Popping the Crown
    Taking the crown and cork assembly out of the flute is scary to many flutists. It need not be because there is nothing you can break if you follow these simple steps. To wash the headjoint out, remove the cork assembly. The first step in removing the cork assembly is to loosen the crown a few turns. This means turning the crown to the left a few times. Holding the headjoint at the tenon end, gently place the crown end on a pot holder or something soft and cushy that will protect the crown and table surface and then push down. This is called popping the crown.

The cork assembly is now ready to be pushed through the headjoint towards the tenon end using a special ejection tool. You can make one of these yourself or a flute repairman will make one for you. This is the safest way to remove the cork assembly.

Above: an insertion tool. Below: Popping the cork with the insertion tool.

Inspect for Damage
    Once the cork assembly is out, inspect the cork checking to see if it is dried out or pulling away from the plate. If it is damaged, then take the flute to a repair person for replacement. Also look at the plate that the cork is glued to for scratches, pock marks etc. These are caused by the end of the cleaning rod hitting the plate when drying the moisture from the headjoint. If it is highly pocked, then replace the stem assembly. This is not a high-priced item, and a new one may improve the sound and intonation. If there is any residue on the plate, clean it with a damp cloth. The stem assembly should certainly be switched out during an overhaul, but it may be switched out when having a COA (clean, oil, and adjust).

Wash the Headjoint
    Next wash the headjoint in a mixture of Dawn dishwashing liquid (the kind you would use for washing dishes by hand) and warm water. I have a plastic cleaning rod that I place a silk scarf around to clean the inside. I use a plastic cleaning rod because it is not damaged when it gets wet. Be careful to not scratch the inside of the headjoint with the cleaning rod if you are using a metal one. While washing the headjoint (both inside and out), do not grasp the embouchure plate as this may loosen the solder or bend the lip plate. Rinse with warm water paying special attention to the inside of the riser or chimney. Dry the inside with a clean silk cloth and the outside with a smooth tea towel.

Back Together
    Replace the cork assembly by dropping it into the tenon end of the headjoint. If it is fitted well, the plated end will be visible at the halfway point of the embouchure hole. A well-fitted cork will be tapered to fit the taper of the crown end of the headjoint. If it is cylindrically shaped, you may want to find a different flute repairman. A cork that is too tight and not tapered will be flat in pitch and have a dull sound. If your flute seems flat and dull in tone, replacing the cork assembly with one that is well-fitted may improve the sound of the flute. Use the cleaning rod to gently move the cork assembly towards the crown end of the headjoint. When the line on the cleaning rod is in the center of the embouchure hole, you are ready to screw the crown into place.
    Next, I play the headjoint in. While this may be based on an old wives’ tale, I do find that the headjoint responds better after playing the headjoint in when I assemble the entire flute. To do this, I place my thumb and index fingers at the crown and tenon ends (under the headjoint) taking care to keep my fingerprints off the headjoint. Touch the headjoint as little as possible. Then I play slurred half-note octaves up and down many times with a forceful vibrato. I do this for about ten or so minutes. It is a great workout for the embouchure too. I want to get the metal in the headjoint vibrating as much as possible. Joseph Mariano, the legendary Eastman School of Music flute professor, cautioned me, “Don’t let anyone who doesn’t know how to blow play your flute.” I thought this was an unusual statement but have followed his advice. The results are so good when playing the headjoint in that as soon as you hear a negative difference in the sound in a few days, you may want to repeat the process starting with washing the headjoint out. When I first started this, I did it every few days, but now I can go about a week or so before the headjoint loses its ring. Even if this is a fictitious process, there is benefit to be had from playing slurred octaves on the headjoint. Try it before you pass judgment.
    When playing on the headjoint, I follow Theobald Boehm’s advice to keep the embouchure hole level when blowing. This means that the embouchure muscles must be developed; however, the results are worth the extra practice because the high harmonics or upper partials are stronger in the tone, and the intonation is improved. When playing octaves on the headjoint, the octaves will not be in tune because of the parabolic shape of the headjoint closer to the tenon. However, this shape improves intonation when the flute is assembled.
    A violin professor told me he can tell how a new student will play just by observing how he takes the violin and bow out of the case. I think this may be true for flutists also. Young students often put the flute together very quickly without carefully aligning the headjoint to the body’s tenon box. The goal is to keep the tenon end of the headjoint round. If you try to assemble the instrument without the two parts being carefully aligned the tenon will no longer be round. Take special care in putting the flute together as this will improve the overall ring of the instrument.
    When playing with the flute assembled, keep your fingers off the headjoint and especially off the lip plate. I am not in favor of cleaning the fingerprints off the body and footjoint with alcohol as it is too easy to make a mistake and spoil a pad. The body and footjoint of my flute have some tarnish which I do not remove because to do it correctly and safely, all of the keys must be removed, and the flute secured before cleaning. A slightly tarnished flute is one that has been played and loved.
    You may be fearful about taking the headjoint cork out of the flute, but you should not be. There is not anything that you can break if you take your time and have the proper tool. Playing on a clean headjoint is a treat.

