Being able to recognize the voice type you are working with is crucial to conducting vocal accompaniment and a successful performance.

One of the things that conductors have to face all the time is accompanying a soloist. It’s still a listen and react process but the technical aspects can be different, in some ways, from conducting, let’s say, a symphony.
Things to consider are balance, rests, and, of course, the musical partnership between the conductor and the soloist.

It is rather normal for conductors early in their studies to find themselves tricked by the change of accents within the bar, sometimes following the syncopation instead of remaining anchored to the basic pulse. In this post, we’ll see a few examples of syncopated rhythms and some exercises you can practice at home.

Accents, just as much as cues, need to be prepared ahead of time. What if you have a fortissimo accent after a pianissimo? Or vice-versa?

From small breaths to longer fermatas, rests give a conductor the opportunity to use a variety of baton strokes.

The most important single motion for a conductor, the upbeat, holds in itself the indications of tempo, dynamics, and articulation of the first sound the orchestra is going to play

Mixed meters are an integral part of the conducting technique: what do conductors need to account for in order to make them clear for the players?

When music shapes the technique, legato and staccato strokes are a response to a musical articulation. Here are a few pointers on how to practice these strokes.

It’s one of the key aspects of conducting technique: the pulse. How do you control it?

Visual Score Study: how to look at the score from a technical point of view and improve your conducting studying