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DEVELOPING CONDUCTING SKILLS IN STUDENTS
THROUGH MUSIC LITERACY CLASSES
SAMDPI, “Musiqa ta`limi” kafedrasi dotsenti
p.f.f.d
. Pardayev Sobit Abdivali o‘g‘li
Mirzayeva Dilfuza Bahodir qizi
SamDPI, (Vokal san’ati, an’anaviy xonandalik)
yo‘nalishi 1-bosqich talabasi
Abstract:
Singing in a group (choir) in musical culture lessons in secondary schools
is closely related to conducting. In this process, the teacher acts as the leader and conductor
of the choir, and at the same time, one of the most important pedagogical tasks is to teach
students to sing with an understanding of conducting actions, that is, to acquaint them with
basic knowledge of conducting.
Key words:
General school, musical culture, collective (choral) performance,
conducting, simple, complex measures, conducting schemes, measures, 2/4, ¾, 4/4, 6/8,
staves, left and right hands, aftertaste, pause, facial expressions.
Introduction:
The organization of "Music Culture" classes in secondary schools in
accordance with the requirements of the program, the formation of the necessary
knowledge, skills and qualifications in students in the theoretical and practical areas of
musical art, the work of a music teacher as a qualified pedagogue, psychologist, music
theorist, vocal, instrumental, choir conductor is considered a factor determining his
professional competence. The organization of school music classes on the basis of
activities is defined by its specific nature. Singing in a group plays an important role in
these activities, and the majority of the lesson is devoted to this activity, in which students
are taught to know the rules of conducting, to understand and sing conductor's gestures, to
conduct while singing, to use measurements while conducting, to conduct schemes, to
time, to start and end the performance, to use the hands (right, left) to conduct, to express
the div, head, legs, face (mimicry), to express various strokes - league, ligato, staccato in
hand movements, as well as to be able to conduct works of different themes, genres, and
characters, as specified in the standard requirements of the subject. Therefore, this article
discusses the knowledge, rules, and methods of mastering
conducting that students
should acquire during school music lessons.
Literature analysis.
The foundations of the art of conducting have a long history,
and its roots developed in connection with the culture of Western Europe, with the
formation of the art of polyphonic music. The development of orchestral and opera
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performance played a major role in the natural need for the art of conducting, its formation
as a science. The French composer Lully introduced the sound of percussion hitting the
floor when conducting the orchestral performance into performance practice. Later, as a
result of the conductors-composers conducting their works, the measurements, schemes,
and rules of conducting were formed in a single system, and the conductor became a person
who interpreted or managed a musical work. The work of European classical composers
played a particularly large role in the development and improvement of the technique of
conducting. The introduction of music education in educational institutions led to the study
of this art as part of the musical sciences. Since the group singing activity in the educational
process cannot be carried out without the guidance of a conductor, educational and
methodological resources on conducting have been created for different stages of
education. In Uzbekistan, the services of such choir conductors as S.A. Valenkov, Q.
Mirzayev, R.E. Khublarov, B. Umidjanov, A. Hamidov, J. Shukurov, A. Sultanov, Sh.
Yormatov deserve special recognition
.
The book “Rules of Conducting” by A.M.
Pazovsky, who lived and worked in Uzbekistan, covers the ideas of Russian and world
composers on the art of conducting, theoretical and practical instructions, and the tasks of
the conductor in working with the orchestra and choir. Sh.Yormatov is considered a
magician who made a great contribution to the development of children's choral
performance in Uzbekistan and the practice of working with children's choirs with his
work.
J. Shukurov's textbook “Conducting”, dedicated to the teaching of conducting in
amateur choirs and higher education, describes the historical development of the art of
conducting, theoretical rules, and the main actions of conducting, and shows practical
examples. I. Kudratov's textbook "Conductorship" provides a detailed description of the
methods of organizing and managing a choir in school music education, and the teacher's
work as a choir director and conductor.
