If I asked you to fix a loose screw on a wall fixture, would you grab a hammer out of your toolkit? Or a saw? Or a chisel? Probably not. Because you know the best thing to use to accomplish that goal is a screwdriver. Well, I often think of the shape of our left hand when we are conducting in much the same way. One of the most vivid ways we can evoke the sound we want from an ensemble – a sound that matches what we want to hear – is the shape we show in our left hand. I think it starts with finding a neutral, “plain vanilla” shape that we can use to serve as our default shape. Then we can creatively explore hand shapes to characterize more specific sounds we may want to hear. Let your creativity be free to come up with any number of shapes. The only limit here is our imagination!
As long as the hand shape elicits the correct sound, we are golden. Obviously using a fist for a subtle, elegant flute cue would be inappropriate. Likewise using an “asking hand” with your palm up as if asking someone to give you something, would not fit a subito piano passage. As you watch your conducting in the mirror, or on video recordings, look for hand shapes that match the sound you seek. Each tool in a toolbox is perfect for some task. The trick is to make the choice that is best.
Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America
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