How to Conduct Expressively With Young Students

Hello again!

One of the great debates going on is with regard to expressive conducting, and whether or not it can work with younger students.

In conducting class, my teacher gave us a basic system we could use to conduct anything we came across. It makes sense. It's somewhat based on "The Art of Conducting" textbook, except that each beat is placed on the same horizontal plane (with 4 slightly raised). It's easy to understand, and pretty easy to pick up, both from the conductor and player stand point.

And it's boring.

Why? Because it's based on conducting inside of a square or box. Literally - your beat pattern is supposed to be as tall as it is wide at all times. This leads to various sized boxes for different dynamics, and so forth. 

That's fine, but I've found that as a player I was much less responsive to that style of conducting, and much more responsive to this guy:

That's Dr. Reginald Houze with the ASU Wind Ensemble in 2008. Notice there was almost always a beat to follow. He may not have used an ictus on every beat, but there was always a beat. That said, he was conducting the music more so than the beat. Some people say this doesn't work, but I say that was the best year our Wind Ensemble has had while I was in it (although they're as good or better this year, keep up the great work!). This style of conducting was foreign to all of us West/Central Texas folks, but it was also very engaging, and we caught on quickly.

But we were college students, of course. So...

Can it Work With Younger Students?

Many successful directors will say, "No." One of the teachers I'm working with in my student teaching is a former TMEA Honor Band Director, and the first time he watched me he commented that my conducting was too complicated, and advised me to conduct, "Floor, wall, wall, ceiling, floor wall, wall, ceiling." So we can agree that it's not necessary for success.

On a side note, I don't think that feedback was based on what he heard. It's just not what he did, so he knew they weren't used to it, and watching it probably threw him off a little. I'm sure it threw the students off a little at first, too, but they had no problem keeping a beat with my conducting. I haven't changed it, and we still get a lot done when I have the opportunity to work with them.

But anyway, yes, it can work.

Most of my music teacher friends are directors at small schools, and most small schools play music that is between Grade 1 - 3 (Beginning Band up to Sub-Non Varsity at a large school system). If you were at a large school, would you expect students at those skill levels to be able to follow conducting expressively?

Two of my friends were successful with it, and loved doing it. Among other reasons for this, their students loved it.

One said friend has always believed in the power of expressive conducting. As I watched him with his band on the concert contest stage, it was obvious that his conducting was a cut above the other directors I watched that day. The band was also one of the most musical. He and the band were communicating. Every phrase was shaped and musical. It was really cool to see as well as hear. 

Another friend had some initial trouble with expressive conducting with his band, and so he abandoned the practice. When we were discussing conducting at TMEA we argued opposite sides of the coin, with him having more experience to back his opinion. I offered some advice which he experimented with a few weeks later. 

That night I got a call, "Coop, you were right about expressive conducting! I tried it today, and we had the best rehearsal we've had all semester!"

When to Use Expressive Conducting

If your group isn't used to expressive conducting, then you may want to wait until a certain point in the program's development to start implementing it. This was the key to my friend's success in rehearsal that day. 

The advice I offered him at TMEA was simply this, "A lot of people focus strictly on conducting a beat and giving entrances. But students can keep the beat for themselves. That's why most of them don't look up very often." After some more discussion I offered, "When you're still learning the notes and rhythms, it's probably good to stick to beat patterns. But after they've played the song so many times, they'll be able to play on auto pilot. You don't have to conduct anything except for tempo changes. That's when you can switch to expressive conducting." Another friend in the room, the first one I mentioned, seemed to agree with this.

And so it was a few weeks later that he went off the strict beat pattern and into the brave world of expression. 

He told me that night that at first it threw some of the students off. He reassured them, reminded them that keeping the beat was their responsibility, and after a couple more tries they were getting the hang of it. Instead of conducting a march in 4, for example, he conducted in 2. He told me that the character of the music changed completely, emerged, as the students felt more free to play expressively. Suddenly the music was coming out, and when the students experienced this musical moment, they were elated. 

What We Can Learn From This

I was so ecstatic for my friend that he went out on a limb and tried this, and I was so happy that it was successful, both for him and his students (whom I have worked with and seen in concert). I think we can learn some valuable lessons from his experimentation:

1. Expressive conducting does work, even with a young band.

Expressive conducting is really about communication. Even the beginners I work with every day crescendo when I show it to them, and forget when I don't. My belief based on what I've read and learned at clinics I've attended is that you have to sensitize them to your conducting by teaching it to them as if you were teaching them to read a new type of body language, or language in general. More on that in a second.

