lieve the composer wants. • Writing those decisions in the score.
If you’re having a difficult time making decisions, try it one way this time and another the next. The important thing here is to MAKE A DECISION.
It’s also important here to talk about the use of recordings in the preparation of a piece. I try hard to never use a recording of a new work to learn it. The pitfalls here are many: • You cannot help being consciously or unconsciously influ- enced by a recording, particularly if you are a young conduc- tor. • It is difficult to fully develop a strong inner ear by listening to a recording. • You will never fully develop your musical imagination by listening to a recording of the work you are trying to learn. That said, I do quite often listen to OTHER WORKS by the same composer. I do this to become more familiar with the musical language, the compositional techniques, and the musical personality of the composer. If I listen to a recording of a piece that I am studying, I will do so only AFTER I have completed the first two phases of this process. At that time I will try to listen to as many different recordings of the piece that I can to hear others’ thoughts about the work.
Internalization
After I have analyzed and imagined the piece, I begin the final phase in the process. It is here that we truly begin to ‘learn’ the piece. I believe that no one can really ‘know’ any- thing until they have felt and experienced it for themselves. It is through the internalization process that real ‘knowing’ takes place. This level includes setting a metronome at the prescribed tempo and trying to ‘hear’ as much of the piece as possible. When I hit a ‘blank space’ in the music and am not able to hear most of what is there, I will isolate that section and practice it. The method here is not much different from the way in which many of us learned to practice our major instruments; extract a problem section, practice it slowly, and return it to the whole.
The use of the metronome is vital. Our ‘conductor’ time is often very different from our ‘performer’ time. If you find that a section of a piece is difficult for you to hear, it will most likely be difficult for your group to play. These discov- eries will assist you in your lesson planning. This internal- ization process helps the conductor to ‘hear’ and ‘feel’ the music as it proceeds in real time.
Try HARD not to move or ‘conduct’ when you are involved with any phase of this process. Moving while studying can, especially in the beginning, lead us to believe we are doing and hearing things that we are not.
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Imitation Of Great Conductors and Teachers
We can only do what we ‘know’. We can really only ‘know’ what we feel. The teachers and conductors that pass through our lives influence us all. For most of us, those role models are the reason we have chosen to spend our lives in music education. In the beginning, we all conduct and teach the way we were conducted and taught. This is natural and, de- pending upon who the role model was, can be very helpful. However, it is vital that we continue to seek out conducting and teaching role models who exhibit the highest standards of preparation and performance, and to learn from them. This is a lifelong process. There is no finish line.
Conclusion
Like all other techniques in music, conducting is one of many tools a music educator needs to realize a composer’s intentions and to help show our students what is possible. We have a solemn obligation to choose the best literature avail- able and to internalize it before our first rehearsal. Knowing only the surface level elements of any piece is much like an English Literature professor teaching a course in Shake- speare’s “Macbeth” after only having read CliffsNotes. The teaching will lack depth, clarity, and meaning. Even the most refined, elegant conducting technique is only useful if it is used in the service of realizing a composer’s intentions and assists in showing our ensembles what is possible.
After almost twenty-five years of teaching at both the high school and university levels, and after all of the personal and professional struggles experienced, I would change almost none of those experiences from the first day until now. Those experiences have contributed to the person and musician that I am today. While it is clear that I still have a long way to go both personally and professionally, I love nearly every minute of it! We are all on the same road. Some of us have simply been on it longer than others. So while you are con- tinuing to improve as both a person and a professional, don’t forget to enjoy it! We are privileged to do what we do every- day. This is something I try never to forget.
Thomas McCauley is the Director of Bands at Montclair State University where he conducts the Montclair State University Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band. He earned a Doctor of Music in conducting from Northwestern University where his primary teacher was Mallory Thompson, and holds Master’s and Bach- elor’s degrees in music education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. McCauley has appeared as a guest conductor, cli- nician, or adjudicator throughout the United States. In 1995, the Nevada Music Educators Association named Dr. McCauley Music Educator of the Year and in 2006, the Indiana Music Educators Association honored Dr. McCauley with an Outstanding Univer-
sity Music Educator Award.
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