Friday, October 20th: Cantate Domino (mm. 53-66)
Out of all of the conducting exercises, I was the least pleased with this week! I wasn't able to communicate with the accompanist, follow through with proper cut-offs, and really stay focused. I was thinking about the triplets and tempo changes so all dynamic shaping went out the window as well. I was VERY thrown off by Dr. Hamann's comment about having a proper prep so I felt that I was unable to truly focus on the rest of the conducting exercise. I think that was evident throughout! Does anyone have any advice on how to properly communicate with an accompanist? It is evident that after these last two weeks, I have no idea! (Which makes no sense because I play piano!)
While I was frustrated with most of my conducting this week, I was proud that I accomplished smooth transitions between the different tempos. That is something I focused on when practicing and I think that was able to shine through everything else! Thanks everyone!
Comments
Kate,
I did not see your session last week, but I'll offer a couple of (perhaps over-obvious) suggestions for cuing pianists: 1) they do breathe, so breathe for them 2)their sound-producing gesture is down - fingers into the keys - so some sympathetic motion can be helpful.
Posted by: Andrew Crow | October 25, 2007 6:55 PM