When I think of the many conductors I have played for, three kinds come to mind. One is the talker. This conductor explains everything before allowing anyone to play or sing. They like to “talk through” the piece, drawing our attention to all of the details they want us to play or sing in a particular way. Once playing has begun and they find it necessary to stop, they will explain and maybe demonstrate with singing how we should have performed the passage, and then we get to try again. This kind of conductor spends about one-third of the rehearsal talking, stops often, and relies heavily on everyone understanding his words, and being able to translate them into music. While some talking is necessary for a conductor rehearsing a group, I find this much talking unnecessary, and counter productive. When I rehearse a group, I try to keep my speaking to a minimum, so more time can be spent playing or singing.

The second kind of conductor is what I call the collegian. They assume everyone can play the right notes and have at least a fundamental grasp of the music, so they do not give a high priority to showing the beat, or giving clear cues. Instead, they like to show the phrasing and the more subtle gestures in the music. These conductors tend to have more advanced ensembles who don’t need a lot of cues and a constant reminder of the beat. Their concerts are on a high musical level, with highly expressive phrasing, and things like articulations and intonation nicely tended to, as you would expect from an advanced ensemble. These concoctors are less effective with intermediate school ensembles, or community ensembles, who often need the very things this kind of conductor frequently omits. With such groups, these conductors often must explain with words what their conducting gestures mean, which somewhat defeats the purpose of the gestures, which are supposed to be non-verbal indications of how to interpret and perform the music.

The third kind of conductor is something of a hybrid, with some characteristics from each of the other two. These conductors know that a clear beat and reliable cues are necessary for many in the ensemble, and so they are diligent to provide these. But they also possess a high level of musicianship, like the collegian, and insist on expressive, clear phrasing, artful nuance, and diligent attention to details of articulation, dynamics, and other expressive elements. They attempt to be as non-verbal as possible, and as expressive as possible in their conducting, but recognize that the musicians they lead are not all expert, and some need more basic direction than others. These conductors are flexible, giving a clear beat instead of phrasing when necessary, but showing phrasing instead of a constant beat whenever possible. This raises the overall level of musicianship while still providing remedial assistance when needed. I have observed in others and in myself, that it is easy to become too basic, too beat and cues oriented when conducting school ensembles. We tend to think that as conductors we hold the whole enterprise together, and if we miss just one beat somewhere, or if every eye isn’t fixed on us at all times, the whole thing will fall apart. But I have found that musicians operating at this relatively low level of musicianship can be weaned off of the pampering conductor, and learn to respond to more phrasing and less beating, which is all for the better of individual musicians, and the ensemble at large.

We should always go for the highest level of musicianship we can. Great conductors don’t always get everything they ask for from an ensemble, but they surely will never get what they don’t demand. Conduct phrasing in lieu of the beat when it will help the ensemble play more musically. Conduct a constant beat when they need it, but teach them to need it less. There are some pieces that are so rhythmically complex that time beating is essential. There are other pieces that are so melodious that time beating just gets in the way; intrudes on the beauty and shape of the line the ensemble is trying to create. Ultimately, the conductor’s job is to give a visual animation of the music. Musicians must see the music in the conductor far beyond what they can see in their printed parts or scores. The more a conductor shows the music through gesture and movement, the less they will need to fall back on words. Musicians need to learn to follow the music as it lives in the conductor. That is much more than following the beat, which sadly, is all many conductors ask of their musicians. If you are a conductor, let the music animate you. Your musicians will know what to do by watching you, and all those words of the talker will be entirely unnecessary.