sample excerpt from
Igniting Response: the conductor's toolbox
ADVICE FROM STUDENTS
Here's what some young musicians said when I asked for their advice.
Click here to see the questionnaire they responded to.
Do forward the questionnaire to students whose advice you think music
teachers would benefit from hearing.  Thank you!
Qualities we value most in our conductors
  • A clear downbeat.
  • Good cues for important entrances.
  • An ear to catch mistakes quickly; make the orchestra aware
    of it using gestures or stopping to explain.
  • Reasonable, well planned tempos.
  • Clear musical idea in mind and be able to communicate it to
    the orchestra using motion, and if he must, using words.
  • Be demanding enough to get respect from the orchestra.
  • Be as inoffensive as possible, and respect the musicians.
  • Have a sense of humor.
  
  • Patience with a firm hand: Be patient if we're trying, but
    don't let us slack off (that drives me mad when
     conductors don't hold players responsible for knowing
     their part. It makes the group sound messy and gets on
     many nerves).
  • Personable: I want to feel that I'm able to approach you
    easily.  Have conversations with your students, joke  
     with them even, it will make you seem less intimidating.
     This will make students more comfortable, and more
     likely to approach you.
  • Expressive: I want someone who shows me a whole
    range of emotions and shows me what I need to be
     conveying in  my music.  There's more to music than
     just dynamics.
  • Creative: This seems like a "duh" thing to say, but I can't
    stand conductors and teachers who are too afraid or
     too stubborn to step outside the box.  
  • Strong Beat One: No matter what, give me a good
    strong beat one. If I can follow that I will follow you
     easily.  If the beat one is not    strong enough I get
     totally lost.  It's usually the only beat of each measure I
     look for, because I'm concentrating on so much I
     don't pay much attention to the other beats.  Should I
     get lost beat one is the easiest thing to find.
  • Challenging: Don't settle for just good, make it great, I
    never like hearing the phrase "well that's good enough
     let's  move on."
  • A strong personality and a boisterous voice: Without
    these you have absolutely no hope of holding our  
     attention, you must captivate us, and if we can't hear
     you we won't listen.
  • Be happy.  Like kids and be nice to us.
  • Be patient with us.
  • Help us understand things.  
  • I want to feel ok to ask if I don't know
  
  • Control by leadership, not by dictatorship.
  • Experience in a seat of the orchestra.
  • Background knowledge on the music and its composer.
  • Many different methods of "fixing" a passage in that if one
    method does not work, there will be another to try.
  
  • A love for music.
  • An ability to interpret music; to have music mean something
  • to them.
  • Good communication and people skills.
  • An open mind.
  • A broad knowledge in the realm of music: terms, symbols,
    orchestration, etc.
  • Deep love (ok- just pretend if you don't LOOOOVE it)
  • Respect for self, and others, clarity
  
   
How to get us to watch
  
  •  Show an understanding for the music. Use body language to
    show the mood of  the music: try  to show as much as possible
     without using words. Don't simply  robot-conduct.
  • Make your motions deliberate. If you look unsure, the students
  • will be unsure.
  • Have the students breathe together with you on the upbeat.
  • Conduct to the entire orchestra, not just the first violins (or the
    flutes, or the sopranos).
  • Double-check that you're following the music. If students see  
    you are doing something different, they won't want to follow.
  • If you are deliberately doing something different, tell  them you
    are and explain why you're doing it.  
  • Practice makes permanent!
  • So, if you want us to watch and follow, then start training
    the ensemble with scales.
  • Have us play something simple, and have us watch you.
    You will have our full attention and since we're not being
     distracted by technical commands, we'll be able to really
     focus on learning HOW you conduct.
     It breaks the ice about eye contact as well.
  • Once we realize how well we can play if when we  actually
    watch, we'll try to play like that every time.
  • But remember, if you want us to look up, then don't keep
    your face buried in the score!
  • Get it into our minds earlier on that we need to watch you
    constantly.
  • Throw in a game of "change the tempo."
  • It can help you see who is watching or not
    and it can keep your students on their toes.
  • It can also be seen as rather annoying though
    so don't use it too often.
  • Give eye contact and a good down beat.
  • Breathe with the orchestra.
  • Make appropriate facial expressions.
  • BEAT ONE!!!! (sorry I have a conductor with really sloppy beats
    and it drives me crazy).
  • One more thing, don't get too focused on the score.
  • Look out at your orchestra. Communicate with us, make eye
    contact.  This pulls us out of our music and we will watch more.
  • Sometimes I look up but my teacher isn't
    looking at me, so I stop looking.
  • I think I'd look up more if she were looking at
    me when I looked at her.
  • I also don't know what to look at.
  • Keep connection with the orchestra and musicians.
  • Do goofy eye-catching things.
  • Only give needed beats.
  • Breathe before starting so show the tempo.
 "Other than that, your entire body, especially your face, should
play into your gestures.  
Show us the mood you want us to convey with your body and
we'll do it.  Tell us to do it and we'll probably forget.  
We'll also be more likely to watch as you'll be more engaging. "
We want our facial gestures to support - not contradict - our
larger body movements.  That's why our colleague is practicing her
facial expressions
If our arms say "ff!" but our face looks like the one on the left -
lamentoso, will we get a booming ff?  Better the expression on the
right (although that one looks more like "diabolico."  
Ask your students - they'll surprise and delight you with their
insights, along with giving you valuable information.  Your asking
will also increase rapport tremendously: you want to learn, too!
How to correct us
  
