The posture of a conductor is just as important as the posture of a singer. It should not be ramrod stiff, nor should it be so loose that the gestures have no energy. The same element of dynamic tension that is so important to the buoyancy of singing is applicable to conductors. The conductor should adopt a position of alertness that is inspired by energy but is not muscle-bound.

The feet of the conductor should be separated, the heels approximately six to eight inches apart. The knees should be flexible, not stiff. The weight should be distributed evenly on the balls of the feet. The conductor should lean slightly towards the choir. (The upper part of the body should be carried high.) The head should be held slightly in front of the shoulders, but without assuming a hunched position. A hunched position will appear extremely awkward to the choir and to the audience. It will also interfere with a good conducting style.

The arms are the part of the body with which beginning conductors are most concerned. The body posture must be such that the arms can operate freely and most naturally. How high should they be raised? The answer, "high enough to be seen clearly by the ensemble and low enough to be comfortable," may seem vague but it is true. The conducting plane (the level at which the arms operate) will vary depending upon the ensemble's size, its position from the conductor, and upon the conductor himself. The median of the conducting plane should normally be just below the height of the shoulder. Only in extreme instances should any beats go below the waist. Very few beats will rise above the head, except that the top of the last beat of a measure will, on occasion, go almost above the head.

The size of the beat will be determined by the style and tempo of each piece of music. Fast tempos demand smaller gestures as do most soft passages. The gestures for loud passages will be large and more dramatic. Exceptions will be made in musical situations that warrant excessive gestures. A chorus of six hundred festival singers will undoubtedly demand broader gestures than a choir of forty or fifty people.

Every conductor should learn to conduct with a baton whether one is used for all performances or not. Choral conductors will find that a 12" to 14" baton is desirable for most situations. A longer baton may be warranted for conducting festival choruses or performances of large choruses and orchestra.

Although fewer choral conductors seem to use a baton than instrumental conductors, there is no reason why a baton should not be used for choral conducting. It is perfectly acceptable to conduct accompanied or unaccompanied repertoire with a baton. The conductor who does not use a baton regularly will find that the use of a baton will tend to force him toward better conducting habits. Unnecessary gestures made with the hands are impossible with a baton. Usually the conducting technique improves considerably by the use of a baton.

Conductors are also encouraged to alternate between the use of the hands and the baton during rehearsals. Some compositions will seem most comfortable with a baton and the conductor will want to continue its use into the performance. The conductor will find that Renaissance scores are best conducted without a baton. The music of the Renaissance is not metered and our modern conducting gestures are not as appropriate for this music.

Many choral conductors use the baton when conducting works that involve instruments with voices. The addition of instruments alone does not necessarily warrant the use of a baton any more than the absence of instruments denies the use of the baton. The decision is a personal one but this author recommends using a baton.

Conductors, both beginning and experienced, often find it difficult to hold a baton with comfort. It is a slender instrument, which causes many people to try to grasp it with the finger tips rather than with the entire hand. This kind of grip creates tension in the hand and wrist and quickly becomes very uncomfortable. The conductor should grasp the baton so the handle fits into the palm of the hand and the fingers curl around the baton. The thumb should be on the left side of the baton at a point where it would touch the forefinger at about the first joint. Actually, it will not touch the forefinger because the thumb will touch the baton first. The proper basic grip is shown in the photo.

Figure 2.1. 

Conductors must experiment with several batons before they will find one that seems most comfortable to them. Batons that have small wooden or cork handles are recommended over those that have plastic or rubber balls on the grip. The former are comfortable to more people and usually weigh less.

Before the basic patterns can be negotiated, the conductor must learn how to begin the conducting gestures. One should raise the hands almost as if one were going to catch a very large ball (a ball slightly larger than a basketball). The hands will come to a point slightly lower than the shoulders and the forearms will be facing inward from the elbows, rather than extending straight forward. The elbows will then be the farthest points at the side of the body. If one is not using a baton, the fingers should be curved just a little to avoid any stiffness in the hand and to present a better appearance both to the ensemble and audience.

When the music begins on a beat of a measure, the preparation beat itself will usually be one beat in advance of the first sounded note. There are occasions when a conductor will use two beats in preparation to clearly establish the tempo for the choir, and to avoid any misunderstanding of the beat on which the choir will begin to sing.

The preparatory gesture must be given in the same style, mood, and tempo of the first phase of the music. It is a vital part of the music and its importance should not be minimized. The first gesture by the conductor conveys something to the choir—either energy, style, mood, confidence and tempo, or indifference and lack of leadership.

The preparation and the downbeat should always indicate the mood of the piece. If the piece is to begin pianissimo, at a moderate tempo, the preparation and the downbeat must be given in a manner that will convey that information to the choir. A conductor's motions should reaffirm the character of the music, and remind the ensemble of the attitude toward the work that he and they share.

If the first beat of the measure is the first sound, the last beat of the pattern will be used as the preparatory beat (see figure 1). This piece by Handel can be used as a conducting example. Individuals can sing parts while practicing conducting the piece. Several people can trade off conduting and singing all the parts.

Figure 2.2. 

Figure 2.3. 

Figure 2.4. 

Figure 2.5. 

Figure 2.6. 

Figure 2.7. 

Figure 2.8. 

SING, BE GLAD FOR THE LORD IS OUR GOD, By George Handel, Arranged by Hal Hopson, Copyright 1986 Shawnee Press, Inc. (ASCAP), International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved, Reprinted by Permission

If the last beat of the measure is the first beat on which sound begins, the previous beat of the pattern will be used as a preparation. For example, if the first sound occurs on the fourth beat of a 4/4 measure, the third beat of the pattern would be the preparatory beat (see figure 1).