The post Taking Care of the Headjoint appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Silencing Naysayers
    During his first years at a new school, Mr. Reed had a small group of disgruntled parents who aired their grievances at band booster meetings, hoping to drag others into their fold. One particular meeting they were complaining about the state of the program and Mr. Reed’s leadership. During a lull in the discussion, one parent stood up and said, “I am sick and tired of you people always complaining about Mr. Reed. My kids love him as a teacher and I think he is doing a good job. Just leave him alone!” Mr. Reed was amazed when the majority of the boosters nodded in agreement, followed by applause from everyone except the small group of naysayers. From that point on, Mr. Reed had no further problems with the band boosters.

We’re Surprised No One Stole It
    At a parent-teacher conference night during his years teaching elementary band, Mr. Reed was approached by a student’s parents, who wanted to know how their child was doing in band. Mr. Reed told them he had not seen him at his lesson in over a month. It seemed as if he always forgot his horn. The parents were confused, as they said he took his horn to school on every lesson day – they made sure of it. Mr. Reed apologized for not contacting them sooner, and they said they would talk to their student and get to the bottom of this.
    The next day Mr. Reed received a phone call from the mother. The student did not want to be in band anymore. He had been taking his horn to school on the day of his lesson, but on the way to school he hid the horn behind a row of bushes outside the school building. He then told his classroom teacher and Mr. Reed that he forgot his horn. On the way home, he retrieved his horn from the bushes and take it home so his parents were none the wiser. The mother also said that the student should quit because he was wasting everyone’s time. While Mr. Reed thanked her for letting him know the situation, he felt guilty for not trying to get to the bottom of this sooner. In addition, he could not help wondering what might have been if he had been more diligent.
 

Mother Mystery
    Mr. Reed received an email from the principal to come see him. When Mr. Reed arrived at his office, the principal informed him that he had been contacted by one of the guidance counselors. The mother of a band student had called the counselor and wanted her student out of the band. He wanted to know if there was an incident in the classroom that he needed to be aware of. When Mr. Reed said that there had not been, the principal asked him to see the counselor, as she was the one who was contacted and had all the information. Mr. Reed went to the counselor, who explained that the mother had contacted the guidance office and requested her student drop band, but she did not want Mr. Reed to know. When the counselor told her she would not remove the student without a valid reason and Mr. Reed’s knowledge, the mother became belligerent and contacted the principal. After repeated parental contacts from both Mr. Reed and the counselor, the student remained in band that year and for the rest of his high school career. No one at the school ever found out what the mother’s problem was.

Foiled Teenager
    As the Band was loading the buses to go to a post-season basketball tournament, a female student approached Mr. Reed.
    Student: “I can’t go to the game tonight, Mr. Reed. I don’t feel well.”
    Mr. Reed: “Well, I don’t think you should go if you are sick. Go home and get some rest.”
    As they were heading toward the bus, the student walked toward a car in the parking lot that was filled with other teenagers, who yelled at her to hurry up and get in the car. Seeing this, Mr. Reed called her back.
    Mr. Reed: “What’s with the group of kids? I don’t recognize any of them.”
    Student: “Oh, they’re just taking me home.”
    Mr. Reed: “But your car is in the parking lot.”
    Then the light bulb came on.
    Mr. Reed: “You are planning on going out with those other kids and using band as an excuse so your parents don’t know, aren’t you?”
    After a few seconds of insisting she was sick, she eventually confessed, that yes, she was planning on being with those other students that night.
    Mr. Reed: “Whether you go with the band tonight is up to you, but you will not use me or this activity as an excuse to deceive your parents. Let’s go.”
    He escorted her inside to his office, called her parents, handed the phone to her, and had her explain the situation. Her parents requested she come home immediately, and Mr. Reed obliged. After the incident, she pouted for a couple of days in class, but then she was back to normal.

