HOW THEORIES OF EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT AND NON-VERBALCOMMUNICATION CAN ENHANCE EXPRESSIVE CONDUCTING AT

ALL LEVELS OF ENTERING BEHAVIOUR

BY

ANDREW MATHERSM. Mus Ed., B. Ed. (Sec), A. Mus A.

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of Philosophy in Music

MONASH UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC CONSERVATORIUM

SUBMITTED ON 16 JUNE 2008

Copyright Notices Notice 1 Under the Copyright Act 1968, this thesis must be used only under the normal conditions of scholarly fair dealing. In particular no results or conclusions should be extracted from it, nor should it be copied or closely paraphrased in whole or in part without the written consent of the author. Proper written acknowledgement should be made for any assistance obtained from this thesis. Notice 2 I certify that I have made all reasonable efforts to secure copyright permissions for third-party content included in this thesis and have not knowingly added copyright content to my work without the owner's permission.

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TABLE OF CONTENTSTable of Contents ............................................................................................... iiList of Tables .................................................................................................... ivList of Figures.................................................................................................... vAbstract............................................................................................................. viOriginal Statement ...........................................................................................viiAcknowledgements .........................................................................................viiiCHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1

Research Methodology................................................................................... 4CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE.............................................. 7

Review of the Literature on Expressive Movement Theories .......................... 7Review of the Literature on Non-Verbal Communication ............................. 11

CHAPTER THREE AN EVALUATION OF THE KINAESTHETICAPPROACH TAKEN BY CONDUCTING TEXTBOOKS IDENTIFIED INTWO SURVEYS ............................................................................................. 13

Conducting Textbooks Selected for Examination ......................................... 15An Evaluation of the Kinaesthetic Approach taken by Conducting TextbooksAimed at Beginner Conductors or Conductor/Educators ............................... 20An Evaluation of the Kinaesthetic Approach Taken by Conducting MaterialsAimed at Conductors of All Levels............................................................... 38Summary and Conclusions ........................................................................... 49

CHAPTER FOUR THE ROLE OF THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION,MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND PROPRIOCEPTION IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF KINAESTHETIC LEARNING..................................... 53

Developing Kinaesthetic Learning through Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence 57I Connecting Body and Mind .................................................................. 62

Alexander Influences on the Mind-Body Connection ............................ 63Philosophical Perspectives on the Mind-Body Connection .................... 66

II Motor Skill Development ..................................................................... 70III Proprioception and its Role in Conducting ............................................ 79Summary and Conclusions ........................................................................... 83

CHAPTER FIVE FIVE EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT THEORIES, THEIRCOMMONALITIES, AND THEIR POTENTIAL USE IN THEENHANCEMENT OF EXPRESSIVE CONDUCTING ................................... 86

Theories of Movement - Rudolf Laban ......................................................... 88Theories of Movement - Emile-Henri Jaques Dalcroze ................................. 92Theories of Movement - Franois Delsarte ................................................... 93Theories of Movement - F.M. Alexander...................................................... 96Theories of Movement - Moshe Feldenkrais................................................. 98Commonalities between Expressive Movement Theories.............................. 99Potential Use Laban................................................................................. 118Potential Use Dalcroze ............................................................................ 122Potential Use Delsarte ............................................................................. 125Potential Use Alexander .......................................................................... 127Potential Use - Feldenkrais ......................................................................... 129Summary and Conclusions ......................................................................... 131

CHAPTER SIX THE USE OF NON-VERBAL SKILLS AND CONCEPTSTO ENHANCE EXPRESSIVE CONDUCTING............................................ 134

Communicating the Expressive Elements in Conducting ............................ 136Categories and Coding of Non-Verbal Communication Used by Conductors

........................................................................................................... 140

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The Use of Kinesics to Facilitate Expressive Conducting............................147The Observation and Recording of Non-Verbal Conducting Behaviours .....158The Development of Emotional Expression in Conducting .........................167Emphasising the Non-Verbal in Non-Verbal Communication in ExpressiveConducting .................................................................................................172The Use of Gestural Modes to Enhance Expressive Conducting..................175Summary and Conclusions..........................................................................179

CHAPTER SEVEN SURVEY RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................182Survey 1 University Level Conducting Teachers......................................182Survey 1 Discussion.................................................................................194Survey 2 Secondary School Level Conductors Based Around theMelbourne Area..........................................................................................196Survey 2 Discussion.................................................................................206Survey Findings Related to Main Research Questions.................................208

CHAPTER EIGHT SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS ANDRECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................210

General Curriculum for Teaching Conducting Incorporating Theories ofExpressive Movement and Non-Verbal Communication .............................213

WORKS CITED.............................................................................................220APPENDIX A SURVEY OF UNIVERSITY LEVEL CONDUCTINGTEACHERS ...................................................................................................234APPENDIX B SURVEY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVELCONDUCTORS BASED AROUND THE MELBOURNE AREA .................279

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Conducting Textbooks Used by University Conducting Teachers ..... 15

Table 2 Conducting Textbooks Used by Experienced Melbourne SecondarySchool Conductors .................................................................... 16

Table 3 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development of

Conducting Expressivity............................................................ 18Table 4 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development of

Left Hand Use (Survey of Experienced Secondary SchoolConductors in Melbourne) ......................................................... 18

Table 5 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development of

Expressive Gestures (Survey of Experienced Secondary SchoolConductors in Melbourne) ......................................................... 19

Table 6 Skills a Beginner Conductor Should Already Possess........................ 55

Table 7 Skills a Beginner Conductor Should Immediately Seek to Develop... 56Table 8 Impact of Sporting Activities on Conducting Improvement............... 73

Table 9 Impact of Movement Activities on Conducting Improvement ........... 73Table 10 Level of Difficulty Developing Beat Patterns ................................... 77

Table 11 Level of Difficulty Developing Left Hand Use ................................. 77

Table 12 Labans Effort Actions (see Miller 1988:35)..................................... 89Table 13 Important Attributes of an Effective Conductor .............................. 137

Table 14 Important Attributes of an Expressive Conductor ........................... 137Table 15 Important Non-Verbal Communication Skills for Conducting Student

Development ........................................................................... 153

Table 16 Methods for Developing Conducting Students Non-VerbalVocabulary.............................................................................. 158

Table 17 Prerequisites Required of Potential Conducting Students................ 170

vLIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1 Four Planes of Conducting ...............................................................24

Fig. 2 Baton Use and Grip (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:4)...........................25Fig. 3 Dynamic Cone, Showing Possible Alterations in Size of Beat and

Sagittal Motion (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:55) .........................25

Fig. 4 Diagram of the Left Hand Rest Position ...........................................30Fig. 5 Structure of the Upper Arm, Showing the Alignment of the Radius and

the Ulna (Calais-Germain 1993:144)..........................................32Fig. 6 Altering Size of the Conducting to Teach Dynamics.........................33

Fig. 7 Conductors Basic Arm Position.......................................................36

Fig. 8a Rudolfs Neutral-Legato 4-Beat Patterns (Rudolf 1995:3) ................42Fig. 8b Rudolfs Expressive-Legato 4-Beat Patterns (Rudolf 1995:22) .........42

Fig. 9 Farbermans Pitch Registration Levels (Farberman 1997a:81) ..........46

Fig. 10 Farbermans Pattern Cube (Farberman 1997a:101)...........................47Fig. 11 The Central and Peripheral Nervous System (Krschlov 2000:8) ....71

Fig. 12 Two Nerve Cells (Krschlov 2000:10)............................................72Fig. 13 Labans Concept of the Dynamosphere with Effort Actions (see

Newlove and Dalby 2004:141)...................................................90

Fig. 14 Delsartes Ninefold Accord (Shawn 1974:30)...................................94Fig. 15 Example of an Including Left Hand Pre-Conducting Behaviour .....95

Fig. 16 Dalcrozes Beat Pattern for 3/4 Time (Jaques-Dalcroze 1920:31) ...105Fig. 17 Dalcrozes Beat Pattern for 4/4 Time (Jaques-Dalcroze 1920:43) ...105

Fig. 18 Delsartes Chart for the Head (see Shawn 1974:37) ........................106

Fig. 19 Low, Purposeful Centred Gesture ...................................................115Fig. 20 Opening bars of Egmont Overture (Beethoven 1985:239)...............115

Fig. 21 Quick Frivolous Gestures ...............................................................116Fig. 22 Opening bars of the third movement of Symphony No.4 (Tchaikovsky

1979:82) ..................................................................................116

Fig. 23 Interpretations of the Ring Gesture Throughout Europe (Morris et al.1979:116-117) .........................................................................144

Fig. 24 Non-Verbal Communication Sheet (mouth & eyebrows) ................156Fig. 25 Conductor Non-Verbal Observation Form (Roshong 1978:87) .......161

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ABSTRACTIn this thesis, my main research question is whether bodily-kinaesthetic skills,expressive movement, and non-verbal communication can enhance methodstowards expressive conducting. I investigate the aspects of bodily-kinaestheticlearning that are being used in conducting textbooks, the role of the mind-bodyconnection, motor skill development, and proprioception in the development ofkinaesthetic learning. I also investigate how the movement theories of Laban,Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais, and the use of non-verbalcommunication skills and concepts, can be used to enhance expressiveconducting.

