Undergraduate Choral Conducting Blog

Initially, I was terribly intimidated by this piece - a different meter every other measure?! Is that REALLY necessary?! But once we grouped bars together and I put my metronome on the equal quarter note, it came a lot more naturally than I had expected. When I was in front of the group, I felt I was clear, and I was happy to even be able to work in a few expressive moments.

I am getting very frustrated, however, in not being able to realize when I'm rushing or when the choir is not together. Even when I'm watching my video, it's difficult for me to tell - to me, it just sounds like the music itself doesn't allow a good spot to breath or something. I did see my compound meter getting 150% bigger, but also having faster motion than the simple meter. At the time, however, I remember being confused why people were laughing at the end of the run through and why Matt said "A good dance tempo!" It didn't feel so very different from where I started or from the tempi previous conductors were taking. I do remember thinking "Oops - they aren't really following here..." and attempting to more clearly mark the beat, but you can't tell any difference on the tape. oy. This bothers me! I would like to be able to Hear, Comprehend, and Adjust in the moment. But how do I work on this?