Maybe They Thought the Movie Was One Night Only
    A student came up to Mr. Reed after class.
    Student: “Mr. Reed, I can’t be at the concert tomorrow night.”
    Mr. Reed: “What’s the problem?”
    Student: “My family is going to see the opening night of the new Star Wars movie.”
    Mr. Reed: “What?”
    The student repeated his previous response.
    Mr. Reed: “Don’t your parents know that we have a concert tomorrow night?”
    Student: “Yes, but we’d rather go to the movie.”
    Mr. Reed: “Well, I’m sure there are several students who would like to see the movie, but they are keeping their commitment to the band and their classmates. You need to be here. You do realize that your grade will be adversely affected?”
    Student: “Yes, but we want to go to the movie.”
    Mr. Reed informed the student he would be contacting his parents and did so. The parents said they were aware of the concert but wanted to take their entire family to the movie and understood this would affect their son’s grade in the course. The student missed the concert, received a poor grade, and Mr. Reed never heard another word from the parents or student about the incident.
    The student stayed in the program throughout his high school career and never missed another performance.

Foiled Teenager II
    The band was on a trip as part of a theme park festival. As they were preparing to leave for the theme park that morning, a female student approached Mr. Reed.
    Student: “Mr. Reed. I don’t feel well. I need to stay at the motel.”
    Mr. Reed: “What seems to be the problem?”
    Student: “I just don’t feel well and don’t think I should go, but I don’t want to ruin everyone else’s good time so I’ll just stay here.”
    Mr. Reed: “If you really think you need to stay here you can, but either I or one of the other adult chaperones will be here with you. You will not be here alone.”
    Student: “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I’ll be fine here by myself.”
    Mr. Reed: “Out of the question. Let’s go talk to our nurse and see if she can figure out what’s wrong.”
    The student insisted that she didn’t need medical attention, she just needed to stay by herself and get some rest. The nurse checked her for symptoms and told Mr. Reed that she didn’t think anything was wrong with the student. This was not agreeable to the student, so Mr. Reed contacted her parents. He let the nurse share her concerns, and the parents agreed and told their daughter to go along with everyone. The nurse also told the student that there were First Aid Stations at the theme park where she could lay down if she felt ill.
    As the students and chaperones were boarding the buses, a young male who was not with the band came up to the female student and asked, “Did you get it worked out to stay here?” When the girl said no, he asked what park they were going to. Mr. Reed hurried over to the young man and told him to leave and not bother any of the band students again. He then called a quick chaperones meeting and reminded them to watch the students closely and report any people hanging around who weren’t with the band. They never saw the young man again.

Walk Tall
    Prior to a class period, the Assistant Principal stopped by. He was in charge of Mr. Reed’s evaluation for that school year and wanted to watch class for 10-15 minutes to get an idea of the class dynamics before beginning the official evaluation procedure. Mr. Reed welcomed him into the room and soon forgot he was there, as he was concerned about the daily lesson. Later that day the Assistant Principal sent a note to Mr. Reed in which he stated how much he enjoyed being in his class that day. He also added that Mr. Reed was one of the true instructional leaders on the staff, and that the school should take advantage of his expertise in training the younger teachers. Mr. Reed walked home a little taller that evening.

The post Introducing Mr. Reed’s Tales appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Time
    The first barrier to keeping chamber ensembles running year-round is time.  Especially in those programs with only one director, there is often too much to accomplish during the day.  However, some creative strategies can lead to a happy outcome for all involved.
    In many programs, students gravitate to the band hall toward the beginning or close of the school day; this should be when the chamber club meets.  For this fifteen minutes or half hour, students practice, and directors often aid with music or administer playing exams.  This time can also be used for student chamber ensembles, especially for smaller groups, like duos and trios. Different parts of the band room can be requisitioned daily for each ensemble.
    
Literature
    Collections for like instruments or, even better, collections for flexible instrumentations, can be a wonderful first step. From there, larger ensembles can be built over time.

Age and Ability
    Most students should be able to start playing in a small chamber group after a year and a half on their instruments, if not less.  What is necessary for success, especially if the director is not needed for everyday rehearsal, is a good, characteristic sound, some level of technical confidence and independence, and the ability to count and keep a constant pulse.  Playing tests in the first year of instruction can help with all of this.

Placement
    Pairings should not need constant oversight.  The goal is to foster more chamber music. Ideally students will be inclined to play with each other, rather than spend all of their time talking. As every director knows, putting best friends together can often be a bad idea. 
    Do not be afraid to pick students from different sections to perform with each other in a duo.  As stated before, many excellent duet collections now exist at various levels for mixed instrumentation.  The only limit is balance.  A saxophonist and trumpet player will make an excellent duo, while a young flutist paired with a brass player may result in some overblowing on the part of the flutist.  Director common sense and judgment will never lead one astray in this regard.   When pairing students, just consider those factors as well as ability level (not necessarily grade level), and all will be well.

