Undergraduate Choral Conducting Blog

I agree with Tim that this piece was all about getting it “in your body.” I got lost a few times, but was able to recover because of that internalized sense of pulse. Someone in class today commented, “You’re thinking too much,” which was perceptive. When you stop to think about the complexity of switching from duple to triple and back again, it can be overwhelming for us novices. It worked best for me to do a lot of listening, pause to analyze the metric scheme, and then listen some more. It is a wonderful piece, thank you for choosing it!

Because I missed our tutorial last time on “Dancing Day,” I had practiced a rather funky technique. I paid close attention today and tried to adapt to the advice Matt gave to my colleagues, but when push came to shove, I probably should have stuck with what I rehearsed rather than trying to make last minute changes in the moment. I crashed and burned trying to have my cake and eat it too.

The recording I liked the best had a pretty zippy tempo, but in class, I seemed to modify my tempo to what everyone else was doing. I think it would have been good to try something different and go as fast as Claire, but I had a tough time getting the standard tempo out of my body. It is a huge challenge as a conductor to be able to regularly start in the tempo I want rather than find through trial and error. Any tips?

Posted by Hanna Dorn at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This was a really fun piece to conduct. As I was mentioning to some of my classmates, this piece didn't really click for me until I heard a few recordings (I suppose that's cheating). The rhythm makes sense to me when I hear it, but somehow starting with the score was a stumbling block for me. It was too abstract and technical. So what I did was to listen to the piece over and over and move to it. I found that the rhythms had very specific feelings in my body. The simple meter felt very grounded, and the compound meter felt very lilting. I had a distinct image of a rock skimming on water - how there will be a few skips that are equal, and then the rock will catch the water just right and stay airborne for a little longer.

I guess what I'm getting at is that this was a piece I really had to get in my bones and know it intuitively rather than dissecting the score in an analytical way. I did that as well of course, but it only made sense to me after really feeling the phrasing.

To be honest, I was terrified of conducting this piece before I really dug into it. I thought I would bomb badly, but once I started getting more comfortable with it, I was excited about it.

One thing for me that was tough was getting back in once I lost my place. I saw that others in the class did a better job of this. What techniques do you use to reorient yourself when you get lost?

Posted by Timothy Oesau at 07:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I am recovering from a back injury I had a while ago, and for some reason the pain was really acting up the day we did Locus Iste Part 2. Part of my pain is caused by my pelvis getting out of alignment. When this happens it is really difficult to stand straight or to initiate large fluid movements from joints that are near my spine. I am proud of myself because I tried to conduct the piece, but I wish I had been more articulate about my limitations. I could not really pay enough attention to my fellow students to write thorough comments about what I saw. It was just an exceptionally bad day for my back. Luckily, they are happening less frequently :-)

I do want to talk about the conducting I saw on Wednesday. (Matt and Andrew, we did a run-through of the pieces we will conduct at VMS this coming Monday.) I really noticed an improvement in all of our conducting. The program selections are varied, so I got to see a lot of styles of conducting (legato, staccato, rock-tempo to 6/8), moods portrayed, and conducting patterns. I thought everyone got some of the sounds and interpretations they wanted because of the way they conducted. I think the next step is to have even more conviction in our leadership, gestures, and movements. I am sure this will come with more practice and conducting vocabulary. Way to go!

Posted by Amy Trowbridge at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Locus Iste, Part 1

I wrote this when the blog was down, so I mailed it to Andrew but forgot to put in on the blog site. Here it is:

Dr. Haman this week talked about stages of development, including the
dreaded advanced beginner stage. I feel like this is where I am in
conducting. I think about conducting a piece with a smaller window to
elicit healthier singing and a more legato sound. Then I get up and
conduct sort of in my usual style with big gestures that can only get
bigger when I want a louder dynamic. This time, though, I did feel an
improvement in that I heard the choir and thought, "I should make a
smaller conducting window." Now I just need to actually make the
smaller conducting window. It's very tricky for me!

I really enjoyed working with the feedback that Dr. Mahaffey gave me.
I got to really use my left hand for dynamics and completely separate
it from my right hand that was merely keeping time in the background.
I felt this gave me the freedom to be very expressive. For this week,
I hope to demonstrate a greater mastery of this skill. Let's see if
this happens!

