Lesson 3 Outline

Jade Ferrell
MUS 3386-001

I. The Four Pattern

A. All beats in the four pattern occur on the horizontal plane
1. Beat one at the intersection of the planes
2. Beat two to the left of the vertical plane
3. Beat three at an equal distance to the right of the plane
4. Beat four to the right of the vertical plane
a) The height of the horizontal stroke is called the amplitude
b) The width of the horizontal stroke is called the breadth
B. The four pattern looks like a figure 8 on its side
1. The loops are rounded
a) The more rounded the loops, the more legato the articulation
C. The rebound motion should never be any higher than half the distance of
the vertical stroke
1. This will control excessive movement within the pattern of the
gesture
D. Be careful to make sure that beat 4 isn’t too high and too far to the right
1. This can cause musicians to look up and out on the fourth beat,
that is poor practice
E. When conducting in four, the arm must be extended sufficiently in front of
the body
1. Left and right motion should not be hindered
2. Beat two must be placed at an equal distance in front of the body
as beat one
3. Beat two should not be drawn back
4. For beat three, the forearm must open and flow to the right by
increasing the angle at the elbow
5. Be careful not to place beats two and three too close to the body
a) This confuses the placement of individual beats
F. The rebound of beat one lifts to the right before moving left
G. The rebound of beat two continues slightly to the left before reversing to
the right
H. The rebound of beat three continues slightly to the right before reversing
to the left
1. Avoid an arching rebound
I. Practice in a mirror to be sure you’re placing all four beats clearly on the
horizontal plane
II. Varying the Conducting Area
A. Conducting gestures can be executed in three ways
1. With the wrist alone
a) Requires flexible and agile use of the wrist joint
b) Used for very fast tempos or very soft passages
c) Much less total conducting area is covered in this type
2. From the elbow/forearm
a) Most conducting is done here
b) There is some left of the elbow on the rebound of beat four
c) Most movement comes from the flexible elbow joing
d) Upper arm and forearm move as a unit
3. From the shoulder
a) The largest conducting gesture comes from here
b) Used for loud passages
c) Used for when the ensemble is spread out
d) The entire arm/elbow is lifted and lowered, greatly increasing
the conducting area
e) This style can distract the audience from the music, so its
use should be limited
III. Varying the Size of the Pattern
A. The dynamic level of the music being conducted is conveyed by the size
of the pattern
1. Large motions are used for loud dynamic levels
a) Be cautious about using too much conducting area
(1) This can desensitize the ensemble to more subtle
gestures
b) The gesture should use an amplitude of stroke that goes no
higher than the forehead
(1) Conducting over the head should be avoided
(2) When using a baton, it will extend naturally over the
head when the hand stops at the hairline
c) The breadth of the horizontal plane also increases as the
dynamic level becomes louder
2. Smaller motions are used for softer dynamic levels
a) The amplitude should not rise much higher than the height of
the shoulders
b) Pianissimo passages will cover the least amount of
conducting area
3. You must guard against making all dynamic levels looks the same
in the conducting gesture
IV. Internal and Final Releases
A. Internal cutoffs occur within a section or movement, at which time a breath
is usually taken or a phrase completed
1. End with the tail of the cutoff going upward
a) This is necessary in that the music is not stopping, only
pausing and then going on
2. At a slow tempo, the cutoff may be followed by time for a breath
3. At a fast tempo, the cutoff and breath are simultaneous
4. For the internal cutoffs that occur on beat four
a) The rebound of beat three lifts more from the horizontal
plane, wraps around the vertical plane counterclockwise,
and continues to the top of the vertical plane, coming to a
complete stop on beat four.
b) The extension of beat three is the preparation for the cutoff
(1) The preparation must be large enough to be seen by
all of the ensemble members
c) A common mistake is not stopping clearly on the release
(1) The release must come to a clear stop no matter how
brief in duration
B. Final cutoffs occur at the end of a section, movement, or work.
1. The preparation for the cutoff is the and of beat three
a) It lifts from the horizontal plane and immediately begins a
counterclockwise movement and finishes parallel to the
horizontal plane on the right
b) The preparatory loop must be large and high enough for all
ensemble members to see it clearly
2. It should end straight out and with finality
3. The final release is followed by a brief pause before the hand or
baton is lowered
C. Cutoffs must be clearly executed
1. Most cutoffs include the movement of the left hand