Getting Started
    When starting a duet club, especially with younger students, the first few meetings will need to be more hands on for the director.  Take a few minutes each day and demonstrate the basics of working together as an ensemble.  This is a perfect way to introduce advanced concepts, including adjusting pitch while playing and keeping time without a conductor. It is not necessary for the band director to rehearse these groups constantly.  Time must be spent in the beginning stages, but after a couple weeks, the director can float between ensembles, offering help just as with students working out individual parts. 
    Students should already be familiar with tuning in a larger ensemble or class context before starting chamber music. The issue of waves is important for any discussion of intonation, so if the students have been taught how to properly tune a reference note, the chamber ensemble can provide the ideal platform for discussing tuning in context on the fly. 
    There is no need to be too verbose or technical in teaching how to introduce adjusting intonation:  Make sure players know how to adjust pitch on their instrument while playing. Once some success has been achieved, pick a duet with longer note values in each part. Have two student volunteers perform it, hitting and holding each interval, listening for waves. Tell the performer on the upper part to bend the pitch up and down until the waves go away. Of course, there may be intonation problems in the lower voice, but having students alternating parts between the top and bottom voices using this method will help both members of the duo start to learn pitch discrimination and adjustment without overly confusing the situation.

Practicing Independence
    Keeping time may be difficult for young performers playing without a conductor for the first time. Programs that advocate foot tapping and counting will have far more success with part independence.  Each student in a duet should be instructed to tap their feet in unison while playing together.  In addition, students should count each part together, and then count their own parts at the same time.  While these skills must have been taught previously, their emphasis here will greatly increase the independence and confidence of young musicians.
    Once these skills have been taught, the duets can be performed with minimal input from the director.  Of course, it is always a wonderful motivator to provide some sort of performance, such as a night of holiday-themed chamber music in December or a spring progressive concert.

Expanding the Program
    A chamber music club based on duets can work well on any level. There are many like-instrument and mixed duets that can be quite challenging, and the honing of intonation discrimination and musical independence know no bounds.  However, duets can also lay the groundwork for a wider chamber program.
    Starting with duets allows students to step into a standard chamber ensemble with much more comfort and ease.  All of the performance skills necessary for a saxophone quartet, brass quintet, or small percussion ensemble are mirrored in duet playing.  Perhaps a bit of help from the director will be necessary in the beginning to aid in applying these concepts, but the students will start working as a unit with minimal input and help.
    A vibrant duet program can help the age-old problem of conscientious directors:  there is a desire to engage all students in chamber playing, but most traditional ensembles, because of their makeup, will leave some students out in the cold.  Duets (and perhaps trios) can fill the void when students are in between other ensembles or when the literature available in other groups does not allow them to perform.  For student development, it is far better for a young musician to be the only person on a part in a duo than it is to perform doubled up on a part in a larger group.
    While brass and woodwind quintets are standard, well-established groups, a wise director will consider less commonly seen ensembles, including clarinet quartets and brass trios, to ensure that as many students as possible can be involved. When in doubt, an enterprising director can transcribe a high-quality public domain work.  Other directors may very well be looking for good literature for the same instrumentation, and publishers are always in search of great new pedagogical chamber pieces.
   
    A duet club can be a great way to introduce students to a form of music making that they can enjoy many years after their time in school music programs is complete.  In addition, it builds vital performance skills, provides low brass and other sometimes neglected students with technical challenges, and can keep marching band auxiliary performers on their instruments during the fall.  It is great fun to make music with a friend.

The post Duet Club appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    The following comments and observations are based on over twenty years of playing in the first violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra, for the most part under George Szell but also under the leadership of a great many other conductors. In some instances my experiences with a conductor involved periods of several weeks or perhaps just several days. The personal and cultural background of each conductor varied, but the conditions such as rehearsal time, rules of conduct, acoustic conditions and orchestra personnel remained basically the same.
    The list of conductors begins with Felix Weingartner, under whom I played while still a student in Vienna. Later, as a professional in the U.S. (with the Dallas Symphony 1945-47 and the Cleveland Orchestra 1947-present), I played under Ancerl, Ansermet, Beecham, Bernstein, Dorati, Goldovsky, Golschman, Karajan, Kletzki, Krips, Kubelik, Leinsdorf, Markevitch, Monteux, Munch, Ormandy, Paray, Rudolf, Schmidt-Isserstedt, Shaw, Steinberg, Stokowski, Susskind, Van Beinum, and Walter. Among the younger generation, there were Abbado, Barenboim, Ceccato, Craft, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Haitink, Kertesz, Lane, Levine, Maazel, Ozawa, Pretre, Previn, and Schippers. Composer-conductors have included Boulez, Chavez, Copland, Enesco, Foss, Hanson, Kodaly, Maderna, Schuller, Stravinsky and, Villa-Lobos, and violinist-conductors were Goldberg, Menuhin and Oistrakh. Franz Allers, Leroy Anderson, Victor Borge. Duke Ellington, Arthur Fiedler, Andre Kostelanetz, and Henry Mancini, known in the world of lighter music, have also led the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to these famous names there were countless other wielders of the baton, all of whom contributed to my understanding of this hard-to-define profession called conducting.
    The requirements of mastering the art of conducting are such that few can hope to attain a high level. A rare combination of musicianship, discipline, charisma, psychological insight, ruthlessness, business sense, and acting ability, as well as unusual physical and mental strength are essential. To be able to command orchestra and audience alike, additional non-musical considerations enter into the picture, such as good looks and knowledge of many related fields, including art, literature, politics, history, and a world outlook acquired by travel and social relationships.
    A conductor cannot live in an ivory tower, and a complete knowledge of the score, obtained by continuing and relentless study, is only the beginning. A monastic and lonely existence, at least in part, must be taken for granted.
    In working relationships with other musicians, one must find a middle ground between comradeship and distance, friendliness and firmness, humor and seriousness, inspiration and calculation, emotion and intellect. The conductor must display authority without suppression or capricious, dictatorial manners. He must be able to hide his weaknesses, yet be humble enough to admit a mistake. The words chosen in such an instance should never be apologetic, but phrased in a simple, human, perhaps humorous fashion. There can be no faking in front of trained musicians; an orchestra will instinctively make a fairly accurate appraisal of a conductor’s ability in a comparatively short time.

