With beginning conducting students, I always begin with the exercises in Unit 1 designed to teach straight-line movement (exercises 1.1 and 1.2). Exercise 1.2 (vertical movement) can then be used as the springboard to teach preparations and downbeats. I spend as much time as possible establishing the physical parameters discussed in Unit 1 before I go on to Unit 2 and conducting musical examples. For those who know the Elizabeth Green exercises, they will see many similarities in my exercises. Mrs. Green was my first teacher and I quickly came to realize that these exercises, if worked on throughout the conducting class year, can be of immense help.
3/4 time is taught first since all beats are the same size thus making all arm movements through the pattern the same speed. It is speed changes that create problems for conductors, causing extra movements or lack of smoothness between beats.
For beginning conductors, I use “Italian in Algiers” (for staccato/marcato) and “Variations on a Korean Folk Song” (for legato). With large classes where a lot of students need time in front of the group, I still want each student to conduct both excerpts, but you can save time by starting “Variations” in the middle and going to the end. Work on style stresses the difference between an active wrist (staccato) and a passive wrist (legato), which continues when moving on to 4/4 time.
I teach 4/4 time only after I can be assured that students conducting in 3/4 time have begun conquering basic problems of arm/hand position, posture and ictus clarity. For beginning students, as in 3/4 time, I use two excerpts of contrasting style: “Chester” can be played like a legato chorale or like a marcato march; “Country Gardens” (taken in a moderate 4) presents the opportunity to conduct in a lighter, more detached style. Again, if time is a concern, you can play just the first half of “Country Gardens.” Throughout the work in 4/4, I continue working on the exercises in Unit 1. For 4/4 time, my main concerns are with pattern symmetry and ictus placement along a straight line (especially beat two). I really stress the need to be able to conduct using the pattern I draw in Figure 2.3, where all beats are approached from above and all beats rebound up and toward the next ictus point. Many conductors’ “default” 4-pattern is more like figure 2.6. I think that this second pattern can cause lots of problems later when learning subdivisions.
Beginning classes next move to 2/4 time. For this, I stress the enormous possible variation in the shape of the 2/4 pattern and thus the importance of making the musical decision about how staccato or legato a work, passage or phrase should be played. I use the two Susato excerpts in beginning classes because the stylistic demands are the most obvious, “La Mourisque” and “Ronde-Mon Amy.” Since the 2/4 pattern presents fewer technical demands and concentration, I use this time to shore up anyone that still has problems with posture, arm and hand position, bouncing at the knees, etc. I also use this time to begin stressing NOT looking at the music too much and thinking about making musical/interpretive decisions about the music and relating that to physical movement.
Conducting in one (fast 3/4 time) can be taught here or, in classes with time constraints, this can be delayed to a later semester. I use “Lost Lady Found” and “Green Bushes” for beginning classes. I have found that conducting in one feels so different than conducting in other meters, that this round can be a quick, “experience the feel of it” kind of round.
Depending on class size or amount of class meeting time, the beginning class may stop here in learning “new” skills and patterns. I would then close the semester by working on developing more expressive conducting and musical decision-making. I discuss this below.
If there is time to work on one more large-scale technique area, I move on in my beginning class to Unit 3, Pick-ups, Releases and Fermatas. Working on these techniques goes a long way to improving motor control. For pickups and fermatas, a conductor must be in total control of where the baton and arms are at every moment. In addition to spending as much time as I can with the short exercises within Unit 3, I use the two Bach Chorales to work on these techniques. The chorales present lots of possibilities for pickups (starting after various fermatas) as well as the different kinds of fermata treatments.
When it’s time to wrap up the semester, I like to save time for one more conducting round working on expressive conducting and use of the left hand. I introduce the material in Unit 6 (Use of the Left Hand) and we spend class time working on the exercises in that Unit. Your preference may be to introduce these exercises earlier in the semester, perhaps after learning 3/4 and 4/4 time. I have done this occasionally. Time permitting, we may give everyone in the class two times up on the podium conducting their choice of expressive piece, once for “practice” and once as their “final project.” I typically give students their choice from among “Salvation is Created,” “I Vow to Thee My Country,” “Elsa’s Procession,” and “My Bonnie Boy.” Some years I give more choices, some years I give less, depending on the size of the class. All of these pieces can be revisited in later semesters as there is so much to get out of each of them. In less advanced first semesters, you can even do this “expressive” round with pieces from earlier in the semester such as “Chester” or “Variations on a Korean Folk Song.” Sometimes this built-in familiarity helps.
In the beginning semester, I also take time to learn transpositions, clefs and foreign instrument names (all covered in Unit 9, Tools for the Conductor). This prepares the student for the second semester of conducting where I delve more into score study and analysis (Unit 8). This material could also be delayed until the 2nd semester with score study.
Other excerpts suitable for beginning classes