Conductors: Be Practical

Many conductors of amateur & youth organizations, including orchestras, bands, choirs, theatre, churches, & specialty groups, are often promoted to their leadership position by default. Of course, countless ensembles do hold auditions, but for school teachers (for example) conducting is rarely a part of the interview process. As a result, many conductors resort to text books and youtube videos that highlight the rules and regulations of conducting, especially regarding rehearsal 'technique'.

Unfortunately, many of the resources currently available are limited to personal preference and wand waving (using a baton. Or not), and the primary purpose of rehearsing an ensemble is often blind-sided by an innate need to look good on stage - both the ensemble itself as well as the conductor. This article shares one of several perspectives that will help conductors transform their rehearsals into an engaging and fruitful learning experience whilst also preparing for a fine performance: Be Practical

One of the biggest problems conductors face is an ensemble that's out of tune. Once it's happened in performance, there's nothing that can be done. It's past. History. Forever in the memories of participators (listeners & performers) as a dire failure on the leader's part to balance and tune the ensemble.

Gulp.

So how do we overcome this obstacle? Well, there are many approaches. One extremely lazy approach is to assume that your musicians are responsible and it's up to them. Well, to some extent this is true. But if you don't give them an opportunity to tune, then that's a problem. Another approach is to have each and every instrument tune to an electronic device with a needle that sways enough to make anyone staring at it seasick. THIS DOESN'T WORK! Not at all. Please stop passing the tuner around the band or orchestra. There are numerous reasons for avoiding this almost-as-lazy approach:

1. By the time the tuner reaches player fifteen, the instrument player one is holding has gotten warmer (or colder if you're outside) and is now a different size and shape to when it was tuned. It's reed has also changed size as it's dried out, or after being tuned the string has settled a little and is now 'off'. So, after player forty-three does the tuner need to go back to player one to retune? What about player five? And fourteen? They'll need retuning as well!

2. Tuning one note to a tuning device tunes that note. What about the octave above? What about two octaves above? What about that annoying major sixth - you know, the G with the loose pad? Perhaps Arvo Part's Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten being an exception, have you ever played a piece with one note?

3. Tuning one note does not account for breathing or the type of sound. Players end up performing for a tuner as opposed to other participants, and it's a different sound.

4. Do we still really need to explore some of other reasons at this stage?

There are exceptions, and there are times when one instrumentalist will want to double check with a neighbor because something is obviously wrong. Let them tune. If an instrument is WAY out, it needs fixing, but spending 10 minutes tuning one note (or as one embarrassingly inept online rehearsal technique schedule offers, 12% of the rehearsal time), only one note is vaguely tuned and so far there's been no music-making.

So how should ensembles tune? It seems to be a good practice to tune in harmony. Various exercises exist as warm-ups such as Bach chorales, harmonized scales, or just plain brief harmonic progressions (listen to the second band below). Your musicians will listen and tune whilst in a playing environment, and learning to do so will encourage them to tune whilst playing in performance, too - an essential skill.

But also take advantage of the warm-ups to expose musicians to many other aspects of performance. For example, whilst playing a warm-up exercise, insert a pause (that'll make them watch a lot more). Speed up or slow down. And play with dynamics, too. Nothing verbal, no explanations, just normal conducting.

It is often the case that as a conductor, particularly in an educational environment, we lose sight of the fact that making music is a hands-on moment-by-moment experience. Many times conductors focus on technique and skill improvement to the exclusion of all else, so what benefit is that to the musicians? What's the point of learning a particular muscle-expanding exercise if there's no connection to making or creating music?

For example, also use the warm up excercises to expand musicians' breathing control. First play in two bar phrases, then four, then eight, and if they are feeling ambitious, try sixteen bar phrases. Of course, speeding up helps, but when you then rehearse a piece and suggest "this is a four bar phrase", the musicians will have a clear idea of one way to make it sound like a four bar phrase: without breathing in the middle of it.

Here's a final practical tidbit bonus:
Rarely play a piece all the way through. Once during sight-reading, and perhaps once during a session or two before the performance, but no more. Playing a piece all the way through does not offer the opportunity to explore communal articulation, tuning or interpretation. At the concert, the extra focus required by musicians produces more adrenaline, and the performance ends up that much more spectacular and engaging. It is possible to become too familiar with a piece of music.

This article is one of a series with material taken from my own experiences, lessons, and research that are combined into workshop and coaching programs. Other perspectives include letting them play, humility, and stories. Be sure to look out for future articles that also help transform your rehearsals!