    The remarks made in this article are based on experience in a professional orchestra and may need some modification in the case of student and amateur groups. But the basics remain the same for all situations involving the relationship – artistic and personal – between conductor and players. The player must be convinced that the conductor is involving himself in a common, artistic endeavor and not using the musicians for purposes of self-glorification or choreographic exhibitionism for the sake of audience approval. If the conductor demands of himself as much or more than he does of the players, there will hopefully be no more than a small degree of opposition to his demands. It is necessary that he know more, however, than those he attempts to direct, guide, teach, cajole, inspire, or collaborate with. If he cannot measure up to this requirement, his effectiveness will be minimal, discipline will be non-existent, and music making will become impossible. His convictions must be strong enough to be transmittable to musicians and audience alike, and his courage must outweigh the critical comments by insiders and outsiders, as well as professional advice offered by overly ambitious players. In other words, he must remain his own man, avoid favoritism, and not falter from his position of polite but flexible authority.
    For the purpose of learning how to conduct, a poor orchestra will be of greater benefit to the conductor than a fine, highly professional one, because a poor orchestra will offer far greater opportunities for self-analysis, experimentation, and correction. The highly polished orchestra will only prevent the conductor from becoming aware of his shortcomings and do for the conductor what he should learn to do for himself. Although the old cliché “There are no bad orchestras, only bad conductors” is an oversimplification, there is some truth in it. The better the orchestra, the more apparent the personality of the conductor. However, it is often obvious that a fine orchestra will play well in spite of the conductor. An uncommitted orchestra can drag the standard toward mediocrity in a matter of hours, while a dynamic, knowledgeable, and strong conductor can elevate the same body of players to great heights in the same amount of time. It takes a long time to build an orchestra but only hours to destroy it – unless the idealism of the players is so uncommonly high that their pride and self-esteem prevent such disintegration.
    There are no steadfast rules that assure success to a conductor. One can, however, offer a variety of Dos and Don’ts based on observation and experience. These must be molded to the conductor’s individual personality so that they reinforce his basic nature and character, instead of appearing as inflexible, calculated tricks.
It has been said repeatedly that conductors are born and not made. This may be so, but if you want to be a conductor, remember that you too are mortal and perhaps born with a slight birth defect. Surely this kind of humility, however well disguised, may be the wisest attitude to take if you hope to be taken seriously as a leader of men.

