The Life of a Conductor

While playing the part of a musician is a truly fascinating way to spend your life, another job often overlooked within the musical world is that of a conductor. Music conductors often take center stage during a concert, but what is a conductor and where did they come from?

Interestingly, the job of a conductor first came into the spotlight during the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, a conductor would simply make hand gestures in order to introduce a certain “melodic shape” to an audience. Often, Christian churches would incorporate a conductor into each Sunday music program, but this type of conduct would hold a large wooden staff in order to conduct a Church musical group. As time marched on, the 17th century saw quite a few innovative ways of helping a musical group to keep musical time. Conductors during the 17th century would often use pieces of rolled paper, sticks, and even hand gestures in order to keep rhythmic time. In fact, a conductor by the name of Jean-Baptiste Lully died at the hand of a long metal conducting staff when he stabbed his own foot with the stick, and wound up dying of gangrene.

Today, a musical conductor uses a small baton in order to lead an orchestra. Although conducting looks like an easy task, keeping a certain beat and communicating with musicians is less than easy. Unlike many other jobs, there are no set rules within the world of conducting, and nearly every conductor has a different way of leading musicians. However, most conductors do have some musical training, and they must be able to understand tempo, dynamics, and articulation in order to have any sort of conducting success. While the life of a conduct seems glamorous, conductors work extremely hard in order to bring an audience the best musical sound possible.