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A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Music: Conducting, Singing in Parts and Ensemble Musicianship

C1.4 C1.1 C2.3About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can conduct 2-, 3- and 4-beat patterns with my right hand and use my left hand to show dynamics, cues and cut-offs.
  • I can give a clear preparatory beat, including for a piece that starts on a pick-up.
  • I can sing or play in tune in two or more parts, using blend and balance.
  • I can use a practice journal to set goals and identify my strengths and areas for improvement as a performer.

Words to know

conducting pattern
The shape the conductor's right hand draws to show each beat in a bar.
preparatory beat
The beat the conductor gives just before the music starts, so everyone breathes and enters together.
cue
A gesture (often with the left hand or eyes) that tells a person or section when to come in.
cut-off
A gesture that tells everyone to stop together.
blend
Voices or instruments sounding like one group, with no single sound sticking out.
balance
The right loudness for each part, so the melody and harmony can both be heard.
intonation
How in tune a singer or player is.
harmony in thirds
A second part that moves along with the melody, usually three letter names below it.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you learned the conducting patterns with your right hand: 2 beats = down, up; 3 beats = down, out to the right, up; 4 beats = down, in to the left, out to the right, up. Beat 1 is always the downbeat.

In Grade 8 the curriculum asks you to use the tools and techniques of musicianship, including blend, phrasing and conducting patterns, and to sing or play in tune, in unison and in two or more parts. A big question: What do your right and left hands do when you conduct?

122 beatsdown, up1233 beatsdown, out, up12344 beatsdown, in, out, up
Conducting patterns for the right hand, as the conductor sees them. Beat 1 always goes down, and the last beat always goes up, ready for the next downbeat.

The two hands have different jobs

Right hand: the beat.

  • Draws the pattern at a steady tempo.
  • The size of the pattern shows dynamics: small for soft, large for loud.
  • The style shows articulation: smooth, flowing motion for legato; short, bouncy motion for staccato.

Left hand: the expression.

  • Cues: points to, or looks at, a section just before they come in.
  • Dynamics: palm up and rising = get louder; palm down and lowering = get softer.
  • Fermata: holds still to keep the note going.
  • Cut-off: a small circle that closes, so everyone stops together.

When the left hand has nothing special to do, it often rests, so the gestures it does make really stand out.

A conductor's white baton and a closed black folder rest on a wooden podium stand facing rows of empty choir chairs on risers.
From this podium a conductor's right hand keeps the beat while the left hand cues sections and shapes the dynamics. AI-generated image

Starting together: the preparatory beat

Before the music begins, the conductor gives one preparatory beat: the beat just before the first note. Everyone breathes on it. The speed of the preparatory beat shows the tempo.

  • If the music starts on beat 1 in 4/4, the preparatory beat is beat 4 (an upward motion).
  • If the music starts on a pick-up (an upbeat), give the beat before the pick-up. A pick-up on beat 3 in 3/4 gets a preparatory beat on beat 2.

Singing in two parts

In Grade 8 you sing or play in two or more parts. One common way: the harmony moves along with the melody, a third below it (count three letter names down, including both: G-F-E). When the two parts are in tune, the thirds sound sweet and full.

Ensemble skills:

  • Blend: match vowels (everyone sings the same ah), so the group sounds like one.
  • Balance: the melody should be heard clearly; the harmony supports it.
  • Intonation: listen to the other part as you sing. If your note clashes, adjust slightly up or down.
  • Posture and breath: stand tall, relaxed shoulders, breathe low, and breathe at the ends of phrases.
44Part 1:stems upPart 2:stems downGEAFBGGECABGAFAFGEFDGEPart 1Part 2
A 4-bar exercise for two parts in 4/4. Part 1 (stems up) sings the melody; Part 2 (stems down) sings a third below the whole way. Check the rhythm: bars 1 and 3 have four quarter notes, bar 2 has two half notes, and bar 4 has one whole note.
Worked example

Example: Let's start a piece that begins on a pick-up

A song is in 3/4 and starts on beat 3 (a pick-up). The tempo is moderato. How do you start the group?

  1. Find the beat before the first note: the first note is on beat 3, so the beat before is beat 2.
  2. Hold your hands up and ready. Make eye contact with the group.
  3. Give beat 2 (out to the right) at the moderato speed. This is the preparatory beat; everyone breathes.
  4. Show beat 3 (up). The singers enter on the pick-up.
  5. Show beat 1 (down) of the first full bar, and keep the pattern going steadily.

