During May and August, I worked as a conducting tutor at the Victorian School Music Festival in a segment sponsored by the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association and Hal Leonard Australia. After each group performed, the conductor would be invited to work with me for 20 minutes or so.

The tutorial was held in a small store room just off the performance area in Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne. There was a laptop on which a video of the conductor’s performance just completed could be played, the conductor, me and our batons.

The following are some general issues that were discussed.

The first bar of a performance is the conductor’s responsibility. The second bar becomes the player’s responsibility. if the first bar is not right, then it may be that the conductor is not giving clear non-verbal gestures.

When replaying the beginnings of each piece, here are some of the technical issues that we identified. The conductor

1. looked hesitant but not into the character of the music;
2. looked careful but not leading;
3. was beating with a strong metre and pulse but the music was legato and flowing;
4. was beating strong but the music was soft in dynamic and mysterious in character;
5. subdivided the but should wanted was meant to be singing;
6. followed the band in that the ictus was reached after they played;
7. gave beats in at a faster tempo that what the band played in the first bar;
8. gave a single upbeat which was tense and out of time;
9. looked down and lost eye contact with the players just as they were about to play; and
10. held the left hand with palms facing forward in a standard stop gesture during the prep beat and the first bar when they were playing.

Are you doing these too? Set up a video camera or camcorder on a tripod and video yourself in rehearsal and performance. Just have a look at the opening bars of each new section and new piece. Send me your video and I can analyse your conducting and give you suggestions for improvement for a fee, after our initial discussion.

Roland Yeung

roland(at)rolandyeung.net