SBOPerformance: Rehearsing Music

Rehearsing Music:
Nonverbal Cues, Body Language, and Facial Expression
by Robert J. Garofalo and Frank L. Battisti

Editor’s Note: This is the sec-

ond of a two-part feature. The
first article, covering procedures,
verbal cues, and pictorial imagery,
appeared in the January, 2009 is-
sue of SBO, which can be found at
www.sbomagazine.com.

T
he quality of musical sound that is pro-
duced by an ensemble (orchestra, band,
chorus, or chamber ensemble) is greatly af-
fected by a conductor’s gestures, body lan-
guage, and facial expressions – nonverbal cues. This
may partially explain why different conductors obtain
different results and sounds from the same performing en-
semble. Conductors need to build a repertoire of physical (body)
gestures and psychological (facial) expressions in order to convey
music more effectively on the podium.

A conductor should be able to show what he or she wants, and not have
to explain it in words. Stopping to explain what is desired reduces the time
the ensemble has to put desired musical ideas into art expression. To improve
your ability to convey musical expression on the podium using nonverbal cues,
consider studying mime and ASL (American Sign Language). Both of these com-
municative modes utilize a wide variety of facial expressions, hand gestures,
and body language.
For every composition to be performed, the conductor must ask two ques-
tions: What is the musical message of the composition – the spiritual essence
and/or expressive character of the music? And how can I communicate that
musical message to the ensemble (via body language and facial expression) so
that the performers can convey the message through their playing?
The taxonomy of conducting behavior that follows focuses on the body,
head, and face (especially the eyes and mouth) of the conductor. Nontraditional
conducting gestures that utilize the hands, arms, and body are also covered.

30 School Band and Orchestra, June 2009

Body Language tion with his arms and the beat which was in compound
time. See illustration below.
The torso of the human body is a major source of en- Conductors sometimes use nontraditional gestures
ergy, emotion, conviction, and confidence. A conductor and body language that reflect the playing motions of
can project these qualities from the torso (which includes performers, a practice that we call “visual onomato-
the heart and the lungs), but not from the arms and hands. poeia.” With aural onomatopoeia, one uses words to
Conductors sometimes mimic the music they are conduct- vocally imitate the sound of a thing or action; for ex-
ing though body motions, in some cases literally. For ex- ample, buzz, hiss, boom, bang, clang, ring, and so on.
ample, they march when the music is a march and swing With visual onomatopoeia, one uses body language to
when the music swings. Conductors occasionally bend imitate the motion of a thing or action that elicits the
their knees, drop down slightly, and hunch their shoulder sound. In other words, the conductor “mimes” the ac-
to signal “play softer.” These procedures can work in re- tions of the players using body movement. For example,
verse to signal “play louder.” conductors often mimic the motions of string players in
A nontraditional conducting order to increase musical expression and intensity. The
gesture is an unconventional hands are held in the position of either a violinists or
or atypical motion that is not cellist with the left hand imitating the motion of vibrato
standardized or customary. For and the baton hand bowing directions. Also, conductors
example, Frederick Fennell, sometimes use gestures that imitate the motions of per-
in a rehearsal with a univer- cussionists when cuing percussion instruments. These
sity wind ensemble, conducted nontraditional gestures are fairly easy to learn and do.
Holst’s transcription of Bach’s For bass drum, use a right to left beating motion with
Fugue alla Gigue with both the baton mimicking the playing the instrument; the ba-
hands moving in parallel mo- ton may even be turned around in the hand to act as a
tion high above his head; his beater. For timpani, use a downward pounding motion.
upper body was swaying back For crash cymbals, use both hands moving together then
and forth in synchronized mo- apart as if you were actually playing the instrument. In

School Band and Orchestra, June 2009 31

addition to strings and percussion, primary emotions. Most, if not all, think about the signals and meaning
there are other band and orches- of these states have been captured in they convey:
tra instruments that are occasion- music, which indicates that it should We don’t see eye to eye.
ally mimed by the conductor. Two not be too difficult to show the emo- Smiling eyes.
instruments that quickly come to tions facially when conducting mu- Eyes like a hawk.
mind are trombone and harp. Can sic. Can you think of a musical com- Icy stare.
you think of others? position that expresses the emotion Shifty eyed.
of surprise? What about fear, anger, His eyes were mesmerizing.

Facial Expression disgust, happiness, or sadness?

