Performance and Conducting
Domain 2: Performance and Conducting
This domain tests the practical skills behind rehearsal and performance: conducting gesture, score reading, transposition, rehearsal planning, and the pedagogy of voices and instruments. Expect questions on beat patterns, preparatory gestures, cues, cutoffs, expressive conducting, balance, intonation, diction, and error diagnosis.
Core rules and concepts
- Patterns: 2/4 is down–up; 3/4 is down–out–up; 4/4 is down–left–right–up. Compound duple (6/8) is normally conducted in two broad beats, not six equal beats.
- Preparatory beat: Give the tempo, dynamic, and articulation before the entrance. The prep is a full beat in the chosen tempo; the ictus marks the beat point, and rebound connects beats.
- Left hand: Use it for cues, dynamics, phrasing, and cutoffs while the right hand maintains pattern and tempo. A cutoff closes with a circular or pinched gesture after the final sound.
- Transposition: Bb instruments sound a major second lower than written; F instruments sound a perfect fifth lower; Eb alto sax sounds a major sixth lower. To get concert pitch, transpose down.
- Rehearsal: Diagnose before repeating. Isolate the problem, slow the tempo, use count-singing or solfège, then restore context.
Worked example
A conductor sees written C5 for Bb trumpet and F horn. For Bb trumpet, written C5 sounds Bb4, a major second lower. For F horn, written C5 sounds F4, a perfect fifth lower. If the conductor needs concert pitch, both parts must be transposed down, not up. The same logic applies when reading a condensed score: identify each instrument’s transposition before trusting the printed pitch.
Traps that cost marks
- Conducting 6/8 in six equal beats instead of two compound beats.
- Starting on the first beat without a preparatory beat.
- Transposing up instead of down, or forgetting that horn in F is a fifth, not a fourth.
- Cueing after the entrance rather than just before it.
- Rehearsing by repetition without naming the error.
- Ignoring balance: melody, counterline, bass, and percussion need distinct roles.