Conductor Expressivity Affects Evaluation of Rehearsal Instruction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of conductor expressivity on the evaluation of rehearsal instruction. We video recorded two conductors in rehearsal with a university band. We extracted a 3.5-min excerpt of their rehearsals that featured alternation between conductor talk and expressive conducting. For one of the conductors (the “experimental” conductor), we also re-recorded the same rehearsal excerpt with the conductor using unexpressive gestures. In postproduction, we created two versions of the experimental conductor’s rehearsal—one unaltered and the other altered to show unexpressive conducting gestures. The footage of the experimental conductor’s verbal instruction was identical in both versions. Collegiate musicians ( N = 134) viewed the rehearsal excerpts of both the experimental conductor (either expressive or unexpressive) and the control conductor and evaluated both conductors on eight criteria related to instructional effectiveness. Significant differences were found between conditions in the composite evaluations of the experimental conductor. Further inspection revealed significantly higher evaluations favoring the expressive condition on seven of the eight criteria. Notable among these results is the influence of expressive gesture on the perception of distinctly verbal conductor behaviors. We suggest this may indicate the inseparability of gestural and verbal aspects of rehearsal instruction.