What is a CONDUCTOR?

INTRODUCE the idea of a conductor

Ever wonder exactly what that person waving a stick in front of an orchestra is doing? That person is called a ‘conductor.’ Large groups of people need leaders to help them work together. A football team has a head coach. A classroom has a teacher. And an orchestra has a conductor. Have you ever wondered exactly what a conductor needs to do to help an orchestra play together? Today we will learn about the job of conducting an orchestra.

Watch conductor Sarah Hicks explain her job in this Class Notes video.

After watching, review these main ideas:

• Conductors help musicians start and stop together.

• Conductors set the tempo, or speed, that everyone will play.

• Conductors show the beat patterns.

• Conductors show different musicians when to start playing with a cue, or a motion directed at them.

• Conductors help musicians play the right dynamics, or volume.

EXTEND learning about the conductor

Choose one or more of the following activities to extend learning.

1. Try conducting with students!

   • When conductors see this in their music - 4/4 - they trace this pattern in the air.

     

     Try tracing a 4/4 beat pattern in the air, saying each number when your finger reaches it in the pattern. (Practice this with students.) Now, try conducting along with this music in 4/4. Get ready to move fast!

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     Six Bagatelles (No. 1) - Gyorgy Ligeti

     Gyorgy Ligeti Six Bagatelles (No. 1) Quintette Moragues

   • When conductors see this in their music - 3/4 - they trace this pattern in the air.

     

     Try tracing your finger along in the air with this pattern while saying ‘1, 2, 3.’ (Practice this with students.) Now, try conducting along with this piece in 3/4!

2. Watch three famous conductors - Gustavo Dudamel, JoAnn Falletta, and William Eddins - and notice their individual style. Whose style do you like the best? Whose beat pattern is easiest to follow?