Sharing (my) orchestra conducting mistakes made as beginner conductor

We all make mistakes, that includes us orchestra conductors, because we are humans too (except for that robot one). So here are the most frequent conducting mistakes we make as beginners, from mirroring, getting slower to looking down at the score.
00:00 Intro
01:11 Getting slower
04:14 Looking down at the score
05:34 Looking dead faced :/
06:47 Mirroring ( parallel conducting)
07:55 Talking too much during rehearsals
MORE VIDEOS ON CONDUCTING
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[@philzmusic8098]

Spot on. I have a few more. 1. One is down. Orchestras are only watching you out of the corner of their eye, so they need to see the downbeat of each measure. When we get excited we tend to move our arms up on the downbeats. 2. If a player makes a mistake more than once, 99% of the time there's a misprint in their part. 3. Breathe when you give the upbeat to a phrase. As a pianist, I had to learn this. 4. Finally, about talking too much. The more you can show with your beat, such as loud or soft, legato or staccato, the better. This is a lifelong study.

[@carballido1979]

1. Not always: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqi8Z5R5ismog8ksi=HL48BLWlyLq1b85m

[@JeanJacquesCoetzee]

Very helpful tips - I recently gave in to my curiosity and took a half day beginner’s conducting course. Hats off to you, it is such a great skill to have!

[@leo22cuervo]

I'm just here trying to move each hand in two different ways while listening the rest of the video

[@howimettheopera]

Ahaha, definitely a good exercise for the brain, let me know how it went ;)

[@photonquark]

I heard a long time ago that Fritz Reiner was a "vest pocket" conductor. Now I know why!! Thank you for this series.

[@ottavva]

Anna, you are one won-der-ful person ❤❤❤

[@thanhtung6319]

Just found out your channel today, it's something mind-blowing to me!! Thank you so much for your videos, I've learn a lot. And sorry for my broken English..

[@KaltOhm]

I find your videos really fascinating. Such a complex and beautiful world. Thanks!

[@howimettheopera]

Thank you for watching!

[@dgl-ic7lb]

Thanks for these great perceptions, done with humor and verve. Can you post links to your performances? You give us such wonderful observations on individual conductors and on the art of conducting, but I'd love to watch your own conducting, how you put these lessons into practice. Another subject I'd like to listen to you speak on - when composers conduct their own music.

[@alexcitron5159]

As someone who conducts occasionally, I've done all those things. Independence of the hands is probably the hardest.

[@inserttapehere276]

Yooooo i wanna watch your old conducting videos in full

[@lanebrain55]

I made a big mistake at my last concert. We had to start a piece over.

[@caterscarrots3407]

As someone who is not a full time orchestra conductor but does sometimes conduct to audio of the piece, I do that mirroring thing a lot. Sometimes by default like if I'm keeping tempo and the dynamic is stable, I often end up moving both hands to said tempo. But sometimes, it's purposeful mirroring. Like for instance with the opening to Beethoven's Fifth, I'll make very energetic moves with both hands in the rhythm of that Fate Motif to emphasize 1) that it's fortissimo(thus the energy) 2) the fermata(when I stop moving) and 3) how fast I want it to be(thus me moving in rhythm with the notes), that's an example of me mirroring on purpose. But after that, between the opening motif where I mirror on purpose and the first crescendo where my left hand is rising while I put more energy into my right hand motion, I often end up doing the by default keeping tempo type mirroring I described earlier.

[@howimettheopera]

it happens to all of us, and even some professional conductors do a lot of it and its ok! I think the point all teachers make when they correct that is that, like you said, if it's intentional then its your decision and totally valid, but when it's involuntary then it's useful to learn how to control it, and then maybe you can do other things with that hand or even nothing at all! sometimes if you do very little and with just right hand, when both hands show up musicians instantly feel that something important is coming just due to the difference.

[@jeaneltawil]

I always feel happy when I see you've posted a new video! and I always have questions to ask :) which do you think is easier, rehearsing a new music with an orchestra that you know well or rehearing a music that you know well with a new orchestra? Also, can you share the videos of you conducting? I would love the hear the difference now that I've seen it!

[@howimettheopera]

thanks! I don't know about easier, but I always like working with people I know well already :) Can't share conducting videos yet because I don't have permission from the orchestras/organizations (that's why I use just the image). But im hoping that will change in the future!

[@jeaneltawil]

@@howimettheopera can you share the oeuvres you were conducting in both videos? or at least their titles?

[@gianna9568]

As I sing in a choir, for me the biggest mistake of a conductor is not cuing the choir when needed. ;)

[@howimettheopera]

Most definitely! I sang a lot in choir so I've experienced this from both sides

[@ctr2090]

Brava.

[@josechrist3948]

I wish I could be a member in your orchestra!

[@nargesnaji]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@gabrielmercado1104]

Esa foto de Charly y la Negra Sosa de fondo :)

[@howimettheopera]

buen ojo ;)

[@ameliakrinke3492]

Would you say that the reverse works if the orchestra is rushing - that is, getting bigger to get them to slow down and follow you? Great video, thank you!

[@howimettheopera]

Yes! usually if the orchestra is rushing it can help to show the beats very separated in space, to bring people attention and make very clear where the pulse is, so in a way you do get bigger by doing that. Thanks for watching!

[@Casutama]

Hey :) I was wondering if it would be possible to list the music you use in the background in the description box? I usually know the pieces, but sometimes I don't, and sometimes it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't remember what the piece is - and as we all know, searching for classical pieces online is not easy! In this case, I remembered that it's Mendelssohn 4 pretty quickly, but stuff like that can really haunt you if you don't figure it out :)

[@howimettheopera]

Great suggestion, will do! lately I have been using Mendelssohn for most videos because it takes a long time to equalise the levels of a symphony to work as background music XD

[@orientaldagger6920]

I got one for you: the slower you take the music the more seriously you will be taken. Unless you are a genius like Celibidache or Klemperer.

[@proyectocms]

Les Luthiers y Frida Kalho?.... qué relaciòn tienes con latinoamérica?

[@michaelstearnes1526]

Sir Thomas Beecham and Wilhelm Furtwangler would have never made it through a modern conducting class. (Thank God).

[@martinhaub2602]

Not exactly a mistake, but many inexperienced (and some very experienced) conductors hide behind eye glasses - they don't realize how important that eye contact is and how badly glasses interfere. Get Lasix, where contacts or something - but please get rid of them. Another huge mistake is for the conductor to say something along the line "Well, on so-and-so's recording he did it this way and that how I'd you to play it". If you learned the music from a recording you have no business being up there. I love these videos; keep them coming!

[@julia-hj8rb]

Tell that to Karajan,