What musical information do you wish you could easily communicate with just your hands?
I love the panoply of clear musical signs we can give with just two hands.
Tempo, dynamics, entrances, articulations…all clear in traditional conducting. Add the ubiquitous “last time fist” from jazz because it’s so very useful.
What’s missing? What nonverbal cue would you add to the repertoire, if you could?
I think the information I’d most like to communicate that I can’t now is “Coda.” It seems like I’m often in the position of reminding both singers and instrumentalists to get ready for a page turn to a coda – or just to sing/play the coda they’ve learned!
I haven’t figured out what the hand sign for the Coda is, but I wish I had learned one.
(Maybe it’s in the Conductor’s Toolbox – an innovative course in jazz/pop conducting tools by Jesper Holm. It’s long been on my list to study!)