The research
methodology was based on the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On
Education”, the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated November
17, 2017 “On measures for the further development of the Uzbek national art of naqom”,
the Resolutions and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan on
science, education, cultural and educational education, the teachings of Eastern scholars
on the role and importance of musical art in human development, as well as scientific and
methodological works of scientists of our republic and advanced foreign countries on
national pedagogy and educational methodology, applied pedagogical and psychological
recommendations and conceptual approaches.
Analysis and results.
The first factor in group singing in the first grade is to accustom
children to move in time to music. This will greatly help students in the future to form a
rhythmic (even) coordination of conducting movements. It should not be forgotten that
being in tune with music is one of the important factors in conducting skills and
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qualifications. At the next stage of conducting practice, students are taught to move their
hands up and down in accordance with the musical work, and exercises are performed. In
this case, attention is paid to moving the hands freely, in a certain volume, forward and
backward in accordance with the standards of conducting. Then, the teacher teaches the
children to sing the melody in p-piano, mf-medium, f-forte-high, and hard sound according
to the movements of the hands. The teacher is required to clearly express the dynamic
signs. The students are required to accurately perform according to the movements of the
teacher's hands. Musical activity is characterized by students taking steps in accordance
with the song (march), creating opportunities for children to accompany themselves on
musical instruments, and creating a musical mood. In conducting practice, it is important
to remember that students' knowledge of musical literacy, note lengths, symbols, counting,
writing, keys, reprisals, time signatures, and tempo markings also play an important role
[2].
It is necessary to achieve collective singing in accordance with the teacher's hand
signals, adjusting to the tempo of the song. In the 1st quarter of the second grade textbook,
the topic is "Conducting", and students learn about conducting. This lesson covers the
following in its content:
1. Depending on the song in different measures (counts), the hand movements will be
different;
2. The conductor's hands will be moved up and down in a two-quarter measure,
counted as "one", "two". This exercise is followed by students in each lesson;
3. The conductor's scheme for 2/4 time is drawn on the board.
Since singing in a group is a leading form of music education and upbringing in music
lessons of secondary schools, teaching students to understand and sing conductor's gestures
in this activity is one of the important tasks of music education and upbringing. Students
should have the necessary understanding and knowledge from conducting practice It is
impossible to talk about any collective performance without ensuring that they are. From
the earliest stages of education, students are given the first concepts of conducting
movements in the activity of singing (in school music education, students of one class are
considered a team, that is, a choir, and singing is carried out in the style of a collective
choir)[3].
The concepts given to students in school music lessons about conducting are primarily
focused on their mastery of the skills of feeling the content of the text of a musical work,
playing it, tapping the table with an object, and giving rhythm, depending on the
movements of the teacher's hands. Once children have developed a certain sense of rhythm
(feeling the rhythm, rhythmic accompaniment to a musical piece, singing according to the
teacher's hand movements), they begin to be given the first lessons of conducting - the
rules of conducting, conducting terms, and gestures. Among these, the concepts of
"attention", "breathing" (before performing a song), auftakt, "starting the performance",
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"ending the performance" are explained through practical instructions. Children should
initially acquire singing skills in accordance with these elements during the process of
singing. Of course, it is best to demonstrate and explain these concepts in a practical way,
together with the rules of singing. In this case, the teacher's exaggerated hand movements,
facial expressions, and actions that clearly express rhythm and tempo are of great
importance. We know that during the first and second quarters of grade 1, due to the lack
of written literacy in students, children learn and memorize songs by following the
teacher's voice, and at home with the help of their parents and siblings. Therefore, teachers'
conducting gestures play a key role in determining the quality of students' singing in
unison. The teacher's teaching students to sing in accordance with the instructions of
"attention", "auf takt", "beginning of performance", "completion of performance" serves
as the basis for conducting practice.
Exercises and songs are selected based on this scheme. Students independently
perform movements to the conducting scheme. The textbook provides this understanding.
Depending on the different measures (counts) of the chorus, the conducting hand
movements also vary. For example, to a song in two-quarter measure, which is counted as
“one-two”, the conductor moves his hands down and up. To ensure that the mastery of the
conducting scheme is interesting and easy, various didactic game elements and didactic
trainings can be used in the lesson within this topic. Didactic trainings can be conducted
on topics such as “What measure is this?”, “How to conduct to this measure”, “Conduct
by counting”. Children actively participate in such trainings, strive to demonstrate their
knowledge. When teaching children to conduct, special attention should be paid to the
movements of expressing strong and weak parts. It is necessary to instill in the student's
mind that weak parts contain the task of preparing for the next part. Because the last part
of the measure (scheme) (weak part) is at the same time the beginning of the next (strong)
part.
