Directors and the first note of a piece of music

[Stephen Tashi]

When I watch videos of directors beginning a musical performance, I usually cannot tell how they designate a particular instant of time when the musicians are supposed to start playing. Perhaps each conductor has his own habits and the musicians must get used to them? Or perhaps the director is saying something to the musicians that the audience can't hear?

Another thought is that the first note of a piece of music is often a relatively long note so it isn't noticeable if the musicians begin playing it at slightly different times. If the first note was something like a sixteenth note followed by a quarter note rest, I think it would be hard to synchronize a big group of musicians who were looking for a visual signal when to start. According to that theory, music for a marching band would tend to begin with a long note or peharps with only the instruments in the formation played by musicians who can see the conductor.

 

[BWV]

The conductor provides the cue, usually a nod. in a smaller group without a conductor, one player will take the role, like the 1st violin in a string quartet

 

[Klystron]

When I played horn in college orchestra, we relied on visual commands from the conductor to begin playing the score. As you say, each conductor provided visual cues according to their different styles.

At the beginning of a piece the conductor waited until the players 'settled' then visually gathered everyone together with a dramatic upward flourish. We attacked in unison on the down swing. After the beginning measures, the conductor signaled each section such as brass, woodwinds, percussion and choir via head nods and body language while keeping time with wand, arm and hand motions.

Within each section we followed the lead instrument as mentioned above; splitting attention among the conductor, section lead, and the written score while synchronizing our tapping foot with the percussion section. This multitasking served well to keep the orchestra synced during times when the conductor concentrated on a soloist or when playing without a conductor, particularly during rehearsal.

In my limited experience with marching band we synchronized on the tall staff of the drum major ahead and the guide at the leftmost position of each rank.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I thought the job of the conductor was to scream at the orchestra in German?