Conducting Tips, June 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 4: Bringing in and Cutting off the Choir
There are many ways to bring in a choir, some more sophisticated than others. The most popular approach is to rely on the accompaniment to set the tempo: The conductor beats along with the music, then breathes in the appropriate place to sing along with the choir. This approach is pretty effective for congregational singing. It also requires very little if any skill. Another popular approach is to hold up both hands until the music starts, then feverishly pound out the first beat, hoping to place it in the same place as the accompanist. The problem with these approaches is that the conductor isn't actually leading; he's telling the choir: "I always follow the accompanist and so should you."
A competent conductor must be able to convey what tempo to use, and exactly when to start and stop. These abilities are technically very simple to explain, and can be had for a healthy dose of practice.
Starting the Choir
How much information does a choir need in order to find the tempo? My Jr High Band teacher gave us 8 beats: "One-two-three-four-one-two-ready-go." Can a choir get the tempo from 4 beats instead of 8? If so, the why not 2 beats? For that matter, why can't a choir get the tempo from one single beat executed in the right tempo? The fact is, they can and will, easier than you might imagine.
The choir only needs the beat immediately preceding where they come in. This beat is called the preparatory beat, or prep beat.
Example 1: Pg 81 Press Forward Saints. This hymn will be conducted with a 4-beat pattern, and the music starts on the downbeat (beat 1). To bring in the choir, imagine that there is an extra measure tacked onto the beginning of the hymn. This imaginary measure also has 4 beats in it. As a conductor, you imagine yourself conducting beats 1, 2, and 3 in tempo. Then, you actually DO conduct beat 4, which becomes the prep beat for the choir. If you inhale while conducting beat 4, your choir will come in on the next beat, and will know what tempo to sing.
Example 2: Pg 89 The Lord Is My Light. This hymn will also be conducted with a 4-beat pattern, but the music starts on the 4th beat. The imaginary measure tacked to the beginning of the piece already has a note in it, namely the starting note of the piece. Notes that live in imaginary measures are called pickup notes. Since the choir will begin singing on the 4th beat of the imaginary measure, they need beat 3 as a prep beat. To start the hymn, imagine yourself conducting beats 1 and 2 in tempo. Then actually conduct beat 3, which becomes the prep beat for the choir. If you inhale while conducting beat 3, the choir will sing for you on beat 4.
Example 3: pg 158 Before Thee, Lord, I Bow My Head. This hymn is conducted in a 6-beat pattern, and the music starts on the 4th beat. The choir needs beat 3 as their prep beat. To start the hymn, imagine yourself conducting beats 1 and 2 in tempo. Then actually conduct beat 3, which becomes the prep beat for your choir. Again, if you breate on the prep beat, the choir will come in for you.
1-beat pattern: Always start at the aaaaaaa2-beat pattern: Start at the bottomaaaaaaa3-beat pattern: aaaaictus and give an entire beat asaaaaaaof the previous beat and give that aaaaaaasame as 2-beat. aaaaa prep beat. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaentire beat as a prep beat.
Cutting off the Choir
Cutting off the choir is similar to bringing the choir in, in that your gesture must communicate to the choir precisely where to stop singing. Some conductors give the choir an exaggerated ictus somewhere to the outside of the usual beat pattern. Others make curly cues, pinch fingers together, or bring the hands together in a heart-shaped pattern. Any of these gestures can be made to convey exactly when to stop singing; the point is to make a natural, organic gesture that communicates the stopping place. I prefer to use an exaggerated ictus for its predictability and teachability. After conducting the last beat of the music, show the cutoff by conducting another more emphatic beat. If you follow through on the ictus, you will have created a predictable cutoff point for the choir.
If you hold the final note for several beats or measures, simply add another much larger beat, in tempo, to the end of the hold.
When applying the techniques of this lesson, keep in mind that a clear, predictable beat pattern is the very key to bringing the choir in and cutting them off cleanly. When the choir is able to anticipate the conductor's beat point, singers will come in together, sing in rhytmic unity, and cut off together.
