Basic Music Theorymore marcato, a little quieter, and with less trombone. A conductor may
however, fire the clarinetist who doesn’t know the alternate fingering for
low F.
Whatever the level, a conductor is responsible for many more things than
the individual musician. First of all, the music a conductor reads is much
more complex than the music of any player in the group. This is because
the conductor reads from a score, which is a large, multi-paged piece of
music with all the parts in it, from the piccolo to the percussion, from the
violin to the bass voice parts.
Conductors are also musical scholars, and should know about
performance practices (how a certain piece should be performed), about
chord structure and chord progressions, about the intonation tendencies
of every instrument, about movement and how musicians react to it,
about rehearsal technique and how to get what is needed from musicians,
about music history and theory, and on and on. A good conductor is
always learning.
Stance
How a conductor stands will change based upon the music, and we’ll get
to some specifics later in the chapter, but generally, a conductor should
have good posture, feet about shoulder width apart, and a relaxed stance.
At first, the left arm will simply hang relaxed at your side—you’ll use it
later, but for now you won’t need it. The right arm will be extended,
slightly bent, and will move around in an area a foot or two in front of
you, from the top of your head to the middle of your chest, and from
shoulder to shoulder.
If you’re using a baton (a pencil will work), grip it with the thumb and
index finger and wrap the other fingers lightly around it without
grasping.
Eye Contact
Probably one of the most important aspects of conducting is eye contact.
If a conductor’s face is buried in the music, he or she won’t be able to
look a section of altos or a section of trumpets right in the face to be sure
they understand what is being asked for.