Introspection and Outrospection

Introspection and Outrospection

Dr. Don R. Campbell

I have been noticing lately that when my students, whether within barbershop, at the university, or out in the music education world come to me for help with their conducting, there are two aspects I have found missing. Sometimes they appear singly and sometimes they appear together. These two characteristics are “introspection” and “outrospection.”

Introspection

We first need to have a good grasp on what is happening with our choruses. The major issues I hear in choruses are poor vowel choices, vowel unity, synchronization, and lack of musicality. How many chorus directors have been surprised at contest when the judges have pointed out any of these issues during the contest review time? Have you been shocked when you’ve watched the video? If so, you, as the director, would benefit from a crash course in “introspection.” Introspection is when a director chooses to be vulnerable to examine what part he or she plays in the ultimate musical product of the chorus. Below are introspective questions to ask yourself that relate to the “major issues” listed at the beginning of this paragraph:

• Do I really know how vowels are made?
• Am I really listening to the sound the chorus is making?
• Do I really know what it sounds like when vowels are matching?
• Am I singing with the chorus?
• Do I feel tired of my chorus never making changes?
• Are they not making changes because I’m not explaining things in a way that makes sense?
• Does my conducting have meaning, or am I just swatting flies?
• Does each beat in my conducting have a preparation to execution that leads to another preparation?
• Do my beats have different weight and purpose for each beat, or are they all the same?
• Do I realize that every gesture I make affects the sound of the chorus for good or ill?

These questions are just a start for the introspection phase. We need to be frank here and ask a big question. What would a director need to do/be who wanted to become introspective?

1. Be vulnerable and teachable. Find someone you trust who will speak truth in love to you and don’t argue him or her. You don’t have the right to disagree until you’ve truly tried what she/he is suggesting.
2. Film yourself and watch the film.
3. Make a list of what you believe are the things you have yet to learn.

Outrospection

I think this is an even more difficult skill to learn that introspection. Every semester at the university I require that my conducting students go out into the community to observe two conductors in rehearsals. They then write an observation of what they saw. I give them permission to be professionally pointed in their analysis. Now I have seen many of these conductors and the observations I get back read like a public relations press release. They seem afraid to appear judgmental. So because “outrospection” is my own word, I have the right to define it how I please. Therefore “outrospection” is critically observing how someone does something for the purpose of analyzing the attributes of cause and effect. If that sounds too much like I’m a professor, let me try again. Watch as many conductors as you can to discover what they do that does work and what they do that gets in the way.

Things to look for:

• Is there flexibility in the elbows and shoulders?
• Is there tension in the hands and fingers?
• Are all the beats given the same weight and force, or is there variation?
• Does the conductor model good singing posture?
• Do the conductor’s gestures invite the chorus to sing or demand the chorus to sing?
• Do the conductor’s gestures use extraneous, unnecessary movements, or does each gesture have purpose and meaning?
• Does the conductor move around the stage aimlessly or is there purpose in every step.
• Is the conductor there for the music or for him or herself?
• If your eye is naturally drawn to the conductor, is it admiration or a distraction? Why?

It is of great importance to our progress as conductors that we include active, intelligent observation as an integral part of our development. Every conductor of every stripe and flavor takes something from each conductor observed. Be sure you are making the right choices for the right reasons using both introspection and outrospection. Oh, and be sure to come to the Directors College at Harmony University. CU at HU!

-DRC