-Amy

Posted by Amy Trowbridge at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I sat in on a rehearsal of the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus last night and was absolutely charmed. For those of you who have never heard this group, go to their concert at Ted Mann next weekend! Dr. Stan Hill has been conducting this chorus of 150-200 talented men for several years now and their sound is stunning.

I plan to steal a great deal of what I saw Stan do. On higher pitches, he used motions to emphasize verticality and a dropped jaw. The result was basses singing gorgeous high Gs along with the tenors (I kid you not). What I loved most was the sense of community he forged with his singers. They have a partnership going where choir members cooperate fully with Stan’s vision, and in turn, he as a conductor is attentive and inspiring. The Gay Men’s Chorus is one of the only choirs I’ve seen who consistently perform dynamics as written and then some!

The highlight of the evening was “Make Our Garden Grow”- Stan expertly held back the chorus’ full power until the perfect moment at the end and my skin just tingled. Actually, you have no idea how close I came to elbowing the guest soprano out of the way and letting it rip. But I digress.

The pacing of the rehearsal was also ideal. Stan was able to switch gears in a heartbeat between pieces that ranged from Bach to show tunes. Not a second was wasted, but it felt organic, not frantic. I learned a great deal technically as well; Stan was able to model nicely what he wanted and articulate subtle concepts like the difference between a diphthong and a vowel glide. I am a total convert to the TCGMC and madly jealous of Stan!

Posted by Hanna Dorn at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While expecting to attend a "Merry Music Makers" rehearsal, I ended up in a very different place this evening. I observed a rehearsal of the MN Chorale, directed by our own Dr. Romey. Her rehearsal techniques were not all that different from what she does with the Chamber Singers. Much of the rehearsal was whole-part-whole run throughs of the choruses of the Messiah. Much of her comments were focused on unifying vowel sounds, articulation and embellishments, and dynamic terracing in preparation of combining forces with the orchestra. She would at first convey these messages through her (extremely clear) conducting gestures or would make comments as the choir was singing. If the problem persisted or they encountered a particularly difficult passage, she would stop the choir, make a comment using some sort of analogy (i.e. the bow of a period instrument, baroque dancing) and would run the measure until the error was fixed. I like how Dr. Romey inserts positive comments in the midst of her notes. It could get extremely overwhelming hearing all the critiques at once, but she adds reinforcement just when you start to think that you did things completely wrong.

The art of "hearing" never seizes to amaze me. Dr. Romey is so in tune to the sounds around her; she is able to identify a single voice's wrong note or the slight rhythmic inaccuracy of one section in a highly polyphonic texture. I felt like a legitimate musician when I was able to pick up on things before she said anything or notice tuning issues (never a strong point for my ear) - this part of the observation felt incredibly different from being in front of a group conducting. I feel like I can't hear Anything! If I can do both things at the same time, I would feel like a much more capable director. I think the biggest thing is having a clear understanding of the music in the first place to compare the choir to. It was quite evident Kathy Knew the score and had high expectations for the choir.

The Chorale sounded marvelous .. I recommend trying to make it to the concert (whenever it is.. I'm not sure..) They are doing articulations and phrasing that are much more buoyant and light than I'm used to hearing in the Messiah. It's quite lovely.

Posted by Claire Klein at 03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow, for some reason I forgot to post last week, sorry. I will post for both of my Locus Iste runs in this blog entry.

I just rewatched my first Locus Iste video and realized how big my beat pattern is. Even for the piano sections! I don't think I even attempted a smaller pattern until my second Locus Iste video. In fact, in my second video, Andrew tried to get me to break out of my shell by giving me the freedom to experiment with beat pattern sizes. He encouraged me to make my piano pattern even smaller than I think it should be and my forte pattern way bigger than I think it should be. And it worked! At first I was afraid that such a small pattern would lack the support the singers needed and that it would be unreadable because it was so small. I was also afraid that my big pattern would just look ridiculous. But nothing of what I feared came true. My piano sections sounded supported and the smaller pattern actually ended up increasing the focus of the choir because they had concentrate on a smaller space.

Also in my second video, I was trying to show the dynamic markings of each entrance before the choir actually came in. I was hoping to anticipate dynamic changes so that the choir would know how loud or soft to sing before actually being cued to enter. I think I was somewhat successful. I've learned that I can always make eye contact earlier with the next entering group. At least at this point in my development as a conductor.

