How can conductors be more intuitive in rehearsals?
1) Be sensitive to intuitive impulses. Being aware of intuition as a valuable tool in conducting is a good beginning.
2) Try to heighten your awareness of the individuals in the choir. Notice how choir members enter the rehearsal hall. What is the general mood and emotional tone of the group? This will help you make decisions about the rehearsal that will save time. Also be sensitive to changes in the choir’s attitude during the rehearsal.
3) Avoid being a slave to a rehearsal plan. Within the rehearsal plan, be flexible enough to respond to your musical and interpersonal intuition. Never blindly follow a rehearsal plan if you sense a need to take a new direction.
4) Be willing to take a chance in rehearsal. If you have an inspiration, go with it immediately. It may be a subconscious response to the choir’s needs at that particular moment. Often a conductor may not be aware on a conscious level of the choir’s needs. After the fact, the problem may be traced to its source, but in an ongoing rehearsal, there may not be time for such leisurely reflection. The intuitive idea will probably work best at the time it occurs, while later in the rehearsal the concept may not be as successful.
5) Reflect on rehearsal and musical problems in an unstructured way outside rehearsal. Many problems can be solved in moments of relaxed contemplation. Keeping the problem on the “back burner” can allow conductors to make connections they might otherwise miss, seeing out of the corner of their mind’s eye.
6) Keep a journal. Many conductors keep a rehearsal journal that they find useful in planning future rehearsals. Add a written note about rehearsal experiences when intuitive impulses occur. Note both successful and unsuccessful impulses, since both help clarify and sharpen musical intuition.
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