Don’ts
Don’t Talk Too Much
    Your job is to make music with your hands. There is no point in stopping to tell the orchestra about making a crescendo that they can already see in print. If you conduct it, chances are they will do it. If it isn’t printed (and you still want it), you should still conduct it. Talking about it will make the musicians doubt your ability to conduct; they will be annoyed by unnecessary stopping and become angry about your underestimating their intelligence. Be economical; do not live from hand to mouth.
Don’t Whisper
    Because you want to be efficient and in a position of authority, your announcements should be clear, audible, and to the point. If you whisper, the players in the back will think that you are indulging in a private flirtation with the players in front. This will contribute to their already deflated egos and minimize their contribution to the orchestra’s performance.
Don’t Sit Down
    It impairs the player’s view of your beat, detracts from your physical image as a leader, and invites mental laxity. Besides, it looks lazy and some players feel that you are being overpaid anyway.
Don’t Repeat Ad Nauseam
    If you stop to repeat measures, sections or movements, be sure to explain your purpose. Meaningful repetition or even sheer mechanical drilling will not be resented if it is justified. Should you ask for repetition for your own practice, say so. The orchestra knows instinctively that practice is for those who need it.
Don’t Neglect the Downbeat
    Remember that there is only one downbeat in each bar. Should your downbeat move up or sideways by mistake, you will cause much unnecessary confusion. When a player has several bars of rest to count, your downbeat remains his only guide; without a clear downbeat he is sunk, unless he can absolutely count on your cue. But because you are busy conducting, you cannot possibly indicate all the cues. This should encourage you to think, however, that you will not get a precise and convincing entrance, especially of an entire section, by relying on the counting of individual players.
    Once you have conducted for a while, you will be in danger of believing that you do not have to conduct clear beats any longer – that you are only “making music” and interpreting. You may believe that the orchestra knows the music and no longer needs your beat. Unfortunately, you cannot hear their complaints in the dressing room, and they will hesitate to tell you that your beat is unintelligible; nonetheless, it still pays to conduct a clear, standard pattern.
Don’t Be Surprised If . . .
    When the rehearsal has gone on for a while, the musicians look at their watches instead of your beat.
Don’t Hide the Beat
    Your beat is the most vital thing you have to offer. It must be visible to everyone, no matter where they sit in the orchestra. Its purpose is to express clarity and precision for the guidance of the musicians who are trying to express your ideas via their instruments. The fact that your podium choreography might excite the audience and mislead the rational thinking process of the critics is only an unfortunate concomitant.
Don’t Knit
    It is true that Toscanini used circular motions. Unless you are convinced that you are another Toscanini, try clear, straight patterns. Incidentally, contrary to your emotional inclination, if you want the orchestra to play faster, use smaller instead of larger motions.
Don’t Conduct the Melody
    All the musicians know the melody. So does the audience. Where the orchestra needs you is either for rhythmic control, proper balance, logic in contrapuntal textures, exact attacks and releases, and control of dynamic gradations.
Don’t Make Faces
    You will not impress the orchestra by staring at the players or by inspirational facial expressions directed at the ceiling as if you were in direct communication with God. Nor should your head be buried in the score, even if the score isn’t buried in your head. It is equally pointless to memorize for the sake of impressing everyone that the cello passage begins three measures before letter K. Let your face honestly express the emotions the music arouses in you.
Don’t Scream, Threaten, or Throw Fits
    It serves no purpose. You will be ridiculed and become the victim of artistic hostility, which might lead to sabotage and resentment. If the orchestra is not making the effort it is capable of, do not threaten to cancel the concert or walk out, because they will let you. An unruly, frustrated, and lethargic orchestra can be changed suddenly to an attentive, cooperative, and motivated group by a calm remark such as: "Sometimes I wonder whether you care about your work!" The old traditional, temperamental, autocratic, prima-donna type of conductor is on the way out. The Union and/or Orchestra Committee will give you a hard time, and it is questionable whether you can really carry out your threats. If you are attempting to achieve your goals by instilling fear or guilt, you may see some temporary results. In the long run, the disadvantages for you and the orchestra will outweigh any temporary triumphs.
Don’t Believe That Musicians Aren’t People
    There is no evidence that musicians are in any way different from other people. Contrary to popular belief based on romantic fiction, there is no mode of human behavior by which musicians can be categorized.
Don’t Belittle Players
    To embarrass, belittle, or criticize musicians in front of the entire orchestra is a poor investment. So is the habit of calling a few key players by their first names or “my dear,” while you address the others as “you there in back.” If you want the orchestra to work for you or with you, this is a sure way to get them to work against you.
Don’t Encourage Advice from the Faculty
    The best place to learn is from well-intended musicians, but do so in the privacy of your studio. Allowing verbal advice in front of the orchestra members, be it from key players you respect or self-appointed experts, will reduce your effectiveness. In addition, it causes confusion, wasted time, jealousy, and orchestral malaise.
Don’t Show Off Your Knowledge
    It is worthwhile to understand that the musicians basically resent having to conform to your “authentic” interpretation. They each have their own and think they know better, so don’t rub it in. They are likely to be cynical about any display of theoretical knowledge on your part. They know that it is easier to talk about it than to do it on the instrument. This should not convert you, however, to docile humility, breast-beating, and apologetic self-accusation.
Don’t Say “You’re Out Of Tune!”
    Good players are constantly trying to play in tune. Good intonation is not an absolute thing, but a matter of compromise. There have been many instances of top musicians disagreeing on the exact pitch of a given note. It is not enough for the conductor to tell the players to fix it. The conductor is the fixer and is responsible for tuning of such things as woodwind chords or brass chorales by asking the players to conform to his concept of acceptable intonation.
Don’t Be Misled by Ovations
    It is possible to be deceived by premature success. Critics and audiences are fickle. A performer can be a hero one day and a bum the next as far as the public is concerned.
Don’t Take Solo Bows
    If your achievements are legitimate and honest, you will not lack approval, especially with the conductor’s image in today’s concert world. However, with rare exceptions, the stick makes no sound, the musicians make the sound. To share with them the recognition for your labors will assure their good will and enthusiasm. The solo bow will do the opposite; besides, the orchestra may even be impressed enough to stay seated and give you a hand all on their own.
Don’t Use Clip-On Ties
    If you are a good conductor, you’ll get excited by the music and may move a lot. Clip-on ties fall off. There is nothing more comical, pathetic and helpless than an un-tied conductor.
Don’t Conduct Music You Don’t Believe In
    For political reasons and other strategic considerations, you will not escape the fate of having to perform certain pieces against your will. However, by and large, you won’t be able to make someone believe in something unless you do.
Don’t Think Conducting Is Easy
    . . . nor playing easier than conducting.

