CLASSICAL MUSIC ARCHIVES: Conductors Tip 15

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Conductors Tip 15
STARTING RIGHT IN TEMPO #1

Dear Colleagues,

TEMPO and RHYTHM!

They're basic: the tides, our breathing, the seasons, our heartbeat—on and on we could go with examples of how tempo and rhythm are fundamental expressions of all things in Nature...

...except, perhaps, how some of our students sing or play at the beginning of a piece!

Getting them to sing or play at your tempo right away when a piece begins (or when the tempo changes somewhere during its course) can be a real challenge.

In this Tip 15, Starting Right in Tempo, we'll look at why school ensembles and their conductors may not always begin at the same tempo...and I'll suggest how to get everyone hitting your temp tempo right away. And it's not hard at all!

When everyone does begin at the same rock solid tempo, it's a truly thrilling experience, and one that you've surely felt along the way. The joy that comes from this experience of unity—of being "in the groove" together—will motivate your young musicians to work harder...and will give you the powerful experience that your ensemble is truly following your conducting!

Here are some of the reasons why young musicians and their conductors don't always take the same tempo. Let's look first at the students' contribution:

At the beginning of a piece, they're not always focused. Without their focused attention, it's unlikely that any aspect of the music (especially taking your tempo) will happen.
Even if they look up at you, they frequently look down at their music before you give the downbeat; check this out at your next rehearsal! Instrumentalists (sorry!) especially tend to look down at their music to make sure they play the right note (can't it be memorized?), sometimes while you're still giving your preparatory beat.
When ensemble members do look, they generally look for when to play rather than how fast to play. I believe strongly that this is the main reason young (and even older) musicians don't begin at the right tempo: they focus on the downbeat to know when to play...rather than on the preparatory beat, which tells them the tempo. In my experience, few students or conductors are aware of this.

Now, let's take a look at our contribution to this challenge:

At the beginning of a piece, we might not always be focused. Just like our kids, our minds might be on other things: Who's that talking? Why doesn't Martin have his violin up? Great! There's Anya; she missed the last two rehearsals... hope she's ok? Etc. etc.
We might begin before everyone's totally focused: if everyone isn't totally focused on what we're communicating, the tempo won't be right.
We don't always have the tempo solidly in mind before we begin. I believe this is conductors' major contribution to the problem: we've not thought about the tempo, and gotten it into our bodies, before we begin conducting.
Finally, we sometimes hesitate before giving the downbeat: When we do this, we confuse the musicians by not beating in the tempo of our upbeat.

...I'm sure you can come up with other aspects of this challenge on the parts of both the students and us.

Happily, the ones I've come up with aren't tough to correct. When you have, your ensemble can start and continue at the tempo you want—every time.

Here are a few ideas about how to do it. Do try them, as I know from experience that they work—absolutely!

First: Make sure you don't start before everyone's eyes are on you. And remember: there's no point in telling your students to watch if you don't enforce what you're saying by not starting until everyone is watching. If you do start before every single one is watching, you'll be sending the message that they don't have to do what you're asking for—watch—since you're going ahead and starting even if they're not watching.

Second: We want to make the students aware that they stop watching you before you give the downbeat...they look down at their music. What's the best way to do that?

I think it's by making an exercise where you give different kinds of downbeats, especially one where you really wind up your prep beat as if you're going to give a downbeat for all time... but you suddenly stop. If the kids have looked down, they'll find themselves playing without you and the others. They'll be embarrassed, but the students will actually enjoy the game and, little by little, they'll realize what's going on (with your explanations and gentle urging), and watch your downbeat from top to bottom. Then do the same thing with a piece you're rehearsing. Make sure to suggest that they memorize the first measure or two; that way, they can keep watching to make sure they have the tempo just right.

Third (and this is the clincher): Ask them to subdivide your preparatory beat out loud. I suggest you ask them to count aloud, fitting their "one two three four" into the space of your preparatory beat (and vary the numbers from day to day—sometimes four, or three, or five, etc.) Count out loud yourself while you give a prep beat so they get the idea.

This is what the preparatory beat is actually for, right?: to give them the tempo! And you'll have them focusing on the exact tempo if you get them to count out loud, and then change the speed of your preparatory beat, again, doing it for them to illustrate counting to four out loud at different speeds, depending on the speed of your arm.

They'll catch on quickly and, after they get good at it, take the next step: have them count the preparatory beat and keep counting as you give the downbeat. Be very, very careful that your downbeat is in the same tempo as your prep beat

After you've done this enough times in different tempi that they've got it, it's time for the payoff: ask them to exchange their playing and singing for the words "one two three four." Again, start out with the prep beat only; give it in the same tempo a few times so they get comfortable playing and singing in the same way that they counted the beats.

Then, change the speed of your prep beat so they can change the speed of their singing or playing, and add the downbeat and have them sing or play for both beats, then change the tempo and keep changing it until they can.

This will get their sustained attention, their active participation, and it will make them aware of the tempo you want at the beginning of a piece. They now know how to do it. To make it stick, ask them to count out loud on the preparatory beat each and every time you begin conducting, for a few days.

This is a demanding process for you as well as for them, but if you will stick with it and not waver, you'll be training them to read the exact tempo of your preparatory beat (as confirmed by your downbeat, yes?) and they'll come in exactly and precisely at the speed you've indicated. If you work this way for a day or two, they'll get it. Of course, you'll have to remind them from time to time.

Now that they're reading your tempo precisely, you'll want to make sure that the tempo of your upbeat is really the one you want. Let's be aware if we start beating without knowing and feeling the exact tempo; some of us actually settle on our tempo while we're giving our preparatory beat and our downbeat. If we do this, there's just no way the prep beat and downbeat can be solid. And there's now we can communicate a tempo and pulse the musicians can get right away.

If you'll count off a measure or two to yourself, and get the tempo into your body with the smallest of movements on each beat, your prep beat and downbeat will then be fitting into a solid rhythmic structure that's already happening at exactly the tempo you want. It's likely to feel a bit awkward the first few times you try it on your own, but you'll feel the difference right away. Your prep beat and downbeat will be solid, confident, and moving forward, because you'll be sure of the tempo.

Taking the approach I've described in this Tip to starting right in tempo can give you a tremendously exciting experience: you think and show the tempo and they sing or play it! It can be a thrilling experience for everyone. When it is, the students will be increasingly likely to work at this level of detail because they will have experienced the great results it produces.

With All Best Wishes,

David Barg, Learning Center Director
The Classical Archives, LLC
email: david@prs.net

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