common conducting mistakes
I just participated in the orchestra for a conducting masterclass and ended up learning a lot about conducting myself, what works and what doesn’t work. so here are some of the common mistakes that the instructor had to correct, for any aspiring conductors out there:
1. keeping your head buried in the score: it’s likely that if you’re staring at the score, you’re not doing much else. you’re probably not cueing entrances or indicating dynamics, and you might not be keeping time all that well either. when you’re staring at the score, there’s a disconnect between you and the music. memorize the score. conductors should treat themselves like orchestral players in the sense that you can’t show up to rehearsal without having learned the music.
2. mirroring: your left hand and right hand shouldn’t be doing the exact same thing all the time. the right hand is for showing the pulse, and the left hand should be for showing dynamics and expression or cueing entrances. I noticed that by the end of the week, most of the students in the class held their left hand to their chest and then used it only when it was necessary. during expressive oboe solos they were asked to pretty much just follow the soloist and not interfere. it’s possible to overconduct those kind of things and it gets in the way of the music.
3. moving too much/making motions that are too big: a lot of conductors tried to “do it all themselves” and produce the sound. conductors should encourage the sound, but if your conducting is really dramatic and the orchestra is not responding, it can be distracting. similarly, if your conducting motions are too big, the music tends to slow down. during fast parts, a lot of conductors just sort of stand there and watch the orchestra do its thing while they keep time.
4. moving the baton out of sight: some conductors have a habit of turning completely towards the cellos when the cellos have a beautiful melody, and while it makes the cellos feel all warm and fuzzy, you have to remember that the violins are sitting behind you and they can’t see what you’re doing. turning too much in either direction might make the orchestra fall apart. conductors also tend to stand a bit in front of the concertmaster and principal cellist, which you definitely shouldn’t do. I can guarantee you that most of the violins aren’t counting and they’re relying almost entirely on the concertmaster. if the concertmaster can’t see where beat 1 is, everyone is screwed.
5. unclear downbeats: marking the downbeat seemed to be the most difficult part for the conducting students, particularly when there were pickups involved. some students made a huge gesture a few beats before we actually had to play, some students made no difference between a regular “this is beat 2″ and “this is when you play” motion, some students left entire beats out of their conducting pattern which threw off the people who were actually counting, and all of these things just cause confusion and uncertainty, and you don’t want the orchestra to be confused when they’re supposed to be playing a huge forte chord. what seemed to work best was keeping the beat, breathing the beat before the orchestra has to play, and then making a very clear and obvious “I expect sound” kind of motion.
6. forgetting that certain instruments exist: I played second violin in the masterclass and that were multiple times that we would have a weird entrance and the conductor would either cue the first violins when we play (rude) or forget we exist entirely. the violas had a similar problem. I’ve played both second and first violin many times before and the second violin part is usually more rhythmic and demands more attention and focus from the player. the entrances in the first violin part tend to be more intuitive, even though the music itself may be more difficult to play. outer voices usually need encouragement (first violin and cello), while the inner voices need very clear cues so that they can be sure when they’re supposed to play (viola and second violin). and when the inner voices have a melodic line that needs to be brought out, you need to indicate that, otherwise the first violins will keep playing loudly and the second violins are going to be a bit timid.
and this last one is a personal preference: making weird faces. there was one conductor who looked really constipated while we were playing some light mozart music. there were a few conductors who looked absolutely in love with the woodwinds when they played solos. your face should reflect the feeling of the music, but it shouldn’t be distracting. again, if your face is really expressive and you’re not getting that sound from the orchestra, it works against you.
another thing that a lot of conductors seemed to forget is that, like an instrument, it requires practice. you need to know the score, the conducting patterns, what gestures you want to make with your left hand, etc, and you need to physically practice what it is you want to do when you step onto the podium.
hope this wisdom helps any aspiring conductors out there.
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