Conducting 2 voices simultaneously
I am just now getting to publish my thoughts on last week's conducting. It's been a crazy week...Even though I didn't publish anything until nowI have been thinking about my conducting over the past week. when practicing, I continually notice how different in structure my arm is from my other classmates. I don't think I am unique. Everyone's arms are so unique and it affects our conducting styles. when I think of conducting, I imagine a long, fluid arms with a lot of extension. My arm is just not built that way. I think it is important for me to practice in front of a mirror so that I can get a better, more accurate visual image of my arm. Then I will be able to move it in a way that appears fluid rather than forced.
As Matt pointed out in class, I have been using too much flexion in my wrist. In my mind, this is how I create the long fluid arm I had been picturing. Practicing on the music stand -- hitting it each time I indicated a beat -- gave me the precision I needed to be a clear conductor. I need to remember that a conductor rarely wants a mushy sound. Even the legato needs to be precise. In conclusion, I think I will achieve precision best by always indicating a clear beat and by picturing, in my mind's eye, my specific arm conducting the beat.