Common facial expressions are
He had good eye-hand coordination.
She gave him the malocchio (Italian for
“Even the most expressive of pat- delineated in three areas of the “evil eye”).
terns can never communicate the face: the brow and forehead; the
emotional content of a composition eyes, eye lids, and bridge of the Can you think of additional re-
as effectively as the face,” says Sir nose; and the lower face which in- marks that reveal the communicative
David Whitwell. Conductor Max cludes the mouth, chin, jaw, cheeks, power of the eyes?
Rudolph agrees:
“The expression
of your eyes and
“Conductors sometimes What meaning and expression is
conveyed with “raised eyebrows,” “a
your general fa-
cial expression
mimic the music they frown,” “squinting eyes,” or “closed
eyes”? Conductor Herbert von Karajan
can tell players
more about the
are conducting though conducted with his eyes closed. What
meaning or message is conveyed when
music than fancy
hand-waving.”
body motions.” the eyes are closed when conducting?
Deep thought or feeling, meditation,
The conductor’s being asleep, dreaming?
face must reflect the emotional ex- and nose. In the Glossary of Facial We associate various eye movements
pression of the music to be effective Expressions (used by permission with a wide range of human expres-
on the podium. To do that, the con- from “Conducting From The Inside sion. For example: a downward glance
ductor must internalize the music. Out,” a clinic by Allan McMurray, is often associated with modesty; eyes
The human face is rich in com- Mid-West International Band and rolled upward may indicate that an-
municative potential. In fact, it is Orchestra Clinic, December, 1994) other person’s behavior is weird or
the primary source of information below, see if you can identify the unusual. Our fascination with our eyes
next to speech. Although our fa- expressions that reflect the six basic has led to the study of every feature of
cial muscles are capable of produc- emotions listed above. them (size, color, position, eyebrows,
ing nearly four-dozen movements, Most conductors will tell you that eye lids, rings, and wrinkles).
which in turn can create more than the eyes are a major means of com- The mouth is probably the next
10,000 different expressions, in his munication on the podium. There most expressive facial feature after the
book Nonverbal Communication in is power in the eyes. The eyes are a eyes. The mouth can grin, smile, or
Human Interaction, author Mark “window to the soul.” Eye contact pout. Lips can be tight, teeth clenched,
L. Knapp suggests that researchers and expression are critically impor- and so on. The mouth can be wide
have discovered that humans reveal tant for the conductor. One needs to open or be shut tightly. Generally, one
six universal facial expressions (in- ask: What exactly do the eyes do? And should not conduct with the mouth
fants by the age of one show these when do they do it? What psychologi- wide open or shut tightly for any
basic expressions in their faces). cal and emotional meaning do the eyes length of time.
They are: convey? Here are some thoughts on Instrumental conductors often
the matter gleaned from reflection and mouth rhythms while the ensemble is
1. Surprise observation. playing, their mouths and lips open-
2. Fear The eyes squint, blink, stare, ing and closing in time with the mu-
3. Anger glare, glance, scan, focus, recede sic using a neutral or nonsense syl-
4. Disgust upward into the sockets (what does lable. Choral and opera conductors,
5. Happiness that signal?), wink (close right or left on the other hand, often mouth the
6. Sadness eye), blink (both eyes); and look left, words with the singers. Many con-
right, up, down, or straight ahead. ductors breathe with their players,
These six emotions seem to be at The eyes can sparkle, be glazed over, either through their mouth and/or
the foundation of most human ex- or look blank. their nose, a procedure that is highly
pressions; others appear to differ Note, in the list below, the differ- recommended especially when start-
only in intensity or are blends of the ent ways humans refer to the eyes and ing music.

32 School Band and Orchestra, June 2009

 In the Glossary of Facial Expres- Robert Garofalo is emeritus professor/conductor of the Rome School of Music of
sions below, explain what is changing The Catholic University of America. He has conducted bands, orchestras, choruses,
on the faces. Also, describe the emo- and operas for over 40 years. Frank Battisti is conductor emeritus of the New England
tion conveyed in each facial expres- Conservatory Wind Ensemble. He has conducted
sion with one or two words. bands and ensembles for more than 50 years. Ga-
rofalo and Battisti have coauthored several books
Glossary of Facial and articles; most notably Guide to Score Study
for the Wind Band Conductor (Meredith Music,
Expressions 1990) and Lead and Inspire: A Guide to Expres-
sive Conducting (Whirlwind Music, 2005), from
Robert Garofalo which this article is adapted. Frank Battisti

Can you guess/identify the expres-

sive character of the musical message
being conveyed here by conductor
Frederick Fennell by observing his
facial expression and body language?

For example, is the music strong or

gentle (dynamics), quick or deliberate
(tempo), lyrical or dramatic (style)?
Can you find a facial expression in the
Glossary above that correlates with
Fennell’s expression?

School Band and Orchestra, June 2009 33