I discuss how conducting textbooks identified in my two surveys teachexpressive gestures and the use of the left hand, which are two areas that havebeen identified by experienced secondary school conductors in Melbourne asongoing weaknesses in their conducting vocabularies, noting how each textbookapproaches conducting instruction from a kinaesthetic standpoint. A priority forthe training of conductors at all levels of entering behaviour is to facilitateinstruction in the bodily-kinaesthetic domain, as too much instruction can oftenoccur in verbal and written form. The significance of proprioception toexpressive conducting is the relationship proprioception stimulates betweenmovement and sensory awareness, including its influence on the development offine motor skills and non-verbal communication.

I explore how the use of the expressive movement theories of Laban, Dalcroze,Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais can enhance expressive conducting at alllevels of entering behaviour, and examine commonalities of these five expressivemovement theories. Firstly, all five are strongly in favour of the integrationbetween body and mind, which is vitally important for conductors, whosegestures must reflect the music and thought processes happening in their brain.Secondly, all five represent an educational process, and as such, are highlyrelevant to the teaching of expressive conducting, particularly in the early stages.Thirdly, all five are learnable by anyone, not just those with high enteringbehaviour. Being learnable, they should be employed in the earliest stages ofconductor training. Finally, the importance of proprioception is acknowledged inall five of the expressive movement theories.

Conductors can enhance expressive conducting through an examination of thecategories of non-verbal communication, such as emblems, illustrators, affectdisplays, regulators, and adaptors, and the coding of non-verbal communication,particularly kinesics. Although corrective mode gestures and universallyunderstood emblems are important for conductors to be taught, as they emphasiseclarity and precision, I believe that more use could be made of illustrators andaffect displays by conducting teachers in order to access the declamatory mode.Furthermore, more use could be made of regulators and affect displays byconducting teachers in order to access the narrative mode.

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ORIGINAL STATEMENT

This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any

other degree or diploma in any university or other institution and affirms that, tothe best of the candidates knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously

published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in

the text of the thesis.

______________________________Andrew Mathers

______________________________Date

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As author of this thesis, I would like to acknowledge the excellent support and

assistance provided by the staff of the School of Music Conservatorium atMonash University throughout the progress of my research. In particular, I would

like to acknowledge the wonderful support and advice provided by my two

supervisors, Margaret Kartomi and Joel Crotty.I would also like to thank the university conducting teachers and secondary

school conductors who participated in my surveys, providing a valuable snapshotinto the work of conducting teachers and music educator/conductors.

I would finally like to thank my wife Jenny, and children Gregory, Stephen, and

Joanna for their love and support, and for allowing me to be absent from familylife for extended periods during the course of this thesis.

1CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Expressive conducting is the movements or gestures made by conductors

intended to invoke an ensemble of musicians to respond by reproducing themusical message of a score (Yontz 2001:10). This form of conducting also

aims to communicate the interpretation of a work to the musicians. Expression

can be communicated via movement of any part of a conductors body, facialexpression, and eye contact. For the purposes of this thesis, it is assumed that the

ensemble members have a basic understanding of the notes and rhythms of themusic, and will respond to the conductors performance direction. My main

research question is whether bodily-kinaesthetic skills, expressive movement,

and non-verbal communication can enhance methods of expressive conducting.An expressive conductor uses various types of movements of the hands, arms,

face and body as part of the process of conducting, depending on the skill level

of the ensemble, the level of experience the ensemble has of the work at hand,and the requirements of the music. Three gestural modes may be used:

declamatory, corrective, and narrative (Koch 2003:136-140). In the declamatorymode, the conductors musical conception is demonstrated as clearly as possible

through symbolic gesture. In corrective mode, the conducting gesture aims to

achieve performance accuracy and precision of tempo, dynamics andarticulation, the main focus being on preventing errors. In narrative mode, the

conductor grants greater autonomy to the ensemble with the expectation that itwill perform with accuracy and sensitivity. A conductors role in narrative mode

is to highlight desired features of the interpretation for the ensemble to bring out

in its performance.

The literature to date has not covered the enhancement of expressive conductingat differing levels of entering behaviour. The term entering behaviour will be

used throughout this thesis, as defined by John De Cecco to mean: the present

status of the students knowledge and skill in reference to a future status theteacher wants him to attain (De Cecco 1968:59). High entering behaviour

therefore implies that there is a high degree of initial competency beforeinstruction has been undertaken, while low entering behaviour means there is a

low, or negligible, degree. A learners entering behaviour can be influenced by

prior experiences and ability to acquire new knowledge or skills in a certain area.

2In this thesis, discussion of entering behaviour is limited mainly to learners

starting ability in terms of expressive movement. I will show how expressiveconducting can be enhanced at all levels of entering behaviour by theories of

movement and non-verbal communication.

Expressive movements communicate an idea, thought, or expression to an

individual or group. Movements may be large or small, quick or slow, jagged orflowing, light or heavy. Contrasting movements communicate a variety of non-

verbal information to receivers. Conductors level of skill in expressivemovement is a determining factor in their ability to conduct expressively.

By theories of movement are meant sets of beliefs or philosophies intended toexplain a particular position regarding movement. In this thesis, such theories are

limited to those of Laban, Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais.

Others, including tai chi, yoga and Pilates, will not be examined as part of thisstudy, as there is currently a lack of suitable theoretical literature on them. The

five theories were selected because they are able to support expressivemovements, an important form of non-verbal communication available to

conductors.

Sometimes a sender communicates non-verbally by intention, at other times

unintentionally. Non-verbal communication may occur through ones posture,gesture, or facial movements and expressions, where posture means the

coordinated positioning of all parts of the body, while gesture means coordinated

movements expressive of thought or feeling, involving only a part, or parts, ofthe body. Five categories of non-verbal communication1 will be discussed in this

thesis, each having a different communicative function in conducting: emblems,meaning non-verbal acts that can be defined in a word or simple phrase (such as

raising a hand to indicate stop); illustrators, meaning movements that are

directly tied to speech and illustrate what is being said verbally; affect displays,meaning muscle movements, generally facial, associated with a display of

emotion; regulators, meaning acts that maintain and regulate the back-and-forthnature of speaking and listening between two parties; and adaptors, meaning

habitual behaviours often learned in childhood (Ekman and Friesen 1969:63-84). 1 Ekman and Friesen (1969) initially defined these categories of non-verbal communication.

3In addition, I contend that non-verbal communication consists of seven different

codes or transmission media: kinesics, vocalics, proxemics, physical appearance,haptics, chronemics, and artifact use. Kinesics is the study of body motion as

related to the non-verbal aspects of inter-personal communication (Birdwhistell1952:3). While the other six codes have limited applications to expressive

conducting (worthy of consideration in future studies), only kinesics will be

examined as part of this thesis. Kinesics is the coding that is most relevant to theenhancement of expressive conducting, as it relates to posture, gesture, and facial

communication, including eye contact.

I shall also use the term bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, meaning the ability to

use the body in highly differentiated and skilled ways (Gardner 1993b:207). Oneof the most important elements of the kinaesthetic sense for conductors is

proprioception, defined by Sir Charles Sherrington as the stimuli given by the

organism itself to the receptors2 (Sherrington 2000:130). Proprioception is thesense of the positioning of parts of the body relative to other parts.

Early in my thesis research I conducted two exploratory surveys of university-

level conducting teachers and experienced Melbourne secondary school

conductors, presented in Appendix A and B. The results of these surveys, whichare presented in Chapter Seven, provide data on expressive movement theories

and non-verbal communication and their usage by those surveyed. Althoughconsiderable other data was collected in the surveys, only that which I considered

to be relevant to expressive movement, non-verbal communication, and

expressive conducting is discussed in this thesis.

