Beat Patterns

Beat Patterns

Conductors at the Windworx Conducting courses and the University of Pretoria conducting workshop
demonstrated discipline with beat patterns. The more experienced conductors showed high
confidence, especially with starting, stopping, and handling transitions. Most of the conductors
used a "displaced beats" style of beat patterns.

I like to use three different kinds of beat patterns. The first kind, displaced beats, is very common.
There are many excellent books written about it. Each beat has its own distinct place in the space
in front of a conductor, depending on the meter, tempo and dynamic.

The second kind of beat pattern is focal point conducting. Instead of placing each beat at a different
point in space, all beats are placed in the exact same location, a “focal  point.” One of the ways this
can be used is to make it easier for an ensemble to anticipate the exact placement of a beat in a
slow tempo. In the following example, the ensemble needs to precisely attack a short note very
loudly in a slow tempo. Focal point conducting uses Beats 1 and 2 to show the ensemble exactly
where beat 3 will be.

Julie Giroux: Italian Rhapsody

The third kind of beat pattern is free form conducting. There are no rules about placement of beats.
The purpose is to communicate expressive phrasing rather than pulse.  Used at appropriate moments,
free form can be highly effective for communicating changes in the emotional contour of the music.