Dos
Do Get to Know the Orchestra
    This poses a serious problem, because at the present time few conductors are able to spend more than a few days with an orchestra. They will frequently step off an airplane, have a few rehearsals and concerts, and then embark for their next engagement in some other part of the world. It is questionable whether music making of significance can ever be achieved by such a method, which corresponds to a parent bringing up a child by monthly visits.
Do Know How to Rehearse
    To avoid tedium and routine, some of which is unavoidable, treat every composition as if it were new – in rehearsal as well as in concert. Each rehearsal is a new performance, just as each concert is a rehearsal for the next performance. This means constant re-study of even the most familiar score. New compositions should be sightread and checked for mistakes well enough in advance. This will also give the players an idea of which passages need practice.
    Rehearsing seems to divide itself into two opposing methods, rather than a combination of both. It is either playing through the work with no attention to detail except for an occasional outcry of delight or disgust or the drudgery of minute assembling of each part. In such a case, you ask the piccolo, double bass, and fourth horn to play the few measures they have in common, and after that the violins and harp several other such measures. While all this goes on, the orchestra gets bored and restless, talks too much, and waits for the rehearsal to end. The concert then provides the first opportunity to put the whole thing together. It is like repairing a watch and returning it to the customer before winding it to check whether or not it is actually running. Only by experience is it possible for the conductor who has never played in an orchestra, or possibly never played an instrument at all, to learn what needs rehearsing and what doesn’t. Therefore, there is no better training for the conductor than to play some instrument in the orchestra. Many fine conductors begin as instrumentalists.
    Traditionally, and mostly for good reasons, there are sections in string parts which are meant to be “faked,” usually for some coloristic purpose. It is important to know where these are. It wastes time and causes unnecessary antagonism to demand that these be played letter perfect. Serious players will try to play them anyway because they feel unclean having to fake. On the other hand, it demoralizes a player when no attempt is made to rehearse a difficult but playable technical passage. I know of one conscientious musician who, after two and a half hours of sloppy rehearsal, said "I’m going home to play a Bach chorale and take a shower!"
Do Say “We” Instead of “I”
    It is important for the musicians to be made to feel that they are part of a common endeavor. Because it is inevitable that a good conductor will impose his musical ideas on the orchestra and thereby reduce their individuality as performers (if not completely erase it), the only choice left to the conductor is to convince the musicians that he shares with them the aim of putting their combined efforts at the service of the composition. If the conductor can earn this degree of respect for his integrity, he might hope to successfully dominate 100 egos confronting and constantly challenging him.
Do Demand Perfection
    Demand perfection, because you won’t get it. First, it doesn’t exist. Second, the benefit of personal recognition to the player, with the exception of a few solo players, is not worth the sacrifice and effort that perfection demands. However without the specific insistence that at least an attempt at perfection be made, mediocrity will be the end result. Don’t demand unreasonably or capriciously, and be sure to set a fitting example by demanding equally much of yourself. Should the quest for perfection be strictly technical, guard against defeating your efforts by creating undue nervous tension or emotionless, mechanical, chrome-plated replicas of notes. To perfect perfection, make it unnoticeable.
Do Know Your Transpositions
    If the orchestra ever finds out that you don’t (and some conductors go for years without being found out), you’ve had it.
Do Know How to Mark Parts
    One of the most laborious but necessary preparations for a good performance is a well-marked and legible part. Be sure all the parts have the same letters or numbers, because much valuable time is lost in confusion if they don’t. More often than not, markings on photocopies of handwritten manuscripts are not legible. This refers especially to bowings, since no person other than a string player could possibly understand how many problems, frustrations, fights, and misunderstandings can result from the primitive choice of either going upbow or downbow. Should you not be a string player, let your concertmaster initiate you into the fraternity of bowing specialists. You won’t go wrong by asking your string players to make their bowings fit the music, instead of the other way around.
Do Know How to “Do Something”
    Many times the score says nothing – no crescendo, no diminuendo, no forte, no piano. Just little naked black notes. However, just because it says nothing doesn’t mean you do nothing. The magic seems to lie in not doing too little or too much. If you do nothing except be a human metronome, the musicians will also turn into metronomes, and so will the audience. If you turn into a choreographer, you don’t provide the technical guidance needed by the players. Finding a meaningful balance between inspiration and perspiration – between being a traffic cop and a poet, a scholar and an exhibitionist, a preacher and a disciple – is what produces a good conductor.