It is in the 3rd grade that information is given in the "repetition" column about the
movements of conducting in 2/4 time. It is written in 2/4 time. F. Nazarov's song "My
Dress" is sung as a conductor[4]. Of course, the process is carried out in the manner of
carefully observing the teacher's conducting movements and imitating him in performing
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the conducting movements. In this process, the teacher monitors the position of all students
at the beginning of the conductor's hand, div, legs, amplitude of hand movements, speed
of hand beats and the same smooth rhythm, tempo. After that, the next exercises begin to
study the movements of conducting songs written in 6/8 time. Before studying the
movements of conducting in 6/8 time, the teacher gives an idea of the structure of the
contributions of the 6/8 time (a measure consisting of 6 quarter notes). He explains that the
movement of conducting in such a measure is conducted in accordance with the scheme of
1,2,3 (quarter notes) down, and 4,5,6 (quarter notes) up, just like the movement of 2/4 time.
Learning to conduct in 6/8 time is initially done by saying the counts of the scheme
out loud "down" (1,2,3), up (4,5,6), and performing hand movements evenly, in time, at a
certain tempo. After that, the teacher sings one or two bars of the chosen song and
demonstrates conducting, and the students repeat the teacher's movements. This is
continued until all the students in the class have mastered the conducting movements to
the same extent. If this process becomes too "protracted", the teacher should not allow the
students to "get bored" and "weary" of repeating something, and it would be
methodologically correct to suggest that they continue the conducting movements in this
time together in the next lesson. The 3rd grade textbook recommends Mardon Nasimov's
song "Garden of Peace" for conducting in 6/8 time. It should not be forgotten that due to
the psychological and physiological characteristics of primary school students, their
"attention", "sensation", "memory", "musical hearing" (slux), and "musical perception
skills" are not well developed, so it is difficult for them to immediately master the material
covered in the lesson. Situations such as the fact that even one hour of lessons a week does
not retain the knowledge learned today after a week require the music teacher to pay
attention to the continuous repetition of each musical-theoretical and practical performance
knowledge and concepts in each lesson. The authors of primary school music textbooks
also expressed this "correct attitude in textbooks to the repetition of theoretical knowledge
and concepts from the perspective of the conformity of educational materials to the
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standards of children's mental development." After the conductor's movements in 2/4 and
¾ time signatures have been mastered to a certain extent with the help of the teacher, and
after the teacher is confident in this, the next stage of conducting practice is moved on. The
next step is three-quarter time signature. In the process of mastering the conductor's
movements in three-quarter time signatures, the students are given the following
understanding: In addition to two measures, musical works also have three-quarter time
signatures. Melodies created in this time signature are more prone to dancing. Waltz music
is an example of this.
When teaching conducting in three-quarter time signatures, the following movement
should be performed: in the first strong part, the hand movement goes down from the top
(after the beat).
Based on this scheme, the hand movements are repeated several times. At the next
stage of mastering the scheme, we sing the following song and conduct with our right hand
in three-quarter time.
When teaching students the practice of conducting, the teacher must always remember
the direct connection of theoretical knowledge with conducting. In the 1st quarter of the
3rd grade, students are given an understanding of pauses. What does a pause mean, what
function does it perform in musical practice, how does it look, how is it written, and how
is it counted? The question of how to conduct pauses should also be taken into account,
and students are given both theoretical and practical (demonstration, demonstration,
practice, conducting bars where pauses occur in melodies) concepts.
The textbook says this about pauses: - pauses are used when a pause or break in sound
is needed somewhere in a song or melody. Just as notes have different lengths, pauses also
have different lengths. Students are first introduced to the concept of a quarter rest, which
is equal to a quarter note.
