FREE GUIDE

5 STEPS TO LEARN
A SCORE FASTER
(AND BETTER)

GIANMARIA GRIGLIO
 CONT
ENTS
01 THE
CONDUCTOR'S
MINDSET
Getting rid of useless
misconceptions and embracing a
new perspective

02 5 STEPS TO
LEARN FASTER
With particular attention on
Visual Score Study

03 BONUS
RESOURCES
Something extra to keep you
going

(SHORT)
INTRODUCTION
This small e-book is the product of my own experience along
with what I learned from my mentor, the great conductor
Harold Farberman. It is not, by any means, a shortcut in
learning a score.

Its purpose is to show you that there are ways to look at a

score that you probably had not thought of, like Visual Score
Study. I find this to be an invaluable tool that over the years
has helped me immensely in accelerating the process of
assimilating a score. I'm sure it will help you too!

Gianmaria Griglio
THE
CONDUCTOR'S
MINDSET
Unlike instrumental and vocal techniques,
over the centuries conducting technique
has not seen the same type of
development.
To this day it is still largely taught in very
basic blocks: right hand for keeping the
tempo in two-dimensional patterns and
left hand for expression.
This idea is fundamentally limiting the
conductor to a time beating machine with
some non-specific gestures left for an
even more generic concept of expression.
It also fuels the myth that “conductors are
born, not made” and that “conducting cannot
be taught” beyond its basic commands.
Discovering how to approach a composition
from a technical point of view while
attaching a personal musical idea to it is a
fairly unknown process to those who
venture into this profession.
It is, in fact, considered a product of
experience, therefore unavailable to
conductors at the beginning of their
journey.
Needless to say, this is a faulty
approach, effectively robbing young
conductors of an opportunity to mold
their technique in the early stages of
their conducting lives. Conducting in
itself is a lifetime learning experience
but the steps through which one goes
are always the same:

Learning the score

Installing a technical system for its delivery
Delivering it

The first and the third point are the

most widely adopted. Learn the score
EGAYOV • 4 EGAP

through musical analysis, harmonic

analysis, structure, orchestration, etc.
Rehearse and perform.
While the first step is obviously fundamental,
it is, in fact, only the first step. So far, as a
conductor, you have “only” studied the music.

You then jump to the third step directly:

delivering to the orchestra your knowledge of
the score. The culprit is the second step:

y
how do you do that?

ud
The delivery of your newly acquired
knowledge is left to a handful of all-purpose
patterns that surely are not able to convey

St
your musical thoughts completely. The first
consequence of this is a lot of time wasted in
verbally explaining what could (and should) be
e
physically shown.
or
Sc
al

If we start from the point of view that music

creates the technique – instead of
su

superimposing 300 years old formulas on it –

it becomes clear how necessary is a technical
language specifically modeled after the
Vi

score you have in front of you.

EGAYOV • 5 EGAP

This is the nuts and bolts of Visual Score

Study: look at the score from a technical point
of view, seeing in it a graphical representation
of a succession of baton movements.
HOW DO I
PREPARE
BETTER AND
FASTER?
01 BIRD-EYE VIEW
When you first approach a score,
look at the big picture: the structure,
the long arch connecting everything
together and that will give you the
direction of the piece.

If you’re proficient enough in piano, that will certainly be

of help but it’s not mandatory. There have been (and are)
countless great conductors who could not read a score at
the piano – Koussewitztky being one of the most famous
examples.

How do you get from A to B?

What’s the form of the piece?
Are there tempo changes? Are they immediate or gradual? If
they are gradual, how long do they stretch for?

Read through the score and answer these questions. Do

not get into too much detail.
02 MARK THE SCORE
Colors can be powerful memory
triggers

For example, I mark cues in blue and dynamics in red; or

tempo changes in green; or structural phrasing with a
downward line for the whole orchestra.

There is no set system here, really. You need to find what

works best for you in order to study better and be more
efficient.

One thing I did notice during the years, is that I mark my

scores less than I used to. But in the beginning, it sure
helped me a lot.
03 VISUAL SCORE STUDY
From a purely technical point of
view, the benefit is immediate.

The topography of the score will be an enormous

reservoir of gestures:

length and character of the notes = length of the strokes

(staccato, legato, short, long, accents, etc.)
dynamics indicate the region in which the stroke is formed
and delivered
orchestration speaks for the space in which the stroke
operates
pitch serves as a map for following the contour of the line

Once you combine all of this together, you will have a unique vocabulary
that changes almost from bar to bar, effectively giving you all the tools to
show the music, “painting” its shape in the air.

There is another advantage: technique is, obviously, a means to an end.

Looking at the score from this perspective accelerates your learning
curve. Because you have to attach a very specific musical meaning to
your gestures, the correlation between physical movements and musical
thoughts is not abstract any longer.

It’s much easier to remember a piano dynamic when it is attached, for

example, to a small movement of the wrist at eye level in the farthest
region of your body played by the oboe. The baton placement/stroke
becomes a direct reflection of your musical thought instead of being a
disconnected gesture.

Visual Score Study can also be applied, on a generic level, before the
standard studying of the score: skimming through the music while looking
at the graphical path that it designs will give you a head start during your
analytical process.
04 PRACTICE
At home. By yourself.

Since technique must come from the music, it is only

logical that your musical choices will influence your
conducting. Visual Score Study is a great starting point.

Feeling insecure? imagine you have the orchestra in front

of you: now, sing and conduct. You don’t need to be a
singer, that’s not the important part: singing gives you a
better idea of breathing and phrasing. After all,
instruments are supposed to imitate the human voice,
right? 😉

And you might find yourself in the situation of having to

sing a certain line to your players: if you’re used to doing
it, you will be much less self-conscious about doing it in
front of the orchestra. Toscanini used to sing out of tune
all the time while rehearsing with the orchestra: nobody
cared. What players care about and listen for is the
intention in your singing.

Still doubting yourself? Film it! Use your camera, your

phone, your tablet; watch yourself and be analytical of
your gestures in relation to the music. Break down the
problem and practice slowly.

A word of advice: do NOT study with recordings. You will

end up practicing on someone else’s performance, feeling
another conductor’s tempos, and most of all, following
instead of leading.

Listening to recordings to learn from the masters and get

inspired is a great thing to do; trying to practice
conducting on them is a very bad idea.
05 PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
Rinse and repeat

Run it by yourself: try to get to the end remembering all

cues, dynamics, tempo changes, making sure that what
you do technically is a reflection of the music.

Feeling insecure?

Slow it down. Break it apart.

Rinse and repeat :)

BONUS
RESOURCES
CONDUCTING TECHNIQUE

If you're looking to dig a little deeper into the subject, take

a look at the articles on conducting technique in this
section: https://www.gianmariagriglio.it/pass-the-baton-
conducting-notes/

SCORE ANALYSIS
For score analysis on repertoire scores head over to this
page for in-depth videos and articles or to my YouTube
channel.

FREE COMMUNITY
Last but not least, the Art of Conducting Technique group
on Facebook grows every day with more and more
members, tips, and live sessions.

I hope you enjoyed these tips and I look forward to seeing

you on my channels. If you have any suggestion or
question feel free to contact me at
conductor@gianmariagriglio.it
Copyright © Gianmaria Griglio 2021. All rights reserved.