Do Know How to Play the Piano
    The most obvious and practical reason for this is the need for preparatory piano rehearsals with soloists. You will probably want to coach them – and come to an agreement with them before rehearsing with the full orchestra. The experience of playing piano or celeste in the orchestra is indispensable; there you can observe other conductors and get the feel for being a player. You will learn about how other instruments are played, what the problems are and how to solve them. You will learn that players who have long rests sometimes read magazines or even listen to a transistor radio if their favorite ball club is playing. You will also learn that most inside-chair string players are tempted to play to the last note on each page, instead of turning in time for the outside player to see the top of the next page.
    As a pianist you can also play chamber music and accompany others, all of which teaches you how to follow and adjust. Strangely enough, if you are going to be the authoritative leader, one of the best things to know is when to do nothing and follow the orchestra. There are moments when doing nothing is more profitable. And above all, as a pianist you can play the entire literature and acquire a well-rounded musical outlook.
Do Know How to Ignore the Recording
    Only the strongest can resist the temptation to listen to conductor X’s recording to either confirm, imitate or reject. Orchestra members suspect that some conductors are walking around the living room learning next week’s program by proxy and on some occasions, conductors have been caught in their studios in the middle of an illegitimate relationship with the record player. Records, in a sense, are a falsehood. They have been spliced together from little crumbs of good takes, while the bad takes end up in the garbage can. One movement might have been recorded Friday and one on Saturday. A couple of out-of-tune notes might have been mysteriously replaced by correct ones weeks later by recording editors. Even the authentic recording with the composer himself conducting may have to be taken with a grain of salt, because he may have been sick, aging, or performing under less-than-optimum conditions over which he had no control. Your live performance will have no such protection and will have to be given without the aid of electronic flattery. So back to the printed score!
Do Know Languages
    There are instructions to be read in foreign languages, and if you cannot understand them, you’re licked. What is worse is not being able to pronounce them properly. The musicians are lying in wait to prove that you really aren’t superior to them and they won’t miss an opportunity to catch your slightest weakness. Don’t say Tschaikowsky (as in cow) or try to fake a Russian accent, which might prove that you are as phony as the orchestra thinks you are.
Do Beware of the Strauss Waltz
    The unrehearsed Strauss Waltz has been the cause for many a catastrophe. The repeats and da capos are confusing, and the parts are traditionally a mess, because each conductor uses different repeats. Just because you gave a triumphant performance of the Beethoven 9th does not guarantee that in a Strauss Waltz one part of the orchestra won’t still be playing after-beats while the other half is on the introduction to the next waltz – unless you rehearse it as seriously as the Beethoven 9th.
Do Know That an Orchestra Is Not a Chorus
    Choral conductors, either by accident or design, are a different breed. The problem could be solved by their awareness of this fact. They have been trained to conduct words and phrases, all of which is most natural, musical, and artistic. However, orchestral music is written only in measures with bar lines that impose symmetrical conducting patterns, often in the manner of a Prussian Army formation. The musicians want to know what bar they are in (not knowing drives them to drink), and only a clear beat keeps a player in the musical bar and out of the neighborhood bar. If you are a choral conductor working with an orchestra and you can take time off from singing the words with the chorus, remember the downbeat has also an upbeat.
Do Know How to Treat Musicians
    Within each orchestral musician is buried a conductor, frustrated soloist, or both. The antagonism
they feel for the conductor is traditional, implacable,
and part of the routine. To a few musicians, the check
will be more important than the music, but that doesn’t
mean they would quit music for more money. It only
means their enthusiasm for music needs to be rekindled
by an inspiring conductor, a demanding one, or preferably by a combination of both. The conductor can learn from the players, and, if he is tactful and shrewd,
it can be done in such a way that the newly acquired
information can be presented by the conductor as if
it were his own. How to make the player feel important without flattery is an art in itself, and this particular artform is still in its infancy.

The post A Symphony Player Looks at Conductors appeared first on The Instrumentalist.