Conducting 101

The Right Hand

Masterclasses Music Classical music Masterclass

The right hand as the foundation of conducting. Tempo, entries, phrasing and dynamic are covered as well proper posture and how to use the baton. 

The technique of this hand gives the tempo, it gives entries, it gives phrasing, it gives dynamic and we're going to start off looking at how it all breaks down. The very foundations of right hand stick technique.

There are many many fine conductors who work without a baton using solely their hands. And there are many techniques that can be developed that make the hands a very useful tool. And indeed, many of the most fundamental parts of conducting technique can work either with a hand or with a baton.

When we use the baton however, which is what I'll be doing throughout all of these videos. We need to understand on the one hand it's an extension of the gestures that we make with our arm. And is also a tool in itself, that we can use from the fingers to be expressive. But first and foremost, it's a focal point for musicians right here at the tip of the baton; to understand the color, the dynamic, the tempo, the expression of what it is that you're trying to indicate.

And if we use it correctly the baton offers us an almost unending palette of different ways to express ourselves as conductors.

Learn more about

  • dscf9130-curtis-perry-2-cropped
    Alexander Shelley

Watch more in this series