  • When you point out a mistake, give a way of correcting it.  
  • Don't just say it's wrong, or we better get it right.
  • Look back on all the music teachers you've ever had, anything that they told you that helped you play better.
  • For example, instead of yelling at students for not doing a crescendo, tell them to use more bow and play closer to the bridge.
  • Also, be sure to praise the students when they do well.
  • Please don't yell at us thinking that we can automatically fix a mistake.  
  • Break it down. Ask us if we know what we did wrong.  This engages us and makes us more aware of what we're doing/how
    we're playing.  If nobody knows the answer, then tell us.
  • Then, have us play it slowly, very slowly.  When we're playing it correctly, then you can start speeding it up.
  • But, first we need to devote it to our muscle memory.
  • Be respectful and polite, yet let the orchestra know you think they are capable of doing better.  
    Kindly make them aware of their mistake and rehearse the excerpt until it is correct.
  • Go back to where a mistake was and see if the kids know what the mistake was.
  • Being active in the process of fixing a mistake helps students fix it best.
  • It is also good to encourage your students to stop playing and circle a mistake they made immediately, regardless of if the
    orchestra is still playing or not. They should be expected to be able to jump back in as soon as possible.
  • Simply telling them where a mistake is and not making sure they mark it, or not going over that spot in a short sectional until it is
    fixed, will get you nowhere because the students will not learn to fix that mistake.
  • The first time we play the passage correctly, up to tempo, have us do it again.  
    Make sure to ask us to really pay attention to the way it feels, sounds, etc.
  • Then, have us play the measure before and the measure after.
    Then start building on the measures around that particular passage.
     It's slow work, but it'll stick in our memory.
How to get us quiet
  
  • Students talk to each other or goof off on their instruments when they're bored: when they're not focused on the conductor. To
    counter this, a conductor must draw focus to him- or herself.
  • You can do this through humor, respect, or fear.
  • Just find a way that works for you. But whatever you do, don't let the students get bored!
  • The most memorable experience I've witnessed is when the conductor, after repeatedly trying to get the ensemble quiet was  
    when he just sat there.
     This got some people's attention, but since not every one would settle down, he got up and just walked out of the room.
     Nobody knew what to do. So we sat there, perfectly quiet. He came back after few minutes and asked if we were ready to
     be quiet and get to work.
  • Sometimes explaining how important it is to you and why it's important to you to have an "ensemble culture" of quiet really
    works too.
  • You're allowing us to, in a way, get in your mind.
  • We feel more connected to you because we know why and what you think about something important.
  • Since it's important to you, it's important to us!
  • It's a big class so it's easy to goof off.  
  • Keep our focus and we'll stay quiet. Let it go for even a second and we'll get loud and it'll take several minutes to get it back.
  • Part of getting an orchestra to be quiet is how much respect the orchestra has for you.
  • Typically, the longer it takes for them to get quiet the less respect they have for you.
  • With kids who respect you and want to play and learn, I think it is possibly to achieve an "ensemble culture" of quiet.
  • I suggest having some sign that all the students will know and recognize.
  • It should be something simple, but it needs to get their attention pretty easily.   
    Flapping your arms like a chicken is excessive and silly.
     Something like raising your baton and waiting for everybody to be ready usually works decently enough.
  • If we continue to play except to hear a brief comment from the conductor, we don't have much chance to get a conversation
    started, therefore we have no trouble ending one.
  • Gaining your students' respect so all that is required for silence is a simple wave of baton.
Please, never do these
  • Make the student/orchestra feel as if their progress is a by-product of the teacher's/conductor's marvelous work.
  • Get in front of us if you don't know the score well enough.
  • We can tell, and it really turns us off when a conductor blunders through a rehearsal.
  • Just stay at home if you don't know the score.
  • Let the players play from repetition and without emotion.
  • Feel too tired or overwhelmed to put your heart into the music.
  • Lose your temper at the students.
  • Simply point out mistakes and not say how to fix them.
  • Conduct like a robot.
  • Tell a more advanced student that s/he isn't allowed to attempt more advanced fingerings, bowing, etc. because the other
    students are not able to.
  • Ignore the violas!
  • Break your baton and throw it at us. (Yes, I have seen this happen).
  • Actually, do not demonstrate physical violence in any way (no chair throwing, no shoving, etc).
  • Do not be timid.
  • A certain level of control is needed.  You will never get that control if your students don't respect you, and feel you don't have
    any control over them.
  • Point out that a specific person is making a mistake.
  • It's not productive to embarrass that person - it emits negative energy. You wouldn't want it done to you, so don't do it to us!
  • We play as an ensemble so please treat us as an ensemble.
  • Yell. All that does is create tension and kills the passion for the music being rehearsed.
  • Basically, use the golden rule.  Switch roles in your mind, if you wouldn't want something done to you, more then likely, it's the
    same with us.
  • Tell us we can't do something.  I was just told this by a teacher, I'm now on a vendetta to prove him wrong, but playing the
    song is no longer enjoyable.
  • Make your rules so strict and your classes so militant that the music isn't fun any more.  
  • We're in a creative mindset, so we're going to be more likely to talk and goof off because  the mind is harder to control, but if we
    aren't allowed that, we can't be creative and the music won't be as good.
  • Get sloppy with the beats.  
    If I can see beat one I can follow anything and focus more on dynamics.
     If I can't tell which beat is which, I get lost and I just want to go home.
  • Ignore any instrument because you do not know that much about it.
    Instead, take the time to learn about it so you can help the students you typically would not spend as much time with.
  • Keep conducting when the orchestra is lost.
  • Treat the orchestra with disrespect.
  • Overlook players in the back of the string sections, or in secondary woodwind/brass parts; the entire section is important and
    needs to play together.
  • Go against your word.
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