Methods and Materials for Conducting
Table of Contents

Part One: Manual of Technique

Unit 1: On The Podium

• Posture and Stance
• Choosing a Baton
• Holding the Baton
• Maintaining Straight-Line Movement
• The Ictus
• Preparations, Downbeats and Releases

Unit 2: Conducting in Three, Four, Two, and One

• Beat Placement and Communication of Style
• Time Beating in Three
• Time Beating in Four
• Other Four-Beat Patterns
• Time Beating in Two
• Time Beating in One
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 3: Pick-ups, Releases, and Fermatas

• Entrances and Releases on Beats Other than One
• Practice with Entrances in 4/4 Meter
• Practice with Entrances in 3/4 Meter
• Fermatas
• No-Release Fermatas
• In-Time Fermatas
• Cesura Fermatas
• Additional Practice
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 4: Divided and Changing Meters

• Conducting Divided Meters
• Simple Subdivided Meters
• Compound Subdivided Meters
• Simple Asymmetrical Meters
• Changing Meters
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 5: Asymmetrical Meters

• Two-Beat Measures
• Three-Beat Measures
• Four-Beat Measures
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 6: Use of the Left Hand

• Cueing Exercise
• Volume Exercise
• Sustain and Release Exercise
• Mirroring
• Additional Practice
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 7: Changing Dynamics and Tempo

• Conducting Changes in Dynamics
• Conducting Tempo Changes
• Subito Tempo Changes
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 8: From Score to Podium

• Getting to Know the Score
• Developing an Aural Image
• From Aural Image to Gesture
• On the Podium
• Suggested Excerpts

Unit 9: Tools for the Conductor

• Guide to Transposition for the Conductor
• Reading Clefs
• Foreign Instrument Names in Score Order

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Part Two: Excerpts

J.S. Bach: Du Lebensfürst, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 173
J.S. Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to Candide
Leonard Bernstein: "America" from West Side Story
William Billings: Chester
Robert Burns: The Banks O' Doon
John Barnes Chance: Variations on a Korean Folk Song
Carlos Chavez: Sinfonia India (Symphony No. 2)
Antonin Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, No. 1
Edward Elgar: "Theme" from Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Percy Aldridge Grainger: Country Gardens
Percy Aldridge Grainger: "Horkstow Grange" from Lincolnshire Posy
Percy Aldridge Grainger: Irish Tune from County Derry
Percy Aldridge Grainger: "The Lost Lady Found" from Lincolnshire Posy
Percy Aldridge Grainger: "Rufford Park Poachers" from Lincolnshire Posy
Percy Aldridge Grainger: The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol
Gustav Holst: "Chaconne" from First Suite in E-flat, Op. 28, No. 1
Gustav Holst: "Intermezzo" from First Suite in E-flat, Op. 28, No. 1
Gustav Holst: "March" from First Suite in E-flat, Op. 28, No. 1
Gustav Holst: "March" from Second Suite in F, Op. 28, No. 2
Gustav Holst: "Song Without Words: I’ll Love My Love" from Suite in F in F, Op. 28, No. 2
Gustav Holst: "The Song of the Blacksmith" from Second Suite in F, Op. 28, No. 2
Gustav Holst: I Vow to Thee My Country
Gustav Holst: "Mars—The Bringer of War" from The Planets, Op. 32
Gordon Jacob: "Finale" from An Original Suite
Gordon Jacob: "Pavane" from William Byrd Suite
Andreas Makris: Aegean Festival Overture
W.A. Mozart: "Romanze" from Serenade K. 361/370a
Modeste Mussorgsky: "Promenade" from Pictures at an Exhibition
Alfred Reed: Armenian Dances
Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35
Gioccomo Rossini: The Italian in Algiers—Overture
John Philip Sousa: Manhattan Beach March
Richard Strauss: Serenade, Op. 7
Tielman Susato: La Mourisque
Tielman Susato: Ronde—Mon Amy
Pavel Tschesnokoff: Salvation is Created
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Rhosymedre
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sea Songs
Ralph Vaughan Williams: "Seventeen Come Sunday" from English Folk Song Suite
Ralph Vaughan Williams: "Green Bushes" from English Folk Song Suite
Ralph Vaughan Williams: "My Bonnie Boy" from English Folk Song Suite
Richard Wagner: "Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral" from Lohengrin
Richard Wagner: Rienzi Overture
Richard Wagner: Trauersinfonie
Clifton Williams: Symphonic Dance No. 3 “Fiesta”

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Part Three: Instructor Guide

Using This Text with the Beginning Conducting Class

• A Ten-Week Course
• A Fifteen-Week Course

Using This Text for Review of Basic Skills

Student Evaluation

Suggested Excerpts for Each Unit

For The Intermediate or Advanced Course

Excerpts Alphabetical by Composer

Excerpts Alphabetical by Title

Appendix 1: Evaluation Forms for Classroom Use

Appendix 2: Suggests for Further Reading and Study

Appendix 3: Excerpts Correlated to Teaching Music Through Performance in Band Series

Glossary

About the Author

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