Hi!

I can’t speak from experience as a conductor myself, but I have played under the direction of many people and maybe I can offer advice for that.

When changing tempo in the middle of a song for example, many conductors seem to only give 2 beats ahead of time, which clearly isn’t enough most of the time. Whenever it is logistically possible, aim for 4 beats, this will give everyone the time to not only raise their heads and look at you but also to assimilate the tempo correctly before switching off to the new section. Again, once you run the same show or tune for a while, people will just know how it goes and everything will run rather smoothly.

For a new tune, most people go with 4 beats. I’ve had some conductors give out 6, as in 3-4-1-2-3-4 kinda deal, which is just confusing, personally.

This is all in relation with a 4/4 marking but I’m sure you get the idea.

I’m sure David will have something to say about that, since I believe he directed a lot – he probably has some great insights. I’m just talking from my experience of being ‘conducted’ as opposed to conducting.

Thank you both for your responses. I hope to hear from others as well. I generally give two counts (i.e., 3-4) to begin a song, at the most. For tempo changes, it depends on the situation. As often as possible, I use some metric conversion to make the change so conducting isn’t necessary (i.e., quarter-note becomes half-note). I was actually thinking two counts is too much, as classical conductors often give an upbeat at the most to establish tempo, feel, dynamic, etc. I am surprised, Andree-Ann, that you’ve worked with conductors that give a full 4/4, as it seems like that would be hard to coordinate with a cue from the stage. Perhaps I’m being too hard on myself for giving two beats.

Thanks!

Good question.

What you’re talking about is the “prep” – and it should be only 1 beat.

If everyone plays on measure 1, beat 1 – then you only give one prep.

If there is a pickup into the beginning of a song, then you give one full beat in the clear (prior to the beat with the pickup). For example, if you have an eighth note pickup into measure 1, then you give “3-4″ as the prep. If you have three eighth notes into measure 1 (and-four-and) – then you prep “2-3″.

In other words – you only give what is absolutely necessary. If you are accurate in your prep you don’t need more than 1 – trained musicians don’t need more than 1 prep to feel a tempo. That’s what they are trained to do.

If you need to give your musicians more than 1 prep, you have to ask yourself: why? Do you not trust your musicians? Are you not giving an accurate prep?

Higgs makes a good point – he’s referring to what I call “prepping your prep”. It’s a bad habit. If a conductor only means to give 1 prep, but they give a slight tick right before the prep…well, which one is the prep? Often conductors don’t think bands notice – but again, musicians are highly trained and notice everything when they are looking for a downbeat.

Most conductors feed the tempo to the band prior to the entrance prep. Some tap their chest with their hand or finger. I tap my middle finger to my thumb in tempo and show it to the pit. That’s a way to get everyone on the same page while you’re waiting for the cue.

And lastly – these rules are broken all the time. Especially in groove-based music. But when in doubt, just give as few preps as you possibly can.