In this thesis I shall discuss the available literature about the five expressivemovement theories, the factors of non-verbal communication and the bodily-

kinaesthetic domain. In the main textbooks I examined on conducting, I sought

answers to the following questions about aspects of bodily-kinaesthetic learning:What is the role of the mind-body connection, motor skill development, and

proprioception in the development of kinaesthetic learning? How can the

2 Kinaesthetic sensory receptors are located in the skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Theydetect changes in the state of the musculo-sceletal system, and transmit this information to thebrain (Krschlov 2000:8).

4movement theories of Laban, Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais be

used to enhance expressive conducting? How can the use of non-verbalcommunication skills and concepts enhance expressive conducting?

The skills required of a conductor are indeed numerous, acquired through aural

and general music training, including score study, experience in interpretation,

and rehearsal techniques. This thesis will not examine the general music trainingor background required of a conductor, nor the individual disciplines that form

part of a conductors training. Many of the skills prized in conducting are thoseof skilled teachers. Conductors require the capacity to diagnose problems, offer

immediate solutions, and instruct musicians as to how chosen works should be

performed. These matters, however, lie outside the scope of this thesis, which isnot intended to serve as a how to conducting manual.

Research Methodology

The information contained in this thesis has been gathered from existingpublished material on conducting, expressive movements theories, non-verbal

communication, and bodily-kinaesthetic learning, as well as original material

collected from two surveys that I administered. The first survey, which is shownin full in Appendix A, is of eighty-eight university-level conducting teachers.

The second survey, which is shown in full in Appendix B, is of forty-twosecondary school level conductors based around the Melbourne (Australia) area.

The surveys were needed for this thesis to collect information on the current

level of use of expressive movement activities by the survey respondents, and thetypes and methods of non-verbal communication being taught by university

conducting teachers.

The survey questions were directed to gather information on the numbers of

students, their musical backgrounds, and the teaching priorities of the university-level conducting teachers. Of the secondary school conductors, I asked about

their family musical background, musical experience, sporting participation, andexperiences learning conducting. Due to the broad exploratory nature of some of

these questions, not all may prove relevant to expressive conducting at the end

point of this thesis.

5Responses to the questions on the expressive movement activities, however,convinced me to focus my investigation on five expressive movement theories,

those of Laban, Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais, these theoriesbeing selected not necessarily for being the most popular, but for providing the

strongest frameworks in terms of movement theories and principles that could be

applied to expressive conducting. The mind-body connection, motor skilldevelopment, proprioception, and bodily kinaesthetic learning were not

originally part of the plan for this thesis, but as I researched the movementtheories and non-verbal communication, I became convinced that this was an

important aspect of expressive conducting and an under-researched one. I also

received indications from the surveys that body presence was important forexpressive conductors to develop, but that conducting teachers were unsure how

to go about teaching it.

With regard to selection of participants within the two surveys, all participants

were invited to respond to internet-based surveys, making completion andcollection of the surveys relatively straightforward, and responses completely

anonymous. As the number of university-level conducting positions in Australia

is relatively low, I contacted each of the departments of Australian universitieswith music programs and invited conducting teachers to participate. A large

number of conducting teachers (over 2,000) were invited via the College BandDirectors National Association (CBDNA) website bulletin board.

Ninety-two secondary school level conductors around the Melbourne area were

invited to participate mainly through the assistance of the Victorian branches ofthe Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) and the

Australian National Choral Association (ANCA). Of these ninety-two, forty-two(46%) responded to the survey.

On the basis of my initial research, I developed three main questions:1. Are the movement theories of Laban, Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and

Feldenkrais relevant to the enhancement of expressive conducting?2. Can the use of non-verbal communication skills and concepts enhance

expressive conducting?

63. Does the mind-body connection, motor skill development, and

proprioception play a part in the development of bodily-kinaesthetic learning?

Following a review focusing on the literature relating to the five expressivemovement theories and non-verbal communication in the next chapter, Chapter

Three will evaluate the kinaesthetic approach taken by conducting textbooks in

my two surveys. Chapter Four will examine the role of the mind-bodyconnection, motor skill development, and proprioception in the development of

kinaesthetic learning. I aim to show in these chapters that this development isvital for expressive conducting at all levels of entering behaviour. Chapter Five

will present five expressive movement theories, their commonalities, and their

potential use in the enhancement of expressive conducting, while Chapter Sixwill use non-verbal communication skills to enhance expressive conducting,

including the debate between universal and culturally specific emotional

expression in non-verbal communication, and the use of three gestural modes.Chapter Seven will present the results and discussion from my two surveys.

7CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter reviews the literature on the expressive movement theories of

Laban, Dalcroze, Delsarte, Alexander, and Feldenkrais, and the literature relatingto non-verbal communication. These theories, the commonalities between them,

their potential use in the enhancement of expressive conducting, and the use of

non-verbal communication skills to enhance expressive conducting are central tothis thesis.

I will reserve discussing the literature on the mind-body connection, motor skilldevelopment, and proprioception until Chapter Four.

Review of the Literature on Expressive Movement Theories

Previous conducting studies have not examined and compared the five selected

expressive movement theories. However, theses by Hecht (1971) and Schreiber(1980) have compared the theories of Laban, Dalcroze, and Delsarte. Both

focused on movement training for actors rather than conductors, but theirmethods of comparison and background research made both valuable

comparative studies for mine.

Hodgson (2001), Newlove and Dalby (2004), and Davies (2006) have

contributed useful general books about Labans theories. Hodgson provided aninsightful evaluation of Labans life and work, Newlove and Dalby provided

practical applications of Labans theories in everyday life and Davies discussed

the ongoing legacy of Labans principles, giving an overview of the developmentof Laban Movement Analysis.

Laban wrote numerous books in English or German on dance and movement.Most useful to conductors is Labans Effort (1974), in which he introduced the

concepts of weight, space, time, and flow, and effort actions3. Also

useful is Choreutics (1966), in which Laban introduced his concept of the

kinesphere, by which he meant the area of space available to the body formovement. Both The Mastery of Movement (1980) and Modern Educational

3 These terms will be explained further in Chapter Five.

8Dance (1980) contain valuable concepts of movement for expressive conducting.

However, the former book is directed to actors and the latter to dance educators.Numerous studies have applied Laban principles to conducting, including those

by Bartee (1977), Poch (1982), Miller (1988), Holt (1992) , Benge (1996),Hayslett (1996), Billingham (2001), Yontz (2001), Neidlinger (2003), and

Gambetta (2005). Of these, the most influential for my research was Bartees

thesis, which is a seminal work in the development of a theoretical position onconducting on the basis of Labans principles. It provided an incentive for others

to make further studies on the application of Laban to conducting. Pochs paperhighlighted the usefulness of Laban for conducting students who do not possess

an innate flair or a natural inclination for conducting. Miller provided evidence

that the use of Labans theories were effective for conductors at all levels ofentering behaviour, Neidlinger advocated Labans method for the promotion of

expressiveness in student conductors, Gambetta found that Laban Movement

Analysis provided a more effective alternative to teaching conductors in the earlystages than beat patterns.

Spector (1990) presented a biography of Dalcroze and an evaluation of his work

and influence. Mead (1996) and Farber and Parker (1987) wrote effective articles

that summarised Dalcrozes training method as well as providing examples of thetypes of activities used in eurhythmics classes. Although not intended

specifically to teach expressive conducting, Schnebly-Black and Moore (1997)provided excellent exercises that can be used by conductors, highlighting the

potential benefits of using Dalcroze as part of conductor training.

Dalcrozes books Eurhythmics, Art and Education (2003) and Rhythm, Musicand Education (2002) consist of essays on Dalcrozes pedagogical ideas. Of the

two, Eurhythmics, Art and Education is the more practical guide for conductorsas it contained two chapters that presented exercises that could assist in the

teaching of expressive conducting. Although Rhythm, Music and Education also

contained exercises that could be used by conductors, the main value of this bookwas to show how eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation, the three elements of

Dalcrozes theory, could work together to enhance musicianship. Another bookby Dalcroze that contained appropriate eurhythmics exercises, as well as

examples of Dalcrozes original conducting patterns, is Rhythmic Movement

(1920). The only studies that specifically apply Dalcrozes theories to conducting

9are those by Pfrimmer (1926), Dickson (1992), and McCoy (1994). Both

Pfrimmer and Dickson advocated the benefits of eurhythmics on thedevelopment of musicianship for conductors, including the enhancement of the

mind-body connection. McCoy provided the clearest and most effectiveexamples of the use of Dalcroze in the training of conductors.

