
Teddy Abrams: Basics of Conducting
Clip: Season 1 Episode 1 | 6m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Louisville Orchestra Director Teddy Abrams teaches Kelsey Starks the basics of conducting.
Louisville Orchestra Director Teddy Abrams teaches Kelsey Starks the basics of conducting.
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Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Inside Louisville is a local public television program presented by KET

Teddy Abrams: Basics of Conducting
Clip: Season 1 Episode 1 | 6m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Louisville Orchestra Director Teddy Abrams teaches Kelsey Starks the basics of conducting.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipI could teach this to fourth and fifth graders and they can actually conduct this.
Pretty straight forward.
Smarter than a fifth grader.
A good orchestra barely needs anything.
If you just breathe.
In tempo.
They'll start to.
Boom and I'll play.
First thing you do is use your right.
Hand.
Of your.
Left.
I'm left handed, I guess.
See?
Okay.
See there?
I believe you.
So the first thing you're gonna do, you get to put it in your right hand.
Kind of hold it as if you're.
Mm hmm.
I don't know what else you would do with this pointing, and.
Then you're going to, you know, think about what it is you're trying to.
Convey.
The most basic what I'm talking about, any subtlety here you are.
Conveying.
Information about how fast music is going, how loud the music is going.
Obviously, if you move your hands faster, the tempo will go faster.
If you conduct bigger, people will play louder.
Most music goes in groups of two beats, three beats or four beats.
There are pieces like Stravinsky's.
Written music where you're connecting patterns of seven or five or even 11, and sometimes it will change every single bar.
That advanced.
Yeah.
That no one's going to learn to conduct The Rite of Spring.
The first their first day.
So we're all going to learn.
Those those three things for right now.
Okay.
So when you hear a march, like a Sousa march, you're thinking that term.
That's one to 1 to 1 two.
So if you keep your arm up.
You go down.
And basically imagine a.
Table like it's an invisible glass table.
When you hit that table, which should be just kind of like navel level.
Then your baton is going to bounce out to the right.
Then you go back the way you came.
So it's like you're kind of making an L, and that little bounce is called the excuse.
That is the beat.
Oh, by the way, if you know that.
Ad, of course, as a piece, you don't have that ad for that.
I have a.
Structured settlement, but I need cash now that he's conducting on the wrong beat.
They've had that commercial for, like 40 years that drive you crazy.
This is very common in commercials and in movies.
They just Why don't they look it up?
There's always like, one, two, one, two, one, two.
No, it's one, two, one, two.
Now, the thing is, you always want to return to the same point.
So this is a kind of a rookie thing where I go, something goes, One, two, one, two.
That's.
That's like you're drawing something like.
Like, like a magicians doing this.
Like, this is not a one.
You always come back to the same place because you want the whole orchestra to see that and you want to keep your arm moving so that you, what, you don't want is to stop.
Stop.
That means that the music stops.
So there's always some.
Now, now, here's the next part.
A waltz has three beats.
One, two, three, one.
Do it down to da dum dum, bum, bum Down with a click.
But don't bounce get Then go to the right with a click then back to the middle.
Like that's.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
So like you down.
But you're not bouncing out.
You're just kind of like stopping after a little bounce.
Then right then up.
Down, right up, down, right.
Up saying it's not bad.
Okay.
And then four beats are very, very common.
Like the ode to Joy.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
Like, that's very common.
So let's do a form is the last thing we'll learn.
We go.
Down, then to the left.
Then to the right and back up the way we came.
So down, left, right, up with always a click down, click left, click right up down.
Yeah.
If you use a little more elbow, that will help.
So you're not a step So down, left, right.
This is the most common pattern the vast majority of music is in for.
Yeah.
So this is.
What you'll, you'll, you'll.
See all the time connectors.
It's a very natural.
Thing and you'll see a lot of times like this is where I let the baton do the work, The joints allow the baton to move.
Start here and extend all the way to your back.
So it's, it's good to be able to actually just literally do that down, up.
Down, up with nothing but your fingers.
See, I'm just using my fingers.
My wrist is locked.
Then you lock your fingers and you only use your wrist.
We're isolating all the different variables down, up, down and see only wrist.
Right now, my fingers are completely locked.
Okay, then you isolate this and you only use your.
Elbow down, up, down.
No one would ever conduct like this, but this is So we've got all the options.
Then you isolate your elbow and you only.
Use your shoulder, shoulder, shoulder, shoulder, shoulder to shoulder with the same actors, the same click.
Okay, Then you actually isolate your shoulder and you only use your back.
Okay.
Which looks really stupid.
It looks.
Really idiotic.
But the thing is, a good conductor will be able to go down where I'm using kind of my shoulder on one beat.
Then back with just the fingers for that.
Then I'll use my wrist to show something back with the wrist.
Then I'm going to use my whole arm down.
With my back.
Then just my elbow going up.
Like all of that might.
Look like 1 to 1 to just if the music called for that kind of dynamic control and range.
I need every single joint working, you know?
So if there's like a big hit, then it's quiet, then it's smooth, smooth, smooth, short, big hit again.
Lesser hit, but still a little choppy.
Then it gets smooth again.
Then it gets smoother with a crescendo and then a. Crescendo back down.
And that's where your arm, your left arm will come into play.
That shows expression.
It does not mirror this.
That's like when you're conducting a.
You know, like a very large band in school.
You might just do this to help get everybody in line.
But when you're conducting a great orchestra.
They don't need this.
In fact, they barely even need any of.
That kind of conducting.
What they need is expression.
Are you keeping a long line?
Do you want things really short?
Do you want them accented but harsh?
Do you want them accented but maybe firm with a little squishiness?
Do you want the line to expand and then recede, but still holding it just a little bit?
You see, this entire time I'm still conducting, I haven't stopped beating.
But I'm just using this for expression and every once wanting to be a cross section.
Point, I need to be the one, two, one, two, three.
One, two, one, two, one, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two.
They won't do it like then I need everybody's going to be paying attention and we'll go back to a nice calm thing and I'll let them play with.
Some expressive gestures.
I imagine they feed off your energy, though.
The energy is a big part of it.
Yes, that's that's a little bit.
You know, like the coach running around yelling and screaming and trying to get everybody riled up.
Yeah.
But there's also only so much you can do once the players are.
On the field.
Right.
And I have to rely on them translating it.
I don't play any notes.
Remember, I'm the only person on stage that makes no sound, so I rely 100% on them trusting that energy and then doing it.
But I can't force it, can't force anybody to play energetically.
I can jump up and down all day.
Yeah, they have to believe in it Right
Teddy Abrams Plays "My Dear Companion"
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S1 Ep1 | 1m 32s | Teddy Abrams plays "My Dear Companion" by Louisville composer Rachel Grimes. (1m 32s)
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