Conducting - I'd love to have a go!

I have heard this many times, - should you have a go?

If have a love of music, an understanding of people, the wish to help others through the 'dots' in joint music making, where everyone is important and involved in creating something none of them can do on their own- then this can be one of the greatest joys that you can offer people and your conducting career can be a long and life enriching experience.

Yesterday, I heard an orchestral conductor say that 'in conducting, the first 50 years are learning.' If this is true, and I certainly think that it has more than a grain of truth in it, then I haven't been around for that long!

I also watched a video recently of the great Sir Georg Solti taking a masterclass in conducting and remarking to a trainee conductor, 'my players can count, so unless you have something else to bring to the party, why are you here?'

Hopefully not just beat time (though many people cannot wait to get their hands on a baton, a completely superfluous item in most choral conducting)- because there is so much more to it than that, and certainly most of the work is not done in concerts, but in rehearsals, preparing the singers or instrumentalists.

Musician, Teacher, Counsellor, Organiser.....

I was working on a piece the other day which was a free download from the web, it was a rather good arrangement of Deep River, a well known choral piece, however the score was completely devoid of any instructions other than the notes and words, should therefore we sing exactly what was on the page, it would be right, but would it be musical ?

With a little work on adding dynamics, shaping phrases and highlighting important notes in various inner parts, the piece was transformed into something really rather beautiful.

And I have seen that time and time again over many, many years with the vast variety of choirs I have had the pleasure of working with.

A Conductor's work always begins with the preparation of the score, using all their musical knowledge to seek out parts that may be difficult, understanding the composer's intentions and a complete picture of the score, the role then becomes that of teacher, clearly passing on to the group their vision of the final sound world they want to create.

The bigger the group, ( and certainly large choral and Orchestral works) the more the need for a conductor and the more responsibilities attached to the work.

How can I help ?

I have a little book that can help; in this booklet is over 35 years of experience that you can draw on. It covers many differing facets of a conductor's challenges and many many tips to guide you along the way, here is what an established conductor had to say -

'Getting the best from your Choir' is an absolute gold mine of hints, tips and tricks that any choral director would benefit from reading. The booklet is a distillation of over 30 years of experience with pearls of wisdom on every page. With a casual and humorous writing style, Tim Knight explains the technical prerequisites of good choral singing. Underpinning the whole booklet is the philosophy, "people first, singers second", which highlights the fact that good musicianship is about more than just an accurate reading of the score. If you're a choral director and you want to up your game, get yourself a copy of what is essentially a masterclass in music.’

Maybe this little book will be the very thing that helps you decide whether you should have a go - and if you buy it and want more help, then you could get in touch.

Who knows? We might create music together someday!

Tim

TKM870 Getting the best from your choir

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