2. Students can be made accountable for keeping the beat.

I've mentioned Susan Finger on this blog before. She is the most impressive middle school instructor I've had the pleasure of watching work. One of the big things she did was place isles through the band set up so that she could walk around and in between sections, correcting horn angles, fingerings, and giving individual feedback as she went, and while the band was playing. That also meant she wasn't on the podium conducting. 

But wait, these were all 2nd and 3rd year band kids! How could they have been mature enough to keep the beat all by themselves? 

Because they can do it. Beginners can, too. =^)  Oh, and also, this was at a week long band camp, which means they had not played through the music hundreds of times like the might have in preparation for concert contest. But by moving around and simply counting them off, she was forcing them to listen and develop a sense of ensemble pulse. Once that is in place, you can free yourself up to address other things in your conducting.

3. Introduce expressiveness when the moment is right.

My friend's band had played that music enough times to get through it without falling apart, which also meant they had a good sense of ensemble pulse. At this point, it was safe for him to take off with expressive conducting. 

However, even once students understand you're no longer spoon feeding them the beat/time, and that they need to watch you for style and other musical things, they may not understand what you're trying to get out of them. Here is my best educated guess, having read and researched this topic in my own pursuits...

"Express" More as the Program Develops

When we prepare a band for a concert, we do it in stages. We start with right notes and right rhythms as a basis (Stage 1?). Next we look for things like phrasing, intonation, dynamics and articulation/style (Stage 2?). Some bands just get to this point, while others venture into the world of phrase shaping and nuance. 

I'm not going to offer a strict structure of stages (I'm actually still looking into this topic). But you understand what I mean by this. We start with applying previous knowledge to new music, and gradually move them towards the most musical performance possible in the time we have.

So with that in mind, I recommend progressing your conducting through stages as well, especially if the group is not used to relying on you for more than a tempo and what beat you're on. Start with the beat pattern, tempo changes, and entrance cues. 

When you get to shaping, dynamics, and style/articulation, gradually add those things to your conducting based on what you're working on that day. Helping them recognize your visual cues, according to John Whitwell's TMEA clinic last year, can be as easy as saying, "Trombones, less like this (show them) and more like this (show them)." For extra reinforcement, you could do that while also singing the style or articulation. 

Most great directors I know work on showing dynamics and dynamic changes during the warm up chorale or with slow scales performed in groups (like a round). 

When you get to shaping, sing the shaping for them while showing it to them. Don't settle until they play it up to your standard, so that their shaping is associated with however you showed it to them. 

The visual reminders should trigger those appropriate responses, which will also increase their retention of the work you did on it. 

Also, it doesn't matter so much how you show it to them, as long as you're consistent. Over time they will understand your conducting vocabulary and respond with more sensitivity to your communication on later programs. On the next program you can try to show it to them before you explain it to them. The longer they've been with you, the more accurate their responses will be. 

I hear this eventually saves rehearsal time. Imagine a situation, let's say after a few years, where your veterans pick up on what you're telling them non-verbally, and then tell the younger members of their section what to do once you've stopped. I communicated like that with my section mates in high school, both from the standpoint of section leader and last chair member (being told). 

It can happen! A couple more thoughts about this - not only do students love this (after all, how many orchestral conductors have they seen go all out, as well as cartoon chariactures of conductors), but audience members do, too. And it's still pragmatic. I would argue it's more pragmatic, because you communicate so much more.

If the band doesn't get it at first, don't get discouraged. As long as they're able to keep a beat with a count off, they can do it. Like my friend, keep going. And if all else fails, take it one step at a time. Gradually expand their non-verbal vocabulary knowledge. 

And of course, if you don't, that's okay, too. Many teachers don't do this and are still highly successful. But with my final argument I'll say this - 

The baton is our instrument. I think that when we conduct with musical expressiveness (and effectively, mind you, having set them up for success in understanding), we are good role models and can better challenge them to play with musical expression.

And isn't that what our business is all about?

Thank you, as always, for reading. Until next time, take care!

Musically yours,

Mr. Cooper