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Elevate Your Level of Readiness: A Method for Effective Score Study

Next, we delineate important entrances (cues) Example 3: Marking cues and important entrances
and emotional arrivals using black and yellow pencil.
(Example 3) Perceiving the “peaks and valleys” of the
work informs our decisions about pacing and help us
grasp what’s important (i.e., the melody, newer material,
other balance points, etc.) Knowing what’s important, in
turn, helps us ensure that we achieve appropriate dynamic
balance at any given moment. Two moments of arrival in
a work might both be marked forte, but the second peak
might be scored differently or more dramatically, leading
us as conductors to interpret the first peak as forte and
the second “forte plus,” or even fortissimo. I once heard
a wise teacher say, “Don’t consider dynamics in terms of
volume, but in terms of size: big and bigger vs. small and
smaller…” As conductors, the more clearly we mark this in
the score, the greater chance we have to convey it through
gesture. Finally, plainly marking entrances also helps us
provide cues and support to student musicians who are
less confident, particularly in the heat of the performance.
After we mark cues and important entrances, we
should indicate significant changes in dynamics
and articulations in red pencil. (Example 4) The bold
color makes changes in dynamics, volume, and specific
articulations “pop off the score,” which impacts our choice
of gesture when conducting (i.e., pattern size, left hand
versus right hand emphasis, facial expression, etc.). Clear
markings, in combination with a better understanding of
overall dynamic shaping, enable better decisions about
phrasing and balance. It is easy to think of balance
primarily as the “blend of instruments within the tutti band counting system (either “1-e-&-a”, “1-ti-te-ta”, etc.) When
sound,” but we should also consider it in terms of choosing dealing with compound (or asymmetric) meters, drawing
which instruments to listen for at any given moment or “lines” and “triangles” before rehearsal will aid overall
balancing a chord based on just intonation practices. understanding. Drawing lines through the large beats in
Next, we notate and translate challenging rhythmic technical passages will also help keep you grounded in the
figures so that when we have an opportunity to model for underlying meter. As well, this procedure may help students
our students, we can negotiate these rhythms without error. decide when to tap their foot in rehearsal in an effort
As conductors, we should be the best musicians in the to help them negotiate difficult or syncopated technical
room. The more difficult the rhythmic figure, the more we passages. After we have marked our score purposefully
need to practice it on our own before we teach it, lest our in terms of form, key, cues and entrances, dynamics,
students learn the rhythm inaccurately. Near the difficult articulation, and translation of rhythmic passages, we start
rhythm, write out the counts in pencil. In conjunction crafting our teaching plan.
with this step, make sure you and your students share a

Bandmasters Review • April 2018 25 Texas Bandmasters Association