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A piece of music with a quarter rest is conducted. The conductor follows the teacher's
movements. During the lessons on the topic of rests, an understanding of the half-quarter
rest is given. A half-quarter rest is equal to a half-quarter note.
A half-quarter rest is written in this form:
A quarter-minute pause exercise is listened to, sung as a song, and conducted by the
teacher. A piece written for children with quarter-minute pauses, for example. The song
"Nisholda" given in the textbook is studied, and conducting practice is performed.
It is in this process that the 4/4 time signature, the conducting scheme for it, and the
conducting movements are explained using the lesson's "return to previously covered and
run and jump to the upcoming lessons" method (special method), and the teacher's
performance is practically demonstrated. Of course, the concepts given are mastered
through imitation in connection with singing activities, following the teacher's conducting
movements in the time signatures. The teacher, in turn, carefully monitors the students'
every hand movement, conducting "setting", and "manual technique" during the process of
singing and performing exercises in "solfeggio".
The 4/4 time signature is explained as follows. The 4/4 time signature is most often
used in musical works such as anthems, songs, and marches. The number "4" at the top of
this time signature means that there are four beats (quarter notes) in one measure, and the
number "4" at the bottom means that each beat is equal to a quarter note. This is explained
by the fact that out of the four beats, the first beat is strong, the second beat is weak, the
third beat is relatively strong, and the fourth beat is weak.
Although 4/4 time uses different beat lengths, their total must equal four quarter beats
per measure.
4/4 time is sometimes denoted by the "C" style. When conducting in 4/4 time, the
hand movements are based on the following scheme. "One" is a hand movement from top
to bottom, "Two" is a hand movement to the left, "Three" is a hand movement to the right,
and "Four" is a hand movement up.
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In the next part of the conducting practice, we will return to the 6/8 time signature[5].
This time, the concept is as follows. The number "6" at the top of this time signature
indicates that there are six beats in one measure, and the number "8" below indicates that
each of these beats is equal to the length of an eighth note (quarter note).
When conducting a six-part measure, the right hand movement is as follows.
Works with a fast tempo are conducted in the same way as in the usual two-part
time, as mentioned earlier. In this case, each hand movement corresponds to three and a
quarter parts.
In conclusion, it is worth saying that when conducting, attention is paid to the
expression of ligature, legato, fermato, reprise, dynamic signs in hand movements, etc. In
order to strengthen the knowledge of conducting, determining the "time" measures, such
as "what alteration signs are used in the example?", "what pauses are found in the
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example?", "conduct an example or work with pauses", "conduct a song with notes",
"conduct a song with notes first, and then with words" are regularly completed.
In the 5th grade, conducting in the main time signatures 2/4, 3/4, 6/8, 4/4 continues.
When conducting, conducting movements are performed first with the right hand, then
with the left hand, and then with both hands.
In the 6th grade, conducting knowledge and concepts are continued at a consistent
pace in the areas of conducting an exercise or song written in 2/4 time signature,
conducting a melody, and singing notes with a clear, smooth, and pure sound. Attention is
paid to the fact that the melodies and exercises listened to are in different time signatures
and note lengths. In this process, students develop knowledge, skills, and competencies in
not only conducting gestures and movements, but also in reading notes, solfeggio, and
musical literacy.
Even in the 7th grade, knowledge and understanding of the art of conducting is limited
to these three main dimensions of conducting. This is characterized by the criteria for the
knowledge and skills of students in school music lessons.
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1. Ro‘ziyev Sh. Choral studies. Educational and methodical manual. -Tashkent, Gafur
G’ulom Publishing House of Literature and Art, 1993.
2. Kudratov I. Conducting. Educational manual. -Samarkand, SamSU Publishing
House, 2019.
3. Nurmatov H., Norkhodjayev N. Music. Textbook for grade 2. -Tashkent, Gafur
G’ulom Publishing House, 2022.
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G’ulom Publishing House, 2020.
5. Ibrohiimov O. Music. Textbook for grade 4. -Tishkent, Publishing House named
after G'fur G'ulom, 2019
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House of the Center of Science and Technologies, 2009
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education", on the example of the IV stage of implementation of the "Concept of
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