The Effect of Conductor Head and Shoulder Movement and Preparatory Gesture Direction on Upper Body Movement of Individual Singers

Abstract

This study examined participants" head and shoulder movements during 2 breath inhalation moments as they sang a familiar melody while viewing a videotaped conductor under 5 conductor preparatory gesture conditions. Results indicated apparent differences in participant head and shoulder movement with varied preparatory gestures. Specifically, participant head movement significantly increased with conductor upward head movement and participant shoulder movement significantly increased with conductor upward shoulder movement. Participant shoulder movement also increased during a downward moving gesture as compared to an upward moving gesture. In addition, less experienced participants appeared to move their heads less, but their shoulders more than experienced participants across all gesture conditions. Finally, participant head and shoulder measurements also differed between the initial breath and the internal breath taken in the melody. These results were discussed in terms of conductor gestural behaviors in choral rehearsals, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.