Conducting provides the student with an awareness of the techniques of orchestral, choral and ensemble conducting. It deepens the student's understanding of the role of conductor. There is a strong emphasis upon developing practical techniques and experience. Conducting fosters: an understanding of the role of the conductor; the development of the practical techniques in ensemble, choral and orchestral conducting; and skills in preparation, techniques and rehearsal procedures.

Conducting 1 aims to introduce music students to the discipline of choral conducting. The focus is on equipping students with the fundamental knowledge and skills for rehearsing and performing a wide spectrum of choral music scores. The course aims to equip music students with the abilities of:

• Being flexible in a changing musical environment
• Competently adapting skills to manage and direct others in a musical setting
• Building the resource base of the student to explore further capabilities such as fluency in score reading, language recognition, arranging and singing
• Identifying issues as they apply to management of time, management of others and management of other musical resources

By the end of this course, you are expected to have achieved proficiency in the following areas:

• Conduct choral ensembles efficiently and effectively
• Research and select appropriate musical scores for a given choral ensemble
• Demonstrate clear understanding of the musical score and its historical/social context
• Read and comprehend clefs and understand linguistic demands in a given score
• Reflect on and discuss your own learning as it relates to the course subject matter

 Personal Journal Assignment  500 - 700 words (30%), Mid-Semester sight reading assessment (10%), Participation (10%) and End of Semester performance examination (50%)

Students undertake class instruction (average of one hour per week) plus relevant practical conducting experience.

It is recommended that students electing to take this course also enrol in MUSM1273 - Conducting 2 in semester 2.

• An A=440Hz pitch fork
• A portable tuning device
• A metronome
• A 2B pencil or pacer, eraser, sharpener
• A paper notebook
• The compulsory set musical score
• Clean manuscript paper
• Chosen score