Re: Good Conductor's rehearsals?


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Posted by CDB on July 17, 2003 at 17:03:07:

In Reply to: Good Conductor's rehearsals? posted by MP on July 17, 2003 at 11:20:04:

I've always found that the conductors that I enjoyed the most were able to manipulate the group to play the way that the conductor wanted without sounding like a 12-step video. I've been fortunate to play under a great band conductor for the past 6 years(yes 6), and I've found that I've started to take it for granted. I've always been pretty critical of my director because while he is a great director, he's not my favorite person. He makes these really stuid analogies; they make sense, but they are just stupid. And if you are just sitting outside the band watching him, you'd think he had health problems. He has one of the most annoying voices I've ever heard, and he might be the most two-faced person I've ever met. But when you sit in front of him and he conducts, it's like that's the only thing going on in the world, and there's no way to not concentrate 100% on the music you are playing, and him. He controls you, and tells you without a doubt exactly how to play your part without saying a word. It's quite amazing.

When I started to look for grad schools, I visited some and got to sit in on some rehearsals. Most were outstanding, but one in particular made me realize how lucky I've been. The conductor wasn't able to relate to the players at all. The only time he knew when the tempo was off was when he had a Dr. Beat playing loudly over the band. He stopped to tune every note that sounded bad on a tuner(not that notes shouldn't be fixed, but using a tuner everytime is worthless and time consuming). In don't think he really "conducted" the band at all, I think he gave a tempo with his hands.

Anyway, to me, if you are playing under a good director, every rehearsal is going to be good if you let it be, reguardless of how much you get done. You may not even realize it at the time, but you probably furthered yourself as a musician without even knowing. I've had rehearsals that I liked more than others, but I might not have gained as much from them. I guess it's different for everyone though.

My two cents,
CDB


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