Become a Master Conductor - Leading Musicians Made Simple

Learn how to conduct ensembles of any size or instrumentation using multiple carefully curated exercises and techniques

4.54 (352 reviews)

Udemy

platform

English

language

Music Techniques

What you will learn

Master conducting fundamentals for any ensemble setting

Learn how to interpret scoring and phrases

Conduct practically and artistically

Gain left hand independce

Increase your ensembles responsiveness

Conduct dynamics, tempo changes, fermatas, you name it

Why take this course?

|| COURSE DESCRIPTION ||

Learn how to pull every ounce of musicality from yourself and your ensemble with MusicProfessor's Conducting Foundations course. In this series, Dr. John Zastoupil covers numerous exercises that will help you master hand independence, phrasing, dynamic contrast, subdivision, and numerous other topics. No matter what type or size of ensemble you conduct, this course will truly help you perfect your conducting style and prowess.

And save money while you study with us! Private lessons are expensive. MusicProfessor’s Percussion course provides an entire year’s worth of lessons, for a fraction of the cost, and at your own convenience.

Join over 18,000 MusicProfessor students and begin your studies today!

|| COURSE FEATURES ||

Over 40 individual lessons
Learn how to select and hold a baton
Cover relaxed but commanding posture
Control your entire range of motion, from your feet to your head
Discover how all of your bodies hinges effect expression
Emphasize multiple stylistic motions
Apply style and musicianship to any phrase or pattern
Master numerous advanced techniques like dead beats, subdivision, pauses, releases, tempo changes, and more!

MusicProfessor's curriculum is used in nearly 100 schools and school districts throughout the United States and by more than 18,000 students and music teachers throughout the world. Nowhere else can you find the level of detail and professional instruction of MusicProfessor's curriculum.

Fulfill your musical destiny by enrolling today!

|| NOTABLE REVIEWS ||

“Starting with body alignment - brilliant. Must have had Alex. tech.”

-Kari Kirk

“Well organized. well explained. Clear. Concise. Really helpful. A lot of content in a short course.”

-AM

“This course is helping me so much! I'm a choir conductor, not a band conductor, but I'm finding that these techniques are very applicable, and are transforming the way I conduct. I have been able put them into practice immediately as I learn them. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to become a more confident, relaxed, and effective conductor. Also, I find myself with less aches and pains at the end of the day because I'm holding my body in a more aligned and natural position.”

-Alfonso Maribona

|| ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR ||

Dr. John Zastoupil is the Associate Director of Bands and lecturer in Music Education at the University of Texas Arlington. In this position, he conducts the Symphonic Band, Symphonic Winds, oversees aspects of the athletic band program and teaches courses in music education and conducting. John serves as an active guest clinician, adjudicator, and conductor for bands and orchestras throughout the United States.

John earned his Doctor of Music in Wind Conducting from Northwestern University. In Evanston, he served as a conducting associate with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Brass Ensemble as well as assisting with conducting classes. In addition, he was an adjunct instructor in the School of Music.

Prior to Northwestern, John served as the Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Marching Band at Eastern Michigan University. His responsibilities included conducting the Symphonic Band, teaching undergraduate courses in conducting and band arranging, as well as overseeing all aspects of the athletic band program. While at Eastern, he served as a three-time host to the Bands of America Regional Marching Contest, was inducted as an honorary member of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, and was named Outstanding Lecturer in Classroom Instruction at EMU in 2009.

A native Texan, John earned a Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Michigan, and while in Ann Arbor, held the position of Music Director with the Michigan Pops Orchestra for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Zastoupil received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University, taught in Eanes ISD at Westlake High School and Hill Country Middle School in Austin, TX, andis a former student of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

His professional affiliations include the College Music Society, College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Texas Music Educators Association, Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and honorary membership in Kappa Kappa Psi.

John, his wife Jennifer, and their daughter Jordan reside here in Arlington, TX.

—

This course has been provided by MusicProfessor, an online music education company.

Reviews

Marina

July 18, 2023

I loved this course. Informative and easy to follow. I'll be referring back to it constantly whilst I build up my own repertoire of conducting movements.

Anastasia

March 13, 2023

I like this course very much. As an emerging conductor I'm always looking for to learn more about other conducting schools, methods etc. And that's a great opportunity to learn from home.

John

October 24, 2022

This is a very good course. I would recommend it to anyone starting out in conducting. An area of improvement: The white background does make the baton disappear quite often.

Ozan

April 30, 2022

Valuable knowledge, however it takes too long for such amount of information. Anyway, the course was what I expected.

Georgia

January 11, 2022

Good information on how to conduct. Learn a lot. I will recommend it to people that want to get a general idea how to conduct.

Lisa

August 30, 2021

This class provided me with a ton of new ideas to refresh my conducting, even after 20+ years of teaching. I love that there is clear, concise teaching with specific examples to work on. Thank you for teaching this old dog some new tricks!

Darrel

July 23, 2021

I am learning how to conduct. This covers points I didn't think about like how to stand and distribute your weight.

Janelle

June 17, 2021

Excellent in-depth explanations on all concepts in the course. I would highly recommend this course to anyone on their conducting journey.

Anna

June 4, 2021

This course is a great match for me because I really needed a refresher on conducting. It is clear, engaging, and personalized. One of the things I struggled with in my previous conducting class was how strict the teacher was on the topic of "grip." Our instructor here however makes it clear that this is personal, although he gives us guidelines.

Trevor

March 2, 2021

This was very informative. I had no idea how much was involved in setting up the body and posture for proper conducting.

Zoe

January 13, 2021

Excellent lessons - best ever advice - consise, clear and breath of fresh air. Thank you will certainly tell others

Daniel

July 5, 2020

Great course, I was already doing some of these things, but he helped me to connect all the details into a much more comprehensive and coherent approach to conducting.

June 14, 2017

This is an excellent course and well-presented. Examples are first explained, and then demonstrated. The presentation sequencing makes sense. Individual motions and techniques get their own short video clips which makes it easy to pick a specific one to review. The course says "A conducting baton is helpful but not necessary". I wouldn't recommend practicing the moves in the course WITHOUT a baton even if you have to improvise something from a dowel! What your players see after tiny adjustments to wrist positions and movements get translated through the baton can be quite different from what it "feels" like you are doing. Try practicing some moves in front of a mirror, with and without a baton substitute, and you'll see what I mean. Unless of course your style is baton-less in which case ignore this paragraph. I wouldn't call this a "Master Conductor" course because it really does focus mainly on just the physical parts of conducting. There's some "podium wisdom" given that merely leaves me wanting more. It is a superb start, but some things I'd like to see covered to claim "Master" or a second course would be: * More on alternative and unusual time signatures * More on alternative ways to perform standard time signatures and why we might pick them * Transitions * Left/Right hand coordination in different signatures * Score review and preparation * Tips for smoothly handling page turns * Conducting considerations for different groups and situations: a small orchestra and soloist is quite different from combined marching bands at a festival, for example. * Video clips of the conductor during an actual rehearsal or concert to view specific moves made and resulting