Although Delsartes own writing is of interest as a primary source4, it does notrepresent a clear statement of his theories, as they are not sequentially presented

and are obviously not intended for publication (Delsarte never published any ofhis work). The clearest statement is found in Ted Shawns book Every Little

Movement (1974), which included Delsartes laws and many of his charts, as

well as explanations on how they should be interpreted. Shawn also extensivelyreviewed and evaluated the published literature on Delsarte.

The only study that linked Delsartes theories to conducting is by Lyne (1979),

who advocated the use of Delsartes charts by conductors, finding thatconductors who observed Delsartes laws of expression were the most effective

non-verbal communicators.

Gelb (1994) and Jones (1997) provided the clearest general statements on the

Alexander Technique. Gelb clearly discussed the main Alexander concepts, suchas inhibition, end-gaining, and the means-whereby principle5, and he

provided an effective bibliography of Alexander materials. The main significanceof Jones writing is his discussion of the influence of Alexander on major writers

and thinkers of his time, including John Dewey and Aldous Huxley.

Alexanders The Use of the Self (2001) is most useful for conductors, as itconcisely introduces his theories, as well as describing the discovery and

application of the Primary Control.Other studies that have applied the Alexander Technique to music include

Mayers and Babits (1987), De Alcantara (1997), Knaub (1999), and Conable and

Conable (2000). While Mayers and Babits provided a short, general introductionto the Alexander Technique, De Alcantara provided a more detailed and practical

resource for musicians. He gives examples of ways in which the Alexander

4 Delsartes theories appear in the book The Delsarte System of Oratory (1893), which contains asection entitled The Literary Remains of Franois Delsarte.5 These Alexander concepts will be discussed in Chapter Five.

10

Technique could benefit all musicians, although he does not mention expressive

conducting specifically. Conable and Conable, along with Knaub, discussedBody Mapping, which is the name given to a specific application of the

Alexander Technique for musicians. While Conable and Conables book containsclear and concise anatomical diagrams, Knaubs thesis is more detailed in its

examination of Body Mapping as a teaching and diagnostic tool.

Currently, the only publication to apply either the Alexander Technique or BodyMapping to conducting is a videocassette by Jordan and Buchanan (2002), which

shows the use of Body Mapping in a conducting class. The video corrects mis-conceptions about how conductors should use the right hand, thereby alleviating

right hand tension.

To date, there have been no studies applying the Feldenkrais Method to

conducting. Two resources that provide a concise explanation of the Feldenkrais

Method are Frequently asked questions about the method, published by theAustralian Feldenkrais Guild (n.d.), and Awareness Heals by Shafarman (1997).

While the former contained a brief overview of the method, Shafarman provideda more detailed account of Moshe Feldenkrais, as well as examples of six

Awareness Through Movement lessons that could be used in a conducting

class.Of Feldenkraiss books, the clearest and most useful for expressive conducting is

Awareness Through Movement (1990) in which Feldenkrais discusses thedevelopment of self-image, an important aspect of Feldenkraiss concept of

awareness, consisting of four components movement, sensation, feeling and

thought. The book also contains twelve practical lessons designed to bring aboutchange to an individuals self-image.

The only article to discuss the application of the Feldenkrais Method to music isone by Weinberger (1999). This article gave examples of students at all levels of

entering behaviour learning movement, reinforcing an important argument of this

thesis.

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Review of the Literature on Non-Verbal Communication

Numerous researchers have linked non-verbal communication to conducting,

including Ostling (1977), Grechesky (1985), Stauch (1986), Julian (1989), Sousa(1989), Durrant (1994), McClung (1996) and (2005), Ford (2001), and Van

Weelden (2002). Of these studies, Durrant, McClung, and Van Weelden are

significant in the importance they place on the role of non-verbal communicationin the training of conductors, while Grechesky found that conductors who

sharpen their non-verbal communication skills can have a very positive effect ontheir groups musical performance.

Ekman and Friesen (1969) provided a major contribution to the understanding ofthe categories of non-verbal behaviour, emblems, illustrators, affect displays,

regulators, and adaptors. Conductors can enhance expressive conducting through

an examination of these categories, as well as the coding, particularly kinesics.Burgoon, Buller, and Woodall (1996), although covering the broadest range of

non-verbal communication, provided the clearest and most concise of thesurveyed books on coding.

The use of facial expression and eye contact is a particularly important aspect ofnon-verbal communication of relevance to expressive conducting. Ekman and

Friesen (2003) and Beebe (1974) provided valuable studies on the use of thefacial channel and eye contact. Beebe linked the level of eye contact with

presenter credibility, while Ekman and Friesen described in detail and showed

the facial characteristics of the primary emotions: surprise, fear, disgust, anger,happiness, and sadness, including various blends of the primary emotions.

As university conducting teachers in my survey acknowledged self observation

and observation of other conductors as important methods for developing non-

verbal communication techniques in student conductors, an effective means ofobserving and analysing conductors is needed. However, an ongoing problem has

been to find an effective way to observe and record expressive non-verbalcommunication behaviours. Researchers who have attempted to do this have

included Leyden (1968), Roshong (1978), Berz (1983), Silkebakken (1988),

Marrin (1996), Marrin Nakra (2000), Brm and Braem (2001), and Kun (2004).

12

Brm and Braems paper is one of the few studies to analyse conductors use of

the left hand. Kuns thesis was the first study to employ motion capturetechnology to record conducting movements, although facial gestures were not

measured as part of this study, removing the ability to analyse this area.

Highlighted by the difficulties with observing and recording the expression of

emotions by conductors, learning conducting via the bodily-kinaesthetic domainis particularly effective for conductors at all levels of entering behaviour due to

the physical and mental connections that conductors can make while developingtheir gestural communication technique. In the following chapter, I will discuss

the kinaesthetic approach taken in conducting textbooks used by the university

conducting teachers and practising conductors who responded to my twosurveys.

13

CHAPTER THREE AN EVALUATION OF THE KINAESTHETICAPPROACH TAKEN BY CONDUCTING TEXTBOOKS IDENTIFIED IN

TWO SURVEYS

Over the past fifty years, textbooks on conducting have provided musicians and

intending conductors with the most accessible information on learning to

conduct. Even in current situations where beginning conductors have access to aconducting class or a private conducting tutor, the class or individual instructor

will often use one or more conducting textbooks, as shown by my survey ofeighty-eight university conducting teachers across five countries6, where 81%

used conducting textbooks.

The primary aim of this chapter is to evaluate the kinaesthetic approach used byconducting textbooks identified in the university conducting teacher survey, as

well as in my survey of forty-two experienced secondary school conductors in

Melbourne7, in order to determine which conducting textbooks most effectivelyconveyed elements of expressive conducting through the bodily-kinaesthetic

domain, including the use of the left hand, expressive body movement, bodyattitude, facial expression and eye contact. I will examine the way each textbook

discusses conducting gestures, the order of concepts covered, and when and how

the use of the left hand is introduced. My review of conducting textbooks isunique in that it evaluates the kinaesthetic approach taken in the identified

conducting textbooks, therefore accounting for the descriptive content within thischapter.

The number of available conducting textbooks has grown significantly over the

last fifty years8 as conductors Hermann Scherchen and Max Rudolf discovered

that conducting was both learnable and teachable. Textbooks by Donald

Hunsberger and Roy Ernst (1992), and Robert Demaree and Don Moses (1995),are aimed at beginner conductors or conductor/educators, particularly those in

university conducting programs, in which case the textbook often serves as a

6 The full survey can be found in Appendix A.7 The full survey can be found in Appendix B.8 There are currently over fifty different conducting textbooks available in Victorian libraries,according to the National Library of Australia database, located athttp://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia.

14

complete unit of study. Other textbooks by Rudolf (1995) and Elizabeth Green

(Green and Gibson 2004) are intended as all-encompassing conducting manuals,often written by professional conductors passing on their particular method. A

third category of textbook by Frederik Prausnitz (1983) is intended for theexperienced conductor endeavouring to take their conducting skills to the next

level.

Although different textbooks have different emphases, conducting instruction in

most textbooks can be divided into five main areas; beat patterns, left hand use9,

rehearsal techniques, score study, and expressive gestures10. The textbooks from

the surveys by James Jordan (1996), and Robert Garofalo and Frank Battisti(2005) I found to be successful in covering left hand use and expressive gestures,

as these books made more effective use of the bodily-kinaesthetic domain

through the effective use of breathing, movement awareness, and imagery thanmonographs that attempted only linguistic explanations. By the employment of

movement awareness, these textbooks aim to increase the readers comfort withbody positioning and movement as a first step, before introducing the conducting

gestures.

