Conducting Tips, March 2000
As a conductor, you set the constant example of good musicianship: How to stand, what to feel, How to phrase the music, when to breathe, and how loud or soft to sing. Through this column, you will gradually learn how to become a competent, comfortable conductor. Each lesson can be incorporated into your current technique, so that you never have to toss everything out the window and start over.
Lesson 2: The Beat Pattern
A crash course in conducting will tell you that the time signature tells you which conducting pattern to use. Flail through hymn 230 Scatter Sunshine at mach 10, trying to fit all 6 beats in there, and the silliness of this notion becomes clear. While a time signature usually provides helpful hints, conductors ultimately choose conducting motions that match the flow of the music.
In order to explain the idea of beat patterns, It is helpful to first draw a parallel between music and classical poetry. Consider the following rhyme:
Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village, though.
As you read it, your voice naturally accents the syllables "woods", "are", "think", and "know". This gives the reading a natural rhythm, dividing the poem into little "weak Strong" patterns. (The Greek called this weak Strong pattern an Iamb) Another name for a rhythmic pattern is METER. This weak Strong pattern has only two beats in it, so it’s called DUPLE METER.
There are other rhythmic patterns used in poetry. Consider the following rhyme:
Master the tempest is raging, the billows are tossing high! (The)
Sky is o’er shadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh.
As you read it, your voice naturally accents the syllables "mas-", "Temp-", and "ra-", dividing the poem into little "Strong weak weak" patterns. (The Greeks called this pattern a Dactyl). This Strong weak weak pattern has three beats in it, so it’s called TRIPLE METER.
Music is also divided into patterns of strong and weak beats. The dividing units in music are called measures, and the tool a conductor uses to show these patterns is called a BEAT PATTERN. The purpose of a beat pattern (as opposed to just waving your hand up and down to the beat) is to show the choir where to put the strong beats, called DOWNBEATS. The downbeat in music is always the first beat of the measure, and so whenever the choir is lost and they see a downbeat, they automatically know you’re at the beginning of a measure.
As in poetry, Duple Meter and Triple meter are very common beat patterns. Consider hymn number 303 Keep the Commandments. Sing through it and notice how the music has a "Strong weak" pattern in each measure. It would be conducted using a DUPLE METER beat pattern. Consider now hymn number 304 Teach Me To Walk. Sing through it and notice how the music has a "Strong weak weak" pattern in each measure. It would be conducted using a TRIPLE METER beat pattern. Now consider hymn number 246 Onward Christian Soldiers. Sing through it and notice how the music has a "Strong weak weak weak" pattern in each measure. It would be conducted using a QUADRUPLE METER beat pattern. There are other beat patterns, but these three, Duple, Triple, and Quadruple, cover about 90% of the music a normal conductor sees.
The common beat patterns are explained in the Hymnbook on page 384. This section of the hymnnbook is a good primer for beginners, but a stronger foundation is needed for building advanced skills later.( For example, the time signature doesn’t always reveal what beat pattern to use. Also, there are a variety of ways to show different beat patterns, and there are some additional beat patterns to consider.)
Selecting the Proper Beat Pattern for a Hymn
To choose the proper beat pattern, sing through the music in tempo. Discover where you feel the natural accents. The music should flow, and shouldn’t feel choppy or rushed. On the other hand, the natural accents can’t be so far apart that the rhythm of the music is lost. Here are some examples:
Hymn 230 Scatter Sunshine
As I sing through this hymn, I find myself emphasizing the first and fourth beat of every measure: IN a WORLD where SOR – ROW EV – er WILL be KNOWN. Every measure has two conspicuous beats ( IN and WORLD, SOR – and ROW). I decide to try a DUPLE beat pattern as I sing. It works well with the flow of the music. (keep in mind that duple is often a good beat pattern for quicker 6/8 hymns)
Hymn 200 Christ the Lord is Risen Today
As I sing through this hymn, I notice that the poetry emphasizes the first and third beat of every measure: CHRIST the LORD is RIS’N to- DAY. Since every measure has two conspicuous beats, I decide to try a DUPLE beat pattern again. As I sing through conducting a duple pattern, I notice that the pattern works, but that the music feels different than I’m accustomed; It has a lilt to it, almost. Traditionally, this hymn was an Easter processional: At the beginning of the service, the choir would follow the priest or pastor up the center aisle from the back of the church, stepping to the beat of the music. I try a QUADRUPLE beat pattern instead, which puts greater emphasis on each beat of the music. Now it sounds strident, which is what we're accustomed to.
Hymn 8 Awake and Arise
As I sing through this hymn, I notice a predominant rhythmic pattern: Half note, Quarter note, Quarter note. 13 out of 16 measures of the melody use this pattern! (hymns 23, 85, 90, 100, 181, and others use this same pattern.) I decide to give Duple meter a shot, in order to emphasize those half notes, and find the results pleasing. Just for contrast, I try Quadruple meter. It works, too, but I find I prefer Duple for this one. Your opinion may differ, especially if you (or the organist) choose a much slower tempo than marked.
Summary:
It may not seem as if this lesson helped your conducting any. However, if it encouraged you to step back from the time signature and decide for yourself which beat pattern to use, and if it caused you to see beat patterns simply as tools for showing the flow of the music, then this lesson will pay tremendous dividends in the future.
Next month’s lesson covers how to make your beat patterns "legible" to your choir. The lesson will also include step-by-step conducting instructions for a popular hymn.