WEEK 4

Welcome to WEEK 4.  This week's activities include:

SCORE STUDY ACTIVITIES:

• Discuss and practice Bb transpositions
• Begin writing a brief essay on the selected Student Conductor Piece

  
CONDUCTING PRACTICE:

• Continue practicing conducting gestures
• Eye contact
• Conduct the band through the selected Student Conductor Piece

**A Quick Note
Remember, the goal in studying transpositions is to understand what note is actually SOUNDING from each instrument.  For transposing instruments, the note that is WRITTEN in their part (and most likely in your score) SOUNDS a different note.  So, when studying transpositions, our job will be to find out what we need to DO to be able to play each instrument's line as it will actually sound to a listener.  
 
Bb Transpositions
Most likely, the Bb transposing instruments in your Student Conductor piece are: 

• Bb clarinet 
• bass clarinet
  
• tenor saxophone
• trumpet or cornet

You should notice in your score that these four instruments all have the same key signature as one another.

Since the Bb clarinet and trumpet are pitched in Bb (and Bb is exactly 1 whole step below C), the composer counteracted that by writing their parts exactly 1 whole step above C.  That way, the SOUND is in "concert pitch." 


Let's take another look at our example from WEEK 3.

The clarinet line is written exactly 1 whole-step above where it actually SOUNDS.  So, the first note (f#) will SOUND an E (exactly 1 whole-step below what is written).
An abbreviated way of saying this is: "The Bb clarinet sounds a Major 2nd (M2) below written."

Below is the same example with the SOUNDING notes written-in below each pitch.  Remember, each sounding note is 1 whole-step (Major 2nd) below what is written.

Try one on your own.  What would the sounding notes be for the following passage? (the first two notes are given)

The bass clarinet and tenor saxophone are also pitched in Bb, BUT they sound a Major 9th (M9)  below the written note.  So, when you play these parts at the piano, you'll have to transpose down a Major 2nd PLUS an octave.

For example when you see this note (written for either bass clarinet or tenor saxophone):                                       




it will SOUND this pitch:





Below are 4 brief melodies to practice your Bb transpositions.  Use your blank manuscript paper to copy these melodies and write in the sounding note underneath.  (Answers are on WEEK 5).

 
Apply your Bb transposition skills to the Student Conductor Piece.  Try playing through several phrases of the Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, or Trumpet/Cornet parts at the piano.


Writing a brief essay on your Student Conductor Piece
One of the final activities you'll be doing in this curriculum will be preparing a brief verbal synopsis (speech) of the Student Conductor piece you have been studying/conducting.  To prepare you for that activity, take some time to write a brief 250-300 word synopsis of the music.  This essay should include information that you've gathered from researching the composer (his/her compositional style) as well as information on this specific piece (instrumentation, form, melodic material, rhythmic patterns etc).


CONDUCTING PRACTICE:

Continue practicing your conducting gestures
I strongly recommend you continue working on the conducting exercises and checkpoints presented in the previous weeks.  If you feel comfortable/confident with all gestures up to this point, challenge yourself with the following:
1.  Video record yourself practicing each exercise/checkpoint WITHOUT a metronome.  Watch the recording with a metronome on to see if your tempo is consistent.
2.  Alter one or two aspects of each exercise/checkpoint for variety (i.e. change the articulations, dynamics, etc)
3.  Compose and conduct your own conducting exercises.
4.  Purchase a conducting text book for more training material.  Basic Conducting, by David Waybright has ample conducting practice etudes as well as expert clarification on basic conducting concepts.

Eye Contact
The most fundamental aspect of conducting an ensemble is communication.  To effectively communicate with the ensemble, you must develop good eye contact.  A conductor who has his/her head "buried in the score" will be largely ineffective in helping the players make good music.  Practice looking at your ensemble as much as possible - especially at important moments (beginning of the piece, ends of phrases, cues, end of the piece, etc).  **You'll notice, the more you look at them, the more they'll look at you!

Conducting the Student Conductor Piece
You've worked hard to become very familiar with the composer, the music, and the conducting gestures necessary to successfully conduct the ensemble.  Now it's time to put these components together.

FIRST:

• Talk with your band director about the manner in which he/she would like to rehearse the piece.  Some directors choose to instruct the ensemble on places to start and stop - while he/she makes corrections/suggestions along the way.  This is done while YOU (the student conductor) do all of the conducting.  Other directors might ask YOU (the student conductor) to conduct AND rehearse the piece.  Make sure that your director's expectations of how the rehearsal is to be run are clear BEFORE you step on the podium.  

SECOND:

• Set-up your video recording device in the back of the room - focused on the conducting podium

THIRD:

• Conduct and/or rehearse the Student Conductor Piece

FOURTH:

• Watch your conducting video - making notes on areas for improvement

      
Journal Reflection:
Are you comfortable with the basic concepts of Bb transpositions?  How did writing a brief essay about the piece help with your score study? Share your thoughts/concerns about conducting the Student Conductor Piece.  Review your conducting video and provide a critique of your conducting.  Were your gestures clear?  Did the band respond to you?  What adjustments can you make to improve?