In examining the textbooks themselves, those that focus primarily on thebeginning aspects of conducting are considered first, followed by the manual-

type books, aimed at all levels of conductors. In each of these categories, thetextbooks are examined in order, starting with what I have determined to be the

most successful in terms of kinaesthetic instruction, finishing with the least

successful.

9 Although the use of the left hand is ultimately an expressive gesture, it is separated in this thesisinto its own category given its stand-alone treatment in most conducting textbooks.10 This is a very broad area, encompassing all aspects of non-verbal communication includingexpressive body movement, body attitude, facial expression and eye contact.

15

Conducting Textbooks Selected for Examination

In my survey of eighty-eight university conducting teachers across five countries,the teachers were asked about the background of their students, and their

teaching methodologies and priorities. They were also asked to list theconducting textbooks that they use (Table 1):Author Title Date Edition Number PercentageBattisti/Garofalo Guide to Score Study 1990 1st 7 8%Curtis/Kuehn Guide to Successful Instrumental

Conducting1992 1st 1 1%

Demaree/Moses The Complete Conductor 1995 1st 2 2%Garofalo/Battisti Lead and Inspire 2005 1st 1 1%Green/Gibson The Modern Conductor 2004 7th 37 42%Hunsberger/Ernst The Art of Conducting 1992 2nd 21 24%Jordan Evoking Sound 1996 1st 2 2%Kohut/Grant Learning to Conduct and

Rehearse1990 1st 1 1%

Kuijpers The Art of Conducting - - 1 1%Labuta Basic Conducting Techniques 2004 5th 13 15%Leinsdorf The Composers Advocate 1981 1st 1 1%Long The Conductors Workshop 1977 2nd 1 1%Maiello Conducting, A Hands-On

Approach1996 1st 7 8%

McBeth Effective Performance of BandMusic

1972 1st 1 1%

McElheran Conducting Technique 1989 2nd 2 2%McMurray Conducting from the Inside Out

(DVD)2003 1st 1 1%

Nowak/Nowak Conducting the Music, Not theMusicians

2002 1st 5 6%

Phillips Basic Techniques of Conducting 1997 1st 3 3%Prausnitz Score and Podium 1983 1st 3 3%Rudolf The Grammar of Conducting 1995 3rd 4 5%Saito The Saito Conducting Method 1988 1st 1 1%Scherchen Handbook of Conducting 1933 1st 1 1%Schuller The Compleat Conductor 1997 1st 4 5%

Instrumentalist ConductorsAnthology

1993 2nd 1 1%

Own Textbooks 2 2%Own Exercises 8 9%Various 2 2%None Indicated 17 19%

Table 1 Conducting Textbooks Used by University Conducting Teachers

Seventeen respondents (19%) indicated that they used no conducting textbooks.

Of those remaining, thirty-seven used one book only (52%), nineteen used twobooks (27%), and fifteen (21%) used three or more books (one respondent used

seven conducting textbooks). The most popular conducting textbook used was

The Modern Conductor by Elizabeth Green, used by thirty-seven respondents(42%). The second most popular textbook mentioned was The Art of Conducting

by Donald Hunsberger and Roy Ernst (24%). None of the respondents who used

16

their own textbooks used other textbooks, while 75% of respondents who used

their own exercises used other textbooks.

In my survey of forty-two experienced secondary school conductors inMelbourne, the conductors were asked to comment on their own backgrounds

and experiences, and any difficulties they had with learning to conduct. They

were also asked to list the conducting textbooks that they had used (Table 2):Author Title Date Edition Number PercentageBattisti/Garofalo Guide to Score Study 1990 1st 2 5%Berlioz The Art of the Conductor - - 1 2%Curtis/Kuehn Guide to Successful Instrumental

Conducting1992 1st 1 2%

Green The Conductors Score 1985 2nd 1 2%Green/Gibson The Modern Conductor 2004 7th 10 24%Hunsberger/Ernst The Art of Conducting 1992 2nd 1 2%Jordan Evoking Sound 1996 1st 1 2%Labuta Basic Conducting Techniques 2004 5th 1 2%Lisk Alternative Rehearsal Techniques 1987 1st 4 10%Maiello Conducting, A Hands-On

Approach1996 1st 2 5%

McBeth Effective Performance of BandMusic

1972 1st 1 2%

Miles (ed.) Teaching Music ThroughPerformance Series

Var. 1st 1 2%

Nowak/Nowak Conducting the Music, Not theMusicians

2002 1st 2 5%

Rudolf The Grammar of Conducting 1995 3rd 1 2%Saito The Saito Conducting Method 1988 1st 1 2%

ABODA Conducting CourseNotes

2 5%

None Indicated 22 52%Table 2 Conducting Textbooks Used by Experienced Melbourne

Secondary School Conductors

Twenty-two respondents indicated that they used no conducting textbooks. Of

those remaining, fifteen used one book only (36%), three used two books (7%),and two (5%) used four or more books (one respondent used six conducting

textbooks). The most common conducting textbook used was The Modern

Conductor by Elizabeth Green, used by ten respondents (24%). No othertextbooks came close to this result. The second most popular textbook mentioned

(Alternative Rehearsal Techniques by Ed Lisk, used by 10% of respondents) isnot a true conducting textbook, as it only covers rehearsal techniques.

In selecting the conducting textbooks for this review, I used the published

textbooks identified in the two surveys as my guide as to what people wereusing. Out of these textbooks, I only focused on those that contained a substantial

section on conducting gestures, rejecting identified textbooks that focused solely

17

on repertoire (Teaching Music Through Performance series), rehearsal

techniques (Alternative Rehearsal Techniques and Effective Performance ofBand Music), score study (The Conductors Score and Guide to Score Study),

and personal theories on the art of conducting (Berlioz The Art of theConductor, Leinsdorfs The Composers Advocate and Schullers The Compleat

Conductor). This left eighteen textbooks and one DVD from the surveys, with

twelve textbooks aimed at beginner conductors or conductor/educators, fivecomplete conducting manuals, one DVD, and one textbook aimed at advanced

conductors11. Following my examination of the kinaesthetic approach taken by

these materials, I further rejected three textbooks aimed at beginner conductors

or conductor/educators by Phillips (1997), Labuta (2004), and Long (1977); threecomplete conducting manuals by Saito (1988), Scherchen (1933), and McElheran

(1989); and the textbook aimed at advanced conductors by Prausnitz, as all being

kinaesthetically ineffective, due to the lack of kinaesthetic imagery employed,and the over reliance on written instructions.

I took the liberty of adding two other textbooks that were not identified in thesurveys; The Art of Conducting Technique by Harold Farberman (1997), and

Choral Conducting: Philosophy and Practice by Colin Durrant (2003), as I

believe that these textbooks contribute a kinaesthetic approach to the teaching ofconducting gesture, and deserve to be more widely known.

As part of my survey of university conducting teachers, I asked them to rank in

order of importance eight methods that may be used by their students to develop

conducting expressivity (Table 3):

11 I was subsequently forced to reject the elusive textbook The Art of Conducting by PierreKuijpers, as I was unable to locate a copy. As only one person out of both surveys identified thistextbook, I saw the overall effects of its omission as minimal.

18

Rank Order Number of 1st Pref PercentagePractice away from Ensemble 3 11 13%Observation of Other Conductors 2 13 15%Self Observation (Mirror, Video) 1 28 32%Discussion with Teachers/Other Students 5 4 5%Conducting Class/Course/Workshop 4 23 26%Conducting Textbook 7 2 2%Expressive Movement Activity 6 7 8%Just Improved Over Time 8 1 1%None of These 9 0Table 3 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development

of Conducting Expressivity

As can be seen from this table, only 2% of conducting teachers rated textbooksas the main method for assisting the development of conducting expressivity. As

conducting teachers did not rate conducting textbooks highly as a method for

developing conducting expressivity, I asked experienced Melbourne secondaryschool conductors in another survey to rank the methods that had assisted them

in the development of left hand use (Table 4) and expressive gestures (Table 5)to find out whether the secondary school conductors had found conducting

textbooks any more helpful. These questions were not asked of the university

conducting teachers, as in their survey, I was primarily focssed on their teachingmethodology and student background.