Prep on beat 2, entry on beat 3, then the downbeat. The breath and the speed of the prep beat tell everyone how to start.

Worked example

Example: Let's learn the two-part exercise and reflect

Use the two-part picture. Two singers (or a singer and a keyboard) learn it, then write a practice-journal entry.

  1. Learn each part alone first on a neutral syllable like loo. Check that the rhythm adds up in each bar.
  2. Sing Part 2 while someone plays Part 1 on a keyboard (or app). Listen for the third.
  3. Sing both parts together, slowly. Hold the first chord (G and E) and check that it sounds sweet, not rough.
  4. Shape the phrase: crescendo to bar 2 (the high C), then get softer to the end. Cut off together.
  5. Journal entry: Goal: sing Part 2 in tune with Part 1 at a steady tempo. Strength: my rhythm was steady. Area for improvement: I drifted up to the melody in bar 3. Next step: practise bar 3 slowly with the keyboard, 5 times.

Learn parts separately, then together, shape the phrase, and reflect with a specific goal, strength, area for improvement and next step.

Just for fun

Why are conductors so good at sports trivia?

They never miss a beat, and they always know the score. 🤫🎼

Hands-on activity

Conduct the family choir

You need: a recording of a song in 3/4 or 4/4 (or a song your family can sing), a pencil to use as a baton (optional), and a notebook for your practice journal.

  1. Listen and decide: is the song in 2, 3 or 4? Conduct along with the recording using your right hand.
  2. Add your left hand: make it get louder (palm up, rising) during a crescendo, and cue a family member to clap when the chorus starts.
  3. Practise the preparatory beat: count yourself in silently, give the prep beat, and see if your family starts singing exactly with you.
  4. End with a clear cut-off.
  5. Learn the two-part exercise in this lesson with someone, or sing a familiar round in two parts.
  6. Write a journal entry: goal, strength, area for improvement, next step.

Your turn

1

Describe the 3-beat conducting pattern.

2

What is the main job of the conductor's right hand? The left hand?

3

How could a conductor show a crescendo?

4

What is a preparatory beat?

5

A song in 4/4 starts on beat 1. Which beat is the preparatory beat?

6

What is blend, and how can singers improve it?

7

In the two-part exercise, the melody note is C (bar 2). What is the harmony note a third below?

More practice: warm-up

1

Which beat always goes down in a conducting pattern?

2

Describe the 2-beat pattern.

3

What does a cut-off gesture tell musicians?

4

What is intonation?

5

What is balance in an ensemble?

More practice: on your own

1

A song in 4/4 starts on a pick-up on beat 4. Which beat is the preparatory beat? Describe the motion.

2

How would a conductor's right hand show staccato compared to legato?

3

Check the rhythm of the two-part exercise. Show that every bar adds up to 4 beats.

4

Write a harmony a third below this melody: E F G E.

5

Turn this weak journal entry into a strong one: "Practised. It was okay."

Challenge

1

You are conducting a piece in 3/4. In bar 8 there is a fermata on beat 1, then the music continues in bar 9. Describe what your two hands do.

2

Two parts are singing in thirds, but the harmony sounds rough. Name three things the singers could do to fix it.

3

Why might a conductor keep the left hand still most of the time instead of mirroring the right hand?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

The 4-beat pattern is ___.

2.

Which hand usually gives cues and cut-offs?

3.

A larger conducting pattern usually shows ___.

4.

A song in 3/4 starts on a pick-up on beat 3. The preparatory beat is ___.

5.

Singers matching their vowels mostly improves ___.

6.

A harmony a third below G is ___.

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Students use the tools and techniques of musicianship (C1.4) such as conducting patterns, blend, phrasing, posture and breath; sing and/or play in tune in unison and in two or more parts (C1.1); and identify strengths and areas for improvement as performers (C2.3).

How to help at home:

  • Be the choir! Let your child conduct you singing a familiar song, and respond to their gestures (get louder when they raise their left hand).
  • Sing a round (such as a camp song) together in two parts.
  • Look at your child's practice journal and ask about the next step, not just how practice went.

Common difficulties:

  • Starting without a preparatory beat. Practise breathing together on the prep beat.
  • The left hand copying the right. Encourage a resting left hand that moves only for cues and dynamics.
  • Harmony singers drifting to the melody. Practise the harmony with the melody played quietly on a keyboard app.