The Conductor Flashcards
Where does the conductor stand?
The conductor stands at the front of the orchestra so that all the players can see him or her. The conductor keeps the players in time using a stick called a baton.
What can the conductor be?
A bit of a mystery. They don’t just stand at the front and wave a white stick around
What is the conductor?
The conductor is the leader of the orchestra, so they put the musical puzzle together
What do the players have?
All of the pieces, but they don’t know where everything fits. The music has too many layers for everyone to know everything
What does the conductor use?
A score. It’s a bit like a jigsaw box with the picture on it and they use it to help all the musicians put all the pieces in the right places
What is amazing about classical music?
The same piece played by the same orchestra, but played by a different conductor sounds different
What a the conductors job?
To study and prepare the music as well as you possibly can. That’s all gathered in 1 book called the score
What do you see in the score?
All the different instruments named at the side
What is one of the conductors jobs?
Making sure that the whole orchestra plays at the same speed, that’s called tempo
What is part of the conductors job?
To make sure that what the composer wrote in the score is performed in the best way. It’s not always easy to know as the composer may have been dead for many years
What would a composer often use?
A baton. It’s a stick that can be very small or ver ver long
Why is the baton white?
Because the orchestra often have black clothes on, so it needs to be clear for the musicians on a black background where the beat is
Sometimes what might conductors do?
Put the stick away and just use their hands because the hands can actually express a lot of things which the stick can’t. If they want the orchestra to play softer or louder they may lower air raise their hands
What does a piece of music need to broken up into?
Bars and often these bars are in four beats