Rank Order Number of 1st Pref. PercentagePractice away from Ensemble 4 8 19%Observation of Other Conductors 1 10 24%Self Observation (Mirror, Video) 3 6 14%Discussion with Mentor/Teacher 5 2 5%Conducting Class/Course/Workshop 2 13 31%Conducting Textbook 7 0Just Improved Over Time 6 1 2%None of These 8 1 2%Table 4 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development

of Left Hand Use (Survey of Experienced Secondary SchoolConductors in Melbourne)

The overall rank order to assist the development of the left hand differed from

the number of first preferences among respondents, as some methods rankedhigher on second and third preferences than others. Although observation of

other conductors received a higher rank order than conducting classes, courses orworkshops, more respondents gave conducting classes, courses and workshops

their first preference (thirteen compared to ten for observation of other

conductors). Other discrepancies between the overall rank order and the number

19

of first preferences occurred in self-observation (ranked third, but six first

preferences) and practice away from the ensemble (ranked fourth, but eight firstpreferences). Conducting textbooks were down in the list of assistants important

to the development of the left hand (ranked seventh, only one first preference).Rank Order Number of 1st Pref. Percentage

Practise away from Ensemble 5 3 7%Observation of Other Conductors 1 17 40%Self Observation (Mirror, Video) 2 9 21%Discussion with Mentor/Teacher 3 3 7%Conducting Class/Course/Workshop 4 6 14%Conducting Textbook 7 0Just Improved Over Time 6 2 5%None of These 8 2 5%Table 5 Rank Order of Importance of Methods to Assist the Development

of Expressive Gestures (Survey of Experienced Secondary SchoolConductors in Melbourne)

The observation of other conductors was clearly the most popular method fordeveloping expressive gestures among the respondents, both in terms of overall

rank order and number of first preferences (40%). Self-observation was a clearsecond choice, receiving its highest ranking as a method for expressive gestures.

Nine respondents (21%) chose self-observation via a mirror or video as their first

preference. Discussion with a mentor or teacher was ranked marginally higher(third) than conducting classes, courses or workshops (fourth), although classes

received twice as many first preferences (six 14%) as discussion (three 7%).Few respondents believed that expressive gestures would just improve over time.

This method was ranked sixth, with only two respondents (5%) allocating it a

first preference. Conducting textbooks received even less support, rankingseventh in order, and receiving no first preferences from respondents. The

highest preference conducting textbooks received for expressive gestures wasthird preference from two respondents.

The implications from the survey of experienced Melbourne secondary school

conductors are that either they did not find conducting textbooks of much value,with less than 50% admitting to using them, or they were ignorant of the

conducting textbooks available. The survey also indicated that experienced

Melbourne secondary school conductors preferred practical forms of training,including specific conducting courses (55% of respondents had attended them),

or learning through observation of a colleague or mentor (64% or respondents).

20

Nevertheless, 81% of university conducting teachers continue to use conducting

textbooks, indicating that university conducting teachers continue to valueconducting textbooks, if not for the development of conducting expressivity, then

possibly for the way the textbooks model a complete method of conductinginstruction than can easily be implemented by university conducting teachers, as

in textbooks by Labuta (2004), Hunsberger and Ernst (1992), and Phillips (1997),

which all begin with beat pattern instruction. As over half the textbooks areintended for use with beginner conductors or conductor/educators, often in

classes taken by these university conducting teachers, this is the area firstexamined.

An Evaluation of the Kinaesthetic Approach taken by Conducting TextbooksAimed at Beginner Conductors or Conductor/Educators

In this section, I will examine the way each textbook discusses conducting

gestures, the order of concepts covered, and when and how the use of the lefthand is introduced.

Two university conducting teachers and one experienced Melbourne secondaryschool conductor identified James Jordans Evoking Sound (1996)(1st edition) in

the surveys. Intended specifically for the choral conductor, Jordan articulates his

approach to the teaching of conducting early in the book, emphasising theimportant relationship between gesture and sound, feeling that this area has been

ignored by mainstream conducting pedagogy. In Jordans opinion, it is easierinstead to write about standard conducting technique, so this is what the majority

of books on conducting do. He suggests that readers refer to other books for

more technical information on conducting, while acknowledging the importanceof technique (Jordan 1996:xiii). Jordan is a strong advocate for conducting

students seeking an understanding of the body and movement, his book being theonly one to refer to both Laban12 and Alexander13.

12 The work of the Hungarian-born movement theorist Rudolf Laban will be addressed in ChapterFive.13 The work of F.M. Alexander, who pioneered theories of efficient body use, is discussed inChapter Five.

21

This is the most kinaesthetically-focused textbook available. The first part,

entitled Building a Relationship of Gesture to Sound, begins with the conceptof alignment, introducing the Alexander Technique as a method of creating inner

space within the body for the breath. Jordan justifies his use of the AlexanderTechnique in the teaching of conducting:

Much of what we do as conductors is highly influenced by our body attitude. Asconductors, our bodies must reflect what is necessary to produce a healthy, open, andfree vocal sound, regardless of the level of the singers with which we work. Many newand experienced conductors underestimate the impact that correct alignment can haveupon the ensemble that they conduct and the effects that poor and misalignment haveupon their own performance as conductors (Jordan 1996:12).

Jordan therefore uses the Alexander Technique as a way to increase body

awareness in conducting, through having student conductors monitor their body

alignment as an influencing factor in both their own and their ensemblesperformance.

From here, Jordan examines the movement potential of conductors via the workof Laban, including an introduction to the effort actions14 and exploratory

exercises using efforts in combination15, including practical examples of the

effort actions for conductors to practise, such as tracing a picture with a pencilfor a floating gesture, and reaching to shake hands for a gliding gesture (Jordan

1996:33-41). In his thesis on using the principle of Laban Movement Analysis tocreate a fresh approach to conducting gesture, Charles Gambetta describes

Jordans book as: An important addition to conducting literature because of his

decision to include Labans effort descriptions as part of his recommendedmethodology (Gambetta 2005:15).

The author consistently emphasises the importance of the breath in the art ofconducting in the early stages of the book:

Breath is the core of all conducting gesture, all music making. The breath of theconductor and the breathing of the choir establishes the most important ingredient forspontaneous music making. The breath of the conductor establishes tempo, colour, andaffect of the piece. Remarkably, breath also allows the conductor to hear all of theelements of the score! There is a direct relationship between the ability to breathe andthe ability to hear (Jordan 1996:69).

Jordans correct insistence on the importance of breathing for conductors is

highly significant, as I have found through my experience of teaching conducting

14 Labans eight effort actions, punch, slash, press, wring, float, glide, dab, and flick, arecombinations of weight, space, and time. The effort actions are examined in Chapter Five.15 The efforts in combination are elements of weight, space, time, and flow.

22

that breathing is the most kinaesthetically important aspect of conducting

gesture.Jordan teaches the use of both arms in conducting from the very beginning,

advising mirroring the right and left arm movements. He explains that this isdone so that conducting students, from the beginning of their study, become

accustomed to breathing with and for the choir with a balanced gesture that will,

in turn, encourage a deep-seated breath from the choir (Jordan 1996:80). Thelinking of breathing to gesture, which Jordan employs throughout the book, is in

my opinion, also a particularly effective way to teach beginner conductors tobecome more comfortable with their conducting gestures.

Beat patterns are not discussed until midway through Chapter Eight, as in

Jordans opinion, correct I believe, the study of conducting has become toopattern focused:

With the advent of texts on conducting, it seemed helpful to diagram not only beatlocations, but to draw the path of the hand between those beat locations. While thisseems like a helpful idea, the advent of such pattern maps made conductorsinadvertently rely on rigid patterns that were not able to spontaneously reflect therealities of music. More serious, however, conducting pedagogy and the learning ofconducting became a visual, rather than an aural, art. Conducting study became morepreoccupied with the correct pattern, rather than teaching students to listen and respondto their instincts (Jordan 1996:86).

Jordans comments indicate that in his opinion, conducting has become more

mechanical than kinaesthetic.

Instead of using the terms preparation or preparatory beat, Jordan calls thisgesture the breath impulse (Jordan 1996:93). A departure from other books is

that Jordan appears to ask for a double gesture as a breath impulse prior to therelease of sound, which could be confusing for ensembles not trained to

recognise this.

In teaching dynamics, he effectively links the gesture with the breath, stating: Itis the intensity of the breath and its corresponding gesture that imparts the

character of the dynamic to the singer. Dynamics are not merely a question of

volume; they are changes of intensity borne out of the breath (Jordan 1996:103).The lack of discussion on baton technique is understandable in a choral

conducting book as many choral conductors choose not to conduct with a baton,

23

believing that the shape of the conducting hand affects the sound produced by the

choir16.Jordans textbook is a must for choral conductors, but should be considered by

all conductors, due to its kinaesthetic approach throughout.

