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?
he music is not in the notes but in the silence between." So Mozart said. Obviously, the...
 n previous posts, we talked about mixed meters, pulse, and different types of strokes. There is,...
ntil the 20th century, most of the repertoire was written in meters of 2-3-4 or 6. If there...
n this episode, we looked at pulse and beat. Generally speaking, a pulsing point corresponds with...
he pulse: a key aspect of conducting technique and the only real one that allows us to...
Unlike instrumental and vocal techniques, over the centuries conducting technique has not seen the same type of...
A FREE video series with an analysis of structure, phrasing, and, of course, conducting tips of repertoire works: from Mozart to Brahms, from Beethoven to Debussy. A new episode every week!