Figure 2.9. 

The following example Shenandoah begins on the last beat of the measure, requiring the third beat as a preparatory beat. The slow tempo and legato style are excellent for practicing this technique. The several conducting problems in this one verse arrangement and the setting for only two voices also make this a useful conducting tool.

Figure 2.10. 

Figure 2.11. 

The well known In Dulce Jublio by Michael Praetorius begins on the last beat of a measure. After the brass verse the voices begin on the first beat of the measure and, because of the finality created by the fermata on the brass chord, this is very much the same as beginning a piece on the first beat. So, both techniques can be practiced in this piece. Incidentally, (and not so incidentally when you are looking for good music that is not difficult), neither the brass nor choral parts are difficult and the ranges of both are excellent.

The transition from 3/4 to 1 can be tricky for both the choir and the conductor. The choir relies on the conductor to define and clarify the half note as having two quarter notes within it instead of three. Where there were three distinct gestures in a measure there are now only two, and each of those encompasses the duration of all three of the previous gestures.

Two aids to assist in this transition are: (1) the choir can mentally begin thinking in two as it arrives at the last bar of the 3/4, the dotted half note. Since the half note of the following two pulse equals the previous dotted half note in length, the final dotted half note represents one beat of the new two pulse and (2) the conductor can use only one gesture in that final 3/4 measure, a gesture that equals the half note pulse (and gesture) of the new two pulse measures. Granted, the brass have eighth notes and quarter notes still clearly in 3/4 but, since that pulse has been so clearly established from the beginning, they should have no difficulty in playing accurately within that gesture.

On the other hand, one can conduct in three until the change, and change the gesture at that point to a clear two beat gesture and have equal success. Whatever you decide to do, and you could experiment with both, as you get close to performance select one technique and stay with it, so both the brass and choir understand and can anticipate your gestures.

Because of the alternation of brass and choir this is an excellent practice piece for conductors. The problems of leaving one group to attend to another are several and will become apparent. Because of this alternation, this piece is quite effective in performance. One of the reasons is because the brass rarely play as the choir sings. Consequently, the choir is not overpowered by the brass instruments. Another nice feature is that the brass parts sound very nice at Mf, Mp, and P volume levels, particularly when played with a light tonguing technique. There are several editions available.

The same principle is followed when the music begins on a beat other than the first or last. If the piece begins on the second beat at 4/4 measure, the first beat of the pattern becomes the preparatory beat.

In this case the starting position of the hands may vary slightly so the movement from the position to the first beat is only one downward motion. If the hands move upward before the preparatory beat, it will give the effect of two preparatory beats, as, "four, one, sing." This can be confusing to an ensemble that has been told, and expects, only one preparatory beat (see the first figure in figure 1).

If the first sound of the music occurs on the third beat of a 4/4 measure, beat two becomes the preparatory beat. Be sure the first motion is to the left and is (as always) in exactly the same tempo and character as the first and ensuing beats (see the second figure in figure 1).

Use the beginning of Shenandoah as an example, starting it on beat two or three instead of beat four.

Figure 2.12. 

Music that starts on a fraction of a beat causes special problems for the conductor. This may occur at the beginning of a piece or later, after a pause or a fermata. If the rhythm is stopped after a fermata, the next entrance must be treated just as the beginning of a piece.

The principle of the preparatory beat, which is to indicate an entire beat previous to the first sound, remains the same. Since the first sound in the following example begins on the last half of the third beat it is impossible to give a preparatory beat that starts exactly one full beat before that note. The problem here is that an indication of only the third beat as a preparatory beat does not convey one full beat. It can be difficult for the ensemble to determine where the halfway point (the first note) of that gesture would occur since they have no idea as to its ultimate length. For this reason it seems logical (and safer) to use the second beat and the first part of beat three as the preparatory beat. The ensemble will be able to determine exactly when the eighth note should occur because they have seen (and felt) one entire beat of the rhythm. They were able to count "2 and 3," during the preparatory gestures.

It is true that after a number of rehearsals, a conductor might be able to indicate only beat three and the ensemble would start together. It also depends on the tempo of the music. If the tempo is somewhat fast it may be difficult to actually convey the other beat. The one gesture will likely fit the tempo and be understood by the choir. It is recommended that conductors avoid doing this in performance, however, unless it

Figure 2.13. 

Figure 2.14. 

has been done often in rehearsal. Such a change would be dangerous in a performance when the ensemble is nervous and could misinterpret a new gesture such as this.

There are occasions when the preparatory beat will not need to show the tempo or rhythm of the first phrase. This would occur when the first note has no rhythmic implications to any following notes. For example, when a work begins on a hold as in Ives' Psalm 90 and Haydn's Evensong, the preparatory beat does not need to indicate the rhythm since the note is static. One must convey the character of the music however.

Figure 2.15. 

It is recommended that a conductor mentally "conduct" several measures of each piece before he begins it. This will help establish the tempo and renew the rhythm in his mind. He may even indicate the beat itself to the ensemble by using the forefinger and thumb of the left hand in front of his body, hidden from the audience. This can be effective for a choral conductor who is conducting his own ensemble of thirty to fifty singers.

Evensong by Haydn provides another example in which the first notes do not reflect the tempo of the first phrase and do not require that the preparatory beat exemplify tempo. This example is of the type more commonly found; one or two notes with fermata followed immediately by a melodic opening phrase, which, in this case, is the common melody of the work.

Figure 2.16. 

Figure 2.17.