Posted by Lisa Heupel at 02:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was the first day I felt like I went through the piece and wasn't conducting simply for a class. I felt like I was conducting MUSIC! While I didn't get some of the dynamics I wanted the first time, I felt like I did not get lost and that I was able to listen to the singers more. When I went through the piece a second time and barely conducted and just used my hands to make sound, everyone said that I was clear. Unfortunately, I felt like I was just waving my hands around. I now understand that each individual conductor has to find their own unique ways of showing musical concepts with their hands, face, body, etc. I tried to do some things with my hands that I have seen other conductors do and it just didn't work. This might be because I haven't practiced them enough, or because I didn't feel like they were my own gestures. I think over time I will get more comfortable with using hand motions that are "outside-the-box." Right now, I feel that since I am getting more comfortable in using patterns, I hide behind them at times. It is much easier to just conduct a piece and keep the beat than to actually make it musical. If it were that easy, what would singers need a conductor for?

Posted by Stephanie Lundmark at 03:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Definitely my challenge for this piece were two things: keeping my pattern and not losing my place, and trying to find new ways to create phrasing and dynamics. As I have said before many times, no matter how much you practice alone, it becomes a whole new deal when there are actually singers involved. After today I began to understand how and when to use your left hand to compliment your right hand. I learned with this process though, that you have to become creative in finding ways that are new and different and apply to different sections of music because otherwise you just do the same movement over and over again and the effect loses its touch. As a person who has grown up never using my hands to talk, I found it very difficult to incorporate them into anything. When I began choir in college and they told us to use our hands to help our sound, I realize that this also applies to conducting. If you use your hands to help your own singing voice, you can also use them to help in conducting. My next task is to start conducting things without using a pattern when appropriate and try to show the music simply through meaningful gestures.

Posted by Stephanie Lundmark at 03:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just like Claire said, it is obvious I am in the advance beginner stage. Although I am aware of a lot of my faults and weaknesses, I also find myself frustrated because I just can't seem to fix them. I am by nature a VERY impatient person, I know- a GREAT trait for teaching, and I find myself easily giving up or feeling like I failed. I need to take a step back and remind myself that it was not horrible, and there was a good foundation that I can use to build off of.

I was very pleased that my wrist problems seemed to be nearly gone. Lisa mentioned that it re-appears on downbeats. I will try to target that in my practicing. Andrew also had to come "steady" me, I was moving around so much. I am a mover naturally, but I also think it is because I have so much energy and I don't put it into my gesture, so I have to find an outlet. I think that if I try to focus on transferring the energy from my swaying into my gesture it will make a HUGE difference. Dr. Hamann mentioned that she wanted to see my loud gestures even more established. I think that channeling this energy will also help to correct this aspect of my conducting.

Overall, I felt alright about this round. Not my best, nor worst by far. Everyone did a great job, and I have a lot to learn from!

Posted by Kristin Olson at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was pleased with my conducting this week because I think I was able to improve on things that needed work from previous weeks. I did not ask Dr. Mehaffey or my classmates but I think my conducting was a little more clear than last week. I think I was able to show the ensemble where to place the consonants a little more clearly. I am just afraid that by showing these articulations, I will disrupt the vocal line/legato. I felt a strong connection with the singers this week which was nice. I was able to get out of my score a little bit more which makes all the difference. Finally, I think my body was more connected this week; I felt more relaxed.

As Dr. Mehaffey pointed out, I need to step out of my comfort zone and really show the different dynamics. I agree that my piano looked almost the same as forte and there was no indication that at one point I wanted to conduct fortissimo. Sometimes I feel my gestures are already big but I just need to experiment a little more. I am very comfortable with legato and soft music so now it is time to get some things in gear! I need to get more comfortable with more robust music. Also, conducting 5 singers on Bruckner is pretty much impossible so I think this week went pretty well all things considered.

Posted by Kate Kidwell at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I think this week's conducting went very well for me. As much as I appear to backtrack in certain aspects, I feel like I am growing more comfortable up in front of a group, and that I am getting a lot more of the response I want out of the choir than I have in the past.

With that in mind, I do have a few recurring themes that seem to present real problems. I'm still collapsing in on my ribcage with my arms too much, especially when trying to convey a piano dynamic. This in turn affects my posture, which is tall enough in broader, louder sections, but I hunch over a little in the softer sections.

