By Glen Allan Tuomaala

Wednesday, December 06, 2000

Self-evaluation of your skills as a conductor can be a useful step towards improving your ability to teach and lead musical ensembles. In addition to self-evaluation techniques, three other traditional steps to improving your own conducting skills are:

1. Enroll in specialized conducting workshops and seminars. Many colleges and universities offer a variety of opportunities to study with distinguished faculty and work with excellent musical ensembles. In general, the higher the caliber the ensemble you conduct the more you will learn, prepare, and work. Such experiences, both in the summer and selected weekends during the academic year, have a profound affect on motivating conductors to share ideas with their colleagues and musically re-charge themselves for future concert programs
2. Observe rehearsals. Being able to observe professional music ensemble rehearsals is often just a phone call away (as much as being a wonderful opportunity to meet new people). Start with your local symphony orchestra or college wind ensemble and create a regular schedule to observe other conductors in action. You’ll learn not only what "to do", but often just as much what "not to do" inside of a rehearsal by observing other people at their best. Remember to bring a score along to make the event even more beneficial and study ahead of time.
3. Study scores, practice on your own, or take private conducting lessons. Choose the top ten musical works you admire, purchase the scores, and make the time to learn them one measure at a time if necessary. This is probably one of the most useful avenues for self-improvement as well as the one that takes a lot of discipline to achieve.

These three traditional methods may be used successfully alongside your own conducting self-evaluation. A template that represents what is important to you as a conductor may be used in conjunction with a simple video camera to better highlight:

1. Areas of strength where achievement is fundamentally strong
2. Areas in need of refinement; where serious study must continue for improvement, and
3. Areas of weakness where clear attention is needed

Variations on a program of self-evaluation may include taping a mixture of rehearsals and performances (for contrast and comparison on the same musical works) or an open invitation to trusted colleagues (or even your own students; a frightening experience!) to evaluate the results. Some of the finest feedback of my own conducting was generated from the students enrolled in a beginning conducting class taught at the collegiate level. The end result was a new and revealing learning experience for everyone. Refine and improve your skills as a musical conductor by evaluating yourself for the future.

Name of Conductor: ______________________ Date: __________

Name of Evaluator: _______________________ Ensemble: _______________

Please measure the following: "+" = Exceptionally good achievement of the concept

"x" = Correct or average comprehension of the concept

"-" = Deficient or incorrect performance of the concept

If the concept is not addressed or exhibited during the taped segment leave that area blank. Please make additional notes and comments on this sheet whenever necessary.

POSTURE

___ Stands up straight ___ Relaxed upper body movement ___ Position of feet

___ Knees ___ Back ___ Shoulders

___ Neck ___ Head ___ Arms

___ Forearms ___ Wrist and fingers ___ Facial expressions

BATON GRIP

___ Relaxed contact points ___ Curve of the fingers ___ Baton direction

BEAT PATTERNS

___ Focused starting position ___ Clear ictus on each beat ___ Control of rebound

___ Ictus is always at the baton tip ___ Use of horizontal plane ___ Use of vertical plane

___ Avoids crossing arms

SIMPLE PATTERNS

Accuracy of: ___ 2-beat ___ 3-beat ___ 4-beat ___ 5-beat

COMPOUND PATTERNS

Accuracy of: ___ 6-beat ___ 9-beat ___ 12-beat

SUBDIVISION

___ Natural rebound style ___ Subdivides the beat when musically necessary

CUES

___ Preparatory gesture ___ Prepared eye contact ___ Positive facial expressions

___ Right hand cues ___ Left hand cues

FERMATAS

___ Advance preparation ___ Appropriate size and shape of release gesture

___ Release and continuation ___ Continuation without release ___ Release and caesura

TEMPO CONTROL

___ Shows advance preparation ___ Natural, musical results

___ Eye contact ___ Convincing leadership

STYLE OF BEAT PATTERN

___ Legato ___ Staccato ___ Sostenuto ___ Marcato

SIZE OF BEAT PATTERN

___ Small ___ Medium ___ Large ___ Pattern reflects the dynamic intensity

LEFT HAND DYNAMIC INDICATIONS

___ Independent motion from right hand ___ Ability to show crescendo and decrescendo

___ Relaxed at rest position, side ___ Relaxed at rest position, front

SUSTAINING GESTURES ___ Clarity ___ Expressiveness

ACCENTS ___ Preparation ___ Appropriate level of emphasis ___ Eye contact

___ Exhibits and promotes a positive working relationship on and off the podium

___ Shares a sense of humor when appropriate

___ Creates a positive learning environment by routinely encouraging and motivating the musicians

___ Balances the amount of criticism with praise for all individuals and sections of the ensemble

___ Evidence of detailed score study and comprehension ___ Score is memorized

___ Begins and ends rehearsal on time

___ Evidence of an organized warm-up routine and tuning procedure

___ Maintains an effective rehearsal pace

___ Prioritizes musical goals and objectives

___ Isolates and solves individual musical problems

___ Shows non-verbal musical communication of musical elements and priorities

___ Establishes effective eye contact across the whole ensemble

___ Provides sufficient time after cut-offs before delivering verbal comments

___ Provides sufficient time for musicians to raise their instruments prior to playing

___ Speaks loud and clear enough for all musicians to hear instructions

___ Makes short and effective verbal comments

___ Appropriate ratio of talking vs. playing

___ Uses time efficiently when dealing with administrative requirements of the ensemble

___ Takes the podium with confidence

___ Acknowledges soloists after the performance

___ Acknowledges the full ensemble after the performance

___ Bows to the audience when appropriate

___ Builds a positive relationship with the audience