Before we start, please note that musicians NEARLY always conduct with their right hand. Yes. Even if you’re a leftie. There are very very very few musicians who conduct with their left hands. If you are taking this course in preparation for music school or college, please practice with your right hand and spare yourself the trouble of needing to switch later on!

We will first learn about the vocabulary associated with conducting. The downbeat is the first beat (it goes down), and the upbeat is the last beat (it goes up.) This is true for all conducting patterns. 

The ictus occurs on a horizontal plane, and it is where the beats occur. (It’s where the conductor does a little “bounce”.) Here are the conducting patterns. Please find the video and conducting patterns below. Watch the video tutorial and practice until you feel comfortable with all three. 

Keywords to know.

• Upbeat
• Downbeat
• Ictus