I think this goes along with a general observation that I may or may not have previously mentioned: my gestures almost always feel much bigger to me than they actually appear. I'm sure other people have this issue, and it would be interesting to know how they have battled it. It's hard for me because it all FEELS almost too big a lot of the time, especially when I'm practicing on my own. And frankly, when I practice on my own, it very may well BE bigger than it is when I'm in front of the group for one reason or another (nerves, etc). Short of video-taping my practice sessions (for which, at the moment, I lack the technology), I don't know how I'm to tackle this one.

Another recurring concern of mine: exactly how distracting IS my moving around? I can't seem to keep my feet stationary for any extended period of time because I get way too into what I'm hearing and it ends up moving me, emotionally and physically (this happens when I sing, too). I have a hard time observing it in myself, even when watching the tape, probably because it feels so natural. For this reason, I guess I don't really want to believe that it's a distraction, but it has been mentioned frequently enough to get me a little concerned. I'd like to know anyone's thoughts on the subject (and at this point, it's less a question of general opinions of moving around, but rather of my own moving around, if possible). I'd just like to know whether it should be a real focus for me so that I can better direct my personal practice time.

Thanks for any feedback!

Posted by Allison Innerbichler at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's become quite obvious to me that I'm in the "Advanced Beginner" stage of my conducting experience. As I go along, I feel as though I'm being very clear, precise, and in control. Upon reflection, however, I realize that I never actually heard the music and that I would look at people and make eye contact, but not actually See them. I am wondering how one works on their conducting perception. For my tempo management, I can turn on my metronome; I can practice cut offs and and coming out of fermatas, but I don't know how to approach this particular issue. Are there questions you ask yourself about what's happening to keep your thoughts active during conducting? So far, my mind just goes blank. I think about nothing and just trust that my body knows where to go after putting in the rehearsal beforehand. I think I've mentioned the desire to be more "with it" in previous blogs, but this week it seemed especially apparent. Matt said something about the choir being quite behind me, and I remembered recognizing that while conducting but I was not able to respond to it "in the moment." ...how do I get there?

It was kind of nice to not have things taped this week. I do value that sort of documentation, but the hour seemed a lot more relaxed. Between the technical difficulties and small number of people, I thought class was more laid back. It was a nice change from the hurried, in-and-out style of the previous few weeks.

...and note to self: NEVER, EVER sing Bruckner with only 5 people, not matter what their musical expertise is.

Posted by Claire Klein at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm glad we had another week to work on Locus Iste. I felt like I had time to absorb and internalize the piece more. Spending more time with the piece, and working on the diagram really helped me to think of the piece as a whole. In the prior week, I was really concentrating on phrases without really connecting them into a whole. I found that using a micro/macro approach really helped. That is, much in the same way we're going about teaching students with a whole-part-whole approach, I approached this week's conducting by listening to the whole piece and thinking about the contour of the whole piece. I then dug into sections and phrases and made choices about how to approach them based on how I wanted to shape the whole piece. Then, I connected each of those parts.

It felt different when conducting this week. Rather than feeling like I was only dealing with the moments as they happened, I felt I was able to conceptualize the whole piece and think about where phrases were going, if that makes sense.

I think I was a little too "flowery" in my conducting for lack of a better word. I think I didn't have quite a good balance of emotion and technique. I think part of it for me is that conducting is starting to be really fun for me! In past conducting exercises, I felt like I was concentrating on technique so much that it felt mechanical. The last two weeks felt like I was starting to make music. It's a really powerful feeling to elicit the responses I wanted from the choir. My God! I make x gesture and everyone follows it! So, I think I got lost a little bit in that and wasn't paying as much attention to my technique.

I'd love to hear what people think about this. There seems to be a dichotomy for me in that if I'm participating in a piece of music that is really moving me (either conducting, or playing), I tend to lose myself in the fog of emotion and technique suffers. However, if I'm too detached then I feel like I'm sacrificing emotion.

So, specifically with conducting, how do you strike the balance between being inspired and moved by the music while still staying grounded and controlling the piece? Does anyone else struggle with this?