The instrumental conducting textbook that comes closest to Jordans in its

kinaesthetic approach is Lead and Inspire (2005)(1st edition) by Robert Garofaloand Frank Battisti, used in the surveys by one university conducting teacher.

This book is one of the most recently written conducting textbooks, and it isdesigned to teach conductors the knowledge and skills needed to inspire

expressive musical performances. Garofalo and Battisti correctly claim that: no

other conducting book provides as comprehensive a taxonomy of conductingskills and gestures (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:v). It is a companion book to the

earlier written Guide to Score Study for the Wind Band Conductor (Battisti and

Garofalo 1990), which was used by seven university conducting teachers and twoexperienced Melbourne secondary school conductors in the surveys.

The book is divided in three main parts, part 1 covering The Craft of PodiumConducting, including parameters of body and space, characteristics of

conducting motion, body language, and facial expressions. The authors suggest

that this section could be used as a conducting class textbook, stressing that thechapters need not be introduced sequentially, but as determined by the individual

instructor. Part 2 contains music for class conducting and performance, and ismade up of flexibly orchestrated full scores. Instrumental parts can be obtained

from the publisher via their website (www.whirlwind-music.com). Part 3

provides students with opportunities to deal with numerous conductingchallenges using examples from the wind band and orchestra repertoire.

This textbook employs more kinaesthetic learning strategies than any otherinstrumental conducting method, such as excellent movement and spatial

exercises, including warm-up stretching and joint sensitivity exercises, which

relate to the size of conducting gestures using conducting frames17. These

16 An example of this occurs in Colin Durrants book Choral Conducting: Philosophy andPractice in which Durrant describes a gesture in which the palm is lifted as if gently pulling apuppet string: The importance of this particular gesture is that the raising of the inside of thepalm reflects the raising of the soft palate, which is situated inside the mouth at the rear, which inturn will assist with tuning certain musical phrases or notes (Durrant 2003:147).17 Conducting frames are rectangular spaces into which conducting gestures fit, the size of whichare determined by dynamics; the louder the dynamic, the larger the frame.

24

exercises are ideal preparation for correctly employing the shoulder, elbow, wrist

and finger joints in the effective communication of dynamics, as the smallerjoints encourage smaller movements, leading to softer dynamics. The authors

teach four planes of conducting height, the head, shoulders, chest, and waist,which are used to indicate expressive volume, to communicate with players

according to where they sit, and show the tessitura or contours of the music (Fig.

1)18. Garofalo and Battisti refer to the chest as the power centre of conducting,the location allowing the conductors gestures to be visible to musicians, but also

allowing the conductors face and eyes to be seen clearly, which the authorsemphasise are enormously important in conveying musical information19.

Fig. 1 Four Planes of Conducting(Garofalo and Battisti 2005:11)

They devote the entire third chapter to additional movement exercises linking

movement and musical expression, stating that: Conducting motion and musical

expression are inextricably entwined. There is a symbiotic relationshipbetween a conductors movements and the sounds he or she hopes to evoke from

the ensemble (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:16). Garofalo and Battisti identify four

characteristics of conducting motion: direction, design, velocity, and weight.They refer to Labans different terminology (weight, space, time, flow) for the

same characteristics, and introduce some effective exercises to allow conductorsto kinaesthetically experience these qualities of conducting motion.

The left hand is included in these early conducting exercises, allowing student

conductors to learn balanced, focused gestures. The authors also present acomprehensive chapter on left hand gestures, including a description and

evaluation of twenty different left hand signals and their potential usage inconducting (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:61-64), including diagrams and

photographs. No other conducting textbook presents as thorough an analysis of

18 The term plateau is probably more accurate to describe these four conducting heights, so asnot to confuse students with the three planes of movement, vertical, horizontal, and sagittal(forward and back), advocated by Laban, and described in more detail in Chapter Five.19 The concept of the power centre tends to be used more in choral conducting than ininstrumental conducting, although I would argue that the chest is too high for the power centre inchoral conducting, as the waist area would promote better breath support.

25

left hand gestures, enabling the left hand to be portrayed as a learnable element

of conducting.Baton use and grip is early and in a straightforward manner, with the following

clear instruction: Place the base of the baton handle (the point near the shaft)between the thumb and first joint of the index finger then gently wrap the other

three fingers around the handle in a natural and comfortable way (Garofalo and

Battisti 2005:4). A clear diagram also supports these instructions (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Baton Use and Grip (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:4)

Dynamic expression, which was initially introduced in the opening exercises, is

re-visited in Chapter Seven, where the authors teach four clear ways to control

dynamics, often in combination: altering the size of the conducting frame, usingsagittal20 motion on the podium (forward is louder, backward is softer), using the

left hand, and employing facial expressions and body language (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Dynamic Cone, Showing Possible Alterations in Size of Beat and SagittalMotion (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:55)

Preparatory and release gestures are taught in Chapter Six, the authors clearly

outlining the necessary elements that an effective preparatory gesture must

20 Forward and backward

26

convey (tempo, dynamics and character) (Garofalo and Battisti 2005:50).

Although diagrams are provided for release gestures, a diagram would have beenhelpful and appropriate for the introduction of preparatory gestures as well.

This textbook offers excellent kinaesthetic instruction for conductors at all levels,but is particularly non-threatening for beginner conductors. Moreover, there is a

chapter on the non-verbal elements of conducting, which is an area that most

books avoid, seemingly unable to put this area into words, but is a mostimportant aspect of expressive conducting that I will develop further in Chapter

Six.

Although published nine years earlier than the Garofalo and Battisti textbook,

another instrumental conducting textbook with an excellent kinaestheticapproach is Anthony Maiellos Conducting A Hands-On Approach (1996)(1st

edition), used by seven university conducting teachers and two experienced

Melbourne secondary school conductors from the surveys.Maiellos textbook has a great deal to offer from a kinaesthetic standpoint,

certainly in the early stages of the book, effectively linking movement toconducting communication in the introduction:

The study of acting, dance and mime will broaden the horizons of sensitivity in anyhuman being as they are all linked together in communicating a message. These three artforms should be considered essential for any conductor wishing to develop and improvetechnique. Conducting technique requires graceful movements of the body as used indance, combined facial and physical gestures as used in acting, and physicalpresentations without speaking as used in mime (Maiello 1996a:7).

Unlike books on conducting by Hunsberger and Ernst, Phillips, and Labuta,

Maiello does not begin with teaching the beat patterns, emphasising instead theability to communicate in silence through gesture. Maiello places great

importance on the vertical and horizontal planes, and discusses an

extended/forward intensity plane, much along the lines of Laban21. AlthoughMaiello uses concepts similar to Laban, there is no indication that Laban was an

inspiration, unlike the textbooks by Jordan and Garofalo and Battisti, which

specifically refer to Laban. Instead it appears that Maiellos exercises wereindependently developed, examples of which are Maiellos opening spatially

oriented exercises, designed to create an awareness of space, time and flow(again, Laban concepts), although Maiello emphasises the importance of travel,

21 As already stated, Laban refers to the extended/forward intensity plane as the sagittal plane.

27

which he defines as the movement of the baton/hands between beats (Maiello

1996a:12). Here Maiellos is one of the only textbooks to teach the importance ofthe space between the beats at an early stage of conducting instruction. This is

significant because, as will be discussed in Chapter Six, the space between thebeats is one of the important characteristics of expressive conducting.

Maiello also rightly introduces the left hand at a much earlier stage than most

other textbooks, and has the left hand participate in the special exercises. Hisapproach is an excellent way to teach sensitivity and independence in the left

hand from the earliest stage, rather than tackling this later on.Maiello also teaches preparatory and release gestures prior to the introduction of

beat patterns. He emphasises the importance of breathing as a simultaneous part

of the process of delivery of the preparatory gesture, as does Jordan. WhenMaiello does introduce the patterns, he takes the approach of introducing each

beat at a time. He begins with a 1 pattern in order to get conductors to simply

feel the delivery of a consistent, steady pulse, complete with practice exercises.Apart from providing a printed score that is flexible enough to be performed by

any combination of instruments, Maiellos book comes complete with a CDcontaining recordings of every example in the book, plus an optional extra video.

Subsequent patterns of 2, 3, and 4 are gradually introduced. He identifies a

problem that many conductors have with the 4 pattern, when the second beattravels too close to the body, introducing a spatial exercise in front of a wall

maintaining the baton tip one inch from the wall through the whole pattern as aneffective solution to this problem. He teaches dynamics with clear and effective

imagery, relating the dynamic level to the size of the gestures.

