- 3,847
2
votes
1
answer
399
views
How should I conduct a double time tempo change?
I am working on a pop arrangement. It starts out in a simple 4/4 quarter note equals 90 and then a tempo change doubles it. Now it's eight notes = 90 and quarter = 180.
Do I change the time signature ...
6
votes
2
answers
177
views
Prepping to conduct an incomplete score
When I studied conducting at the conservatory, we always had, well, scores to work with. I got very good at reading, understanding, and working with full scores for many sorts of ensembles. And when ...
- 1,556
0
votes
1
answer
248
views
Curlicues, small circles, for breath marks when conducting
Is anybody familiar with a conducting technique in which the conductor adds a small circle, curlicue, to the conducting hand when she wants the ensemble to take a breath? My impression is typically ...
- 197
4
votes
3
answers
389
views
How to read conductor's gestures from the side
I play soprano cornet in a British brass band. The ensemble is seated so that if the conductor spreads his hands as wide as he can, his left hand points at me and his right hand points at principal ...
- 11k
1
vote
5
answers
1k
views
Importance of an orchestral conductor and their baton-work as timekeeper? [duplicate]
I've often wondered what the point is of someone keeping time with a baton or hand, when the orchestra is highly skilled and can understand the piece and the score to a very high standard. (I'm ...
- 129
4
votes
1
answer
166
views
Where is "one"? How do you keep track?
I recently watched a YouTube excerpt of Jack Feierman's master class in which he alludes to techniques that can be developed to know where "one" is.
He has a click ...
- 149
4
votes
3
answers
680
views
Why do conductors not need research-level musicology to succeed?
Question: Please see the title.
Assumption: The conductor cannot imitate or rely on previous recordings, especially if a musical work has never been performed or recorded before.
Argument:
Any ...
user26407
3
votes
2
answers
704
views
Hearing a click track above an orchestra
The amateur orchestra I am in, the Cambridge Concert Orchestra, are involved in the Somme100 FILM project which means we'll be performing Laura Rossi's score alongside the silent film footage. To keep ...
- 2,489
7
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Has there ever been an orchestra without a conductor?
I don't think I have ever seen an orchestra where there wasn't someone conducting.
Has there ever been such an example of an orchestra?
Edit: By conductor, I mean the guy swinging the baton:
- 31.2k
2
votes
1
answer
369
views
How to direct alternating measures of 6/8 and 5/8 time signatures?
This is a allegro piece eighth note = 204 and alternates measures from 6/8 and 5/8. My question is how to direct this? The 6/8 would be in two. Would the 5/8 also be in two with the next 6/8 measure ...
1
vote
1
answer
134
views
Does the conductor sometimes play with the soloist (Or on his own)?
I watched the following two videos and it gave me the distinct idea that the conductor played something of his own choosing. Does this happen or am I getting my wires crossed?
Malaguena:
...
- 14.7k
8
votes
3
answers
8k
views
What makes a great conductor?
What qualities do great conductors share?
Are there unique qualities that make a particular conductor great that do not exist in other conductors?
- 181
27
votes
9
answers
9k
views
Why are conductors required at orchestra performances?
I am not a music expert and I have always wondered why orchestra performances require a conductor to play. The musicians are presumably professionals who have had much practice at this point, so why ...
1
vote
3
answers
193
views
circles and other gestures not really keeping time
I notice Leonard Bernstein often conducts very expressively while leaving the time signature out of his gestures. I notice this especially when he conducts pieces that were written by Mozart. If he ...
- 6,336
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Mathematics of Ritardando
Beyond feel & experience, is there a rule conductors use for ritardando in terms of (a) its rate, (b) its change in rate, and/or (c) the relationship between the final tempo and the tempo of the ...
- 286
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is a typical career path to become a conductor?
Is the conductor trained as a conductor from beginning or is it so that a really good player of some musical instrument may eventually become a conductor? Can actually a typical conductor play himself ...
- 4,484
15
votes
6
answers
1k
views
What greater possibilities allows playing late from the conductor
There's a lot of differences in the way conductors direct the tempi in orchestral representation, but one of them is the timing between when we're expected to play and the actual down movement of the ...
- 1,174
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to get experience as a young conductor?
Firstly, sorry if this question is off topic. I thought this would be the best place to post it.
I'm a teenage composer. I've written a few orchestral pieces before, and I also am fluent at playing a ...
- 213
22
votes
4
answers
13k
views
Why use a baton?
What are the guidelines and benefits for using a baton? I would like to know, specifically, whether I would benefit from buying one for the purpose of conducting a choir.
Are there rules that dictate ...
- 1,818
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Should the soloist watch the conductor?
I have been watching many videos of concert band performances which has a soloist standing just beside the conductor. Let's now assume that we are talking about a trombone concerto with a solo ...
- 355
12
votes
4
answers
268
views
Getting a youth band to look up
Tomorrow I'm standing in for the conductor to lead a rehearsal of my "training" band. This is effectively a school group: most of the players are fairly new and still have trouble reading music, ...
- 1,778
8
votes
3
answers
173
views
Performance of classic music [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What does a conductor actually do?
I've heard different versions of Johann Strauss II: "Tales from the Vienna Woods", - they were guided by the different conductors?
So what ...
user3356
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Conducting pattern - one spot, or multiples?
I've seen two ways of beating time, and I'm not sure if there's a clear better choice. One way is for the ictus to always be in the same spot in front of you, with a followthrough to prepare for the ...
- 313
9
votes
4
answers
442
views
When and why should the conductor be separate or not from the musicians?
Sometimes the conductor and the pianist or first violinist are the same person; sometimes they're different people. What are the advantages of each system? (I'm talking about inherent advantages, not ...
- 250
0
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Which set of books could I read to become an advanced conductor?
I would like a list of three to ten books to learn all there is to know about conducting.
Please be concise, try to cover all the stages from a beginner conductor (but already an experienced adult ...
- 410
64
votes
6
answers
14k
views
What does a conductor actually do?
Looking for the roles of the conductor during a musical performance, I mainly came across answers as the following, taken from Wikipedia:
"The primary duties of the conductor are to unify ...
- 6,582