Posted by Timothy Oesau at 07:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This piece is so beautiful and it was fun to conduct in the class with real live performers. I enjoyed the homophonic nature of this piece yet it had direction and variety. The basses don't ever get a chance to breath! I noticed that I was very engaged in the directing. I think this can be attributed to the fact that I was observing everyone else and got to implement those ideas into my own performance. I really do like to be in front of people and I feel comfortable conducting. I was working hard on changing my beat pattern size to match the dynamics which I thought was communicated. I want to work on breathing, that is something I'm not used to emphasizing, but it is a great way to engage the singers and to show them they are the music makers. I noticed the different faces that I made when I "messed up", I'm gonna work on not showing that in my face. It bothers me to see that on video and most of the time no one notices except they notice your face cringing or a smile in a serious part of the piece. For this week, I'm working on the held notes and crescendos/decrescendos. I think once I determine what I want I'll be able to convey they through my conducting. If I'm uncertain about what I want the sound to be, those transitions and held notes will become problems.

Posted by Brooke Lane at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Once again, this is a little late, but I was not able to access the video for whatever reason.
I definitely need to work on nodding my head while conducting. When I was watching the video I wanted to stop the video and stop my head! It's just an observation that I want to improve. I think that the style of conducting I used was very basic, which was good and solid. I'd like to add some more feeling and a little more character to the piece through my conducting. I think that is what I can work on if I conduct this piece for the repertoire rehearsal at VMS.

Posted by Brooke Lane at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I really enjoy this piece. As I was preparing it, I felt I could just hear it reverberating throughout a huge space, but yet it's so intimate in its language. I was surprised to see that despite such vivid audiation and visualization that my conducting face remain flat. Perhaps my eyes were just too drawn to the colorful marks on the score, but next week I'm hoping to be more comfortable looking up and making eye contact with the singers. I remember even when I was looking up and conducting, I didn't really "see" people in front of me either. I think it'll help the rapport as well as the sound if I'm able to establish a more direct connect.

I noticed that the dynamics were hardly affected at all throughout my segment. My gesture size did change, but perhaps my intent did not. I remember thinking that "woah- why isn't anyone singing piano?" but I notice that I did not try and respond to this or do something to communicate what I wanted more clearly. I also noticed that at the height of phrases, I have a tendency to look down and to the right (and bend my knees) which is OK, but I do it ALL THE TIME. Next week, I'd like to have a wider variety of gestures to show the climaxes of the phrase and to be more with the choir at that point instead of having my own little intense moment off to the side.

I'm wondering too- how do we decide when to drop out of a time keeping pattern in exchange for a bigger, more emotional gesture and when it would be best to just keep on plugging with the 4/4 loops. I think this piece could have a lot of moments, but I'm afraid that it may loose momentum with the longer phrases.

Thanks, CK

Posted by Claire Klein at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I thought conducting went well for me this week. I feel like I elicited most of the responses I wanted from the choir dynamically. One thing I noticed was that my gestures are actually a lot smaller than they feel to me, and I seem to have a lot of extraneous movements (it sometimes looked like I gave two cut-offs... I have no idea what I was going for). I will have to work on adding resistance and purpose to my gestures for the future.

For next week I will need to work on the "irreprehensibilis est" section, and giving shape to both lines while not completely ignoring the other line. It will definitely be a challenge, so I'm glad I chose to conduct the second half this week.

From observing the first half, I have gathered that I will probably have similar issues in the "inaestimabile sacramentum" section, with the bass line a measure ahead of the rest of the parts. There are some sudden dynamic shifts around the BACH motif that I can see might throw me off, so that will be a big focus for me.

Posted by Allison Innerbichler at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Prof. Mehaffey was right. I really did enjoy conducting this piece. I really love this piece, or grew to love it (I hadn't heard it before). It was really fun to sing, also. I think it sounded great. I wanted to conduct it more intuitively, and worry less about the technical aspects. I think I improved on engaging the choir. I think my head was in the score less this time.

I like the curveballs that Matt threw at us. It's interesting to practice something a certain way, and then have to incorporate another layer on the fly. I liked the freedom of not having to stay in a four pattern. I am not sure I internalized the rhythm enough, however. At that tempo, without conducting each beat, I start to feel like I've lost the pulse internally with those dotted half notes.

I would welcome any feedback - good, bad or indifferent!