Not all of the text is as clear and easy-to-use as the opening, as his chapter onThe Anacrusis and Fractional Pick-ups is presented in a confusing manner, with

too many options given to deliver effective preparatory beats, rather thanallowing readers to achieve comfort with developing skills one at a time, and his

chapter on subdivision appears to be a bit rushed (although this becomes a little

clearer when observed on the companion video, which needs to be purchasedseparately! (Maiello 1996b)) Nevertheless, the early stages of the book live up to

the hands-on billing of the title, making this textbook an effective resource.

Like Maiello, the early chapters of Daniel Kohut and Joe Grants Learning to

Conduct and Rehearse (1990)(1st edition) are kinaesthetically effective, due to

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effective range of motion exercises. One university conducting teacher in the

survey used this textbook. Kohut and Grant are respectively a successfuluniversity instrumental music educator and a successful university choral music

educator. This book was found to be highly usable for beginner conductors byJohn Hylton of the University of Missouri, who recommended it as clearly

written and informative (Hylton 1991:90).

Both Kohut and Grant emphasise at the very outset a slow, patient process ofteaching skills one at a time, such as range of motion, ready position, preparatory

gestures, downbeats, and releasing gestures, and not proceeding until each skill islearned thoroughly, based on repetition.

Following an introduction to the role and function of the conductor, the authors

begin with an excellent series of exercises, exploring range of motion and planesof motion at conducting pivot points, which are the natural pivot points of the

shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, and fingers. Kohut and Grant suggest performing

the exercises with eyes closed to heighten the kinaesthetic sense, stating:In the same way an actor or a mime explores the use of facial expressions, body posture,and gesture, conductors should investigate the range of motions possible at each pivotpoint. Isolate your sense of feeling and kinaesthetic awareness and focus on each of thepivot points, one at a time (Kohut and Grant 1990:3-4).

These range of motion exercises are extremely worthwhile for conductors to

explore their own body use and increase kinaesthetic sensitivity.In teaching the preparatory and downbeat motions, they make it clear that the

textbook is designed for use in conjunction with a conducting instructor, creating

opportunities for observation and imitation. Imagery is regularly used as a meansof creating effective kinaesthetic connections, the authors suggesting moving

hands away from a warm stove to encourage the correct upward arm movementfor the preparatory motion, for example. They also suggest that conductors think

of throwing a ball toward the floor for the downbeat (Kohut and Grant 1990:9).

This use of imagery is applauded by conducting teacher Dale Lonis who states:The authors realise the difficulty of presenting skills through verbal language

and therefore attempt to avoid using step-by-step procedural language as much as

possible (Lonis 1993:39).All gestures learned in the first chapter involve both the left and right hands.

Most of the standard conducting gestures introduced in Chapter Two are for theright hand only, the left hand being further discussed at the end of the chapter.

All beat patterns are introduced at this point, initially without the use of a baton.

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A number of alternative patterns are presented, with the authors discussing the

strengths and weaknesses of each.According to the authors, there is no simple solution to the challenge of

coordinating right and left hands (Kohut and Grant 1990:39) except throughslow, repetitive practice, which is in contrast with the early focus on kinaesthetic

learning. A poor example is given when they introduce cueing, where they state:

In executing the preparatory gesture and downbeat for the left hand cue, think ofpointing and shooting a pistol (Kohut and Grant 1990:40-41). This particular

example lacks sensitivity to the different styles of cueing available to theconductor. The authors attempt to clarify their explanation in the following

chapter, in which they write: this is appropriate mainly for marcato style music

performed at a soft dynamic (Kohut and Grant 1990:44), but it is to bewondered why they didnt provide this clarification in the first place. Lonis also

criticises the textbook for lacking flow within sections, suggesting that some re-

organisation would strengthen its effectiveness (Lonis 1993:40).The book is not very well presented, with small print and very poor quality

photographs affecting the clarity of the examples of holding the baton.Nevertheless, this is a good starting textbook for teaching beginner conductors,

due to the kinaesthetic approach initially taken.

In contrast to previously discussed textbooks, Jerry and Henry Nowaks

Conducting the Music, Not the Musicians (2002)(1st edition) focuses on teachingthe expressive aspects of performing, which the Nowak brothers claim has long

been largely ignored in most conducting, instrumental and vocal pedagogical

texts (Nowak and Nowak 2002:xiii). The primary philosophy of the Nowakbrothers with regard to conducting teaching is that the gestures used are an

expression of the conductors internal imagery of the music, which stimulatesbody movements. Paraphrasing the authors, if this internal imagery is allowed to

dominate physical gestures, then understanding of the music will be expressed in

the conductors movements (Nowak and Nowak 2002:1). Intended for use bothby conducting classes, and by individuals interested in the study of conducting,

this textbook was used by five university conducting teachers and twoexperienced Melbourne secondary school conductors from the surveys.

Nowak and Nowak prefer to teach new concepts along with the supplied musical

examples, giving plenty of opportunities to apply the new concepts, although the

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shortage of pictures and reliance on descriptive language (save for a few

diagrams in the early pages of the book) means that student conductors lack aphysical model of how the skill should look, reducing kinaesthetic effectiveness,

unlike the numerous diagrams and photographs used by Garofalo and Battisti inLead and Inspire. Release gestures and dynamics, while adequately explained,

would benefit from clarifying early diagrams. The use of the baton is introduced

early and effectively and does include a diagram. Another excellent feature is anearly diagram and description of the left hand rest position, frequently neglected

in textbooks (Fig. 4):

Fig. 4 Diagram of the Left Hand Rest Position(Nowak and Nowak 2002:5)

Throughout the textbook, the method of describing the delivery of thepreparatory gesture is confusing, in that although breathing is admirably

encouraged throughout, the breath and the preparatory motion seem

disconnected, the authors stating: Breathe as though you were going to play orsing before the preparation gesture (Nowak and Nowak 2002:14). Explanations

in textbooks by Jordan and Maiello emphasise the connection between breathingand the preparatory gesture. Disconnecting the two can result in rigid, stiff

preparatory gestures, a drawback in an otherwise superbly musical textbook.

While the Nowak brothers emphasise phrasing and expression in their textbook,

The Complete Conductor (1995)(1st edition) by Robert Demaree and Don Moses,

used by two university conducting teachers in the surveys, is a useful addition tothe conductors library due to informative chapters on style, interpretation and

specific performance techniques. The major goal of the book is to equip theconductor with the most comprehensive knowledge base possible. By

comparison, the information and instruction on the physical conducting gestures

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is less thorough. Less than a quarter of the book is spent on the physical

technique of conducting.This textbook is intended for use by a choral or instrumental conducting class as

part of a structured course. According to the authors, the movements within thecomplex gestures made by the conductor can be isolated, examined, studied, and

adjusted one by one. Efficiency and effectiveness can be enhanced by work on

the detailed physical aspects of this discipline (Demaree and Moses 1995:2).Although this is true to a point, I believe efficiency and effectiveness is only

achieved if the detailed physical aspects are integrated, allowing conductingstudents to develop a kinaesthetic connection to the gestures.

In the second chapter, The Physical Basis, the authors correctly state the

importance of good posture for conductors:For conductors, good posture is not just a goal in itself. The purpose behind everyphysical act is effective and efficient communication, and anything that detracts fromclear and accurate communication is a fault. A great conductor is (among many otherthings) a fine actor. You must use your whole body not just your face and eyes toestablish a mood and convey meaning (Demaree and Moses 1995:13-14).

Demaree and Moses discussion of the importance of the total body use of

conductors emphasises the importance of the body in non-verbal communication,

which will be discussed in Chapter Six. Suggestions on how to teach the batongrip, however, are needlessly complicated and overly wordy, particularly in

comparison with the earlier stated method of Garofalo and Battisti:Your fingers should be curled slightly around the handle, the stick held lightly betweenthe thumb and either the middle or the index finger; in any case, the index finger shouldrest on one side or the other (for if you keep it on top of the baton it will restrict thefreedom of the stick). The base of the handle probably should touch (but not pressagainst) the palm of the hand. The point of the baton should aim straight out from thehand and should not project at an angle (slightly to the left, for example). The thrust ofthe arm and the stick together should be slightly upward (Demaree and Moses 1995:19).

The suggestion that the point of the baton should be aimed straight out from the

hand causes unnatural tension in the upper arm and wrist and goes againstanatomical principles advocated by movement therapist Blandine Calais-

Germain, who found that such a wrist position causes improper alignmentbetween two bones in the arm, the ulna and the radius (Fig. 5).

A preferred grip allows the baton a small amount of