Posted by Timothy Oesau at 05:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This friday was a completely different experience for me. Locus Iste is so different than the pieces we have worked on in class so far. For me, the other pieces that are moderate/fast in tempo are much easier for me to handle than slow and sustained pieces. Although it was a different type of music, the same difficulties that were apparent in my past conducting experiences were present again. I seem to be having a lot of difficulty with my wrist motion.

I feel like I am being extremely un-musical when I am focused on my wrist motion. I understand that there is a way to be musical and keep my wrists under control, but it is a foreign concept to me right now. The tip Matt gave me, using the pen, is helping a lot. It is a good visual to use. It keeps me aware of the wrist motions and I am more conscious of my inconsistencies. Are there any other exercises that I can use to help with the wrist motions?

Hopefully this next week, I can practice and find a happy medium with controlled movements and musicality.

Posted by Kristin Olson at 03:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Locus Iste is really different than the other music that we have worked on this semester. I am really glad we worked on it because it combines things that we have already looked at but it also presented new challenges. For what I thought went well, I think I expressed the right mood through my facial expressions. Sometimes I get a worried look on my face when I am concentrating. I think I looked comfortable and that allowed the ensemble to get a better sense of the piece and what I was striving for. Also, I think I am able to show which words and notes should have the proper stress. I think my body moves that way naturally and with what Dr. Mehaffey mentioned, I can just incorporate my legs a little more.

What presented some difficulty for me is having a smooth gesture but showing the ensemble where certain beats are in the patter, especially beat 2. I have to remember what Andrew said, that I can show a clear beat on 2. I won't injure the ensemble because they don't do anything on that beat. I am just afraid that I am going to do a gesture that will create a big jump/glitch in the vocal line that I am trying to create. Also, does anyone have any good ideas on how to conduct a smooth line but showing the ensemble where to place their hard consonants? Any exercises I could do to practice? I have ideas with the "l" on "Locus" and the "d" on "Deo". I would love it if we could discuss this in class a little bit!

Posted by Kate Kidwell at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Bruckner is so vastly different from the other pieces we've conducted: it's rich and complex, and demands creativity in terms of shaping and tempo. I loved being freed from a four pattern; it was great to be able to use more intuition. Gesturally, I'm still in the experimental phase where it feels more like cheesy interpretive dance than conducting, but it's great fun to take chances and flail and remember what works.

My comment about not being able to imagine phrasing related to a practicing issue. I tried practicing this week a bunch of different ways- I conducted along with several different recordings; sang, hummed, spoke the text, and did vocal percussion as I conducted; and finally, tried it silently. The silent thing was what got me- I just don't have the aural imagination yet to be able to hear it effectively in my head and further yet, connect that imagined sound to physical gestures. What seemed to help the most was vocal percussion- it forced me to be better about giving a timely ictus for cues. I'm still trying to develop the reflex to provide preparation before a cue- maybe I should take up Tai Chi. Does anyone have other practice techniques they would recommend?

By the way, if anyone is interested in partnering up to practice conducting each other before next week, let me know. There's nothing like someone else to give you instant feedback. There's been a couple times where I've spent the week carefully preparing a gesture or habit that turns out not to work at all. It'd be nice to be able to give it a try sometime before class on Friday.

Posted by Hanna Dorn at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I am still having trouble adding the derivative to my video, but I'll try again over the weekend. For today, I will go from what I experienced last Friday. My idea for conducting welcome was to convey to that class that we were singing inside of a snowglobe, the choir responsible for bringing the Christmas cheer. I find that identifying a setting or experience to convey with a piece is a clear way for me to bring across the mood of the piece. For me, that is very important aspect of making music, particularly vocal music. The comments I received from Matt and Andrew were very helpful last week. When Matt told me I was eliciting a heavy sound because I was so grounded, I realized that is really true. Andrew told me that my beat four was consistently even and light compared to my other gestures. Somehow I need to get more of an upward feeling in my music. Maybe this means I should try to trust the choir more? Perhaps I am leading too much. Does anyone have any ideas about how I can get more lightness in my gesture?

Finally, I will try to not mouth the words next time. I noticed I didn't use my score this time but I didn't really listen, either. I went from my own memory rather than from what I heard. I should probably do 50/50 -- 50 from memory and 50 in response to the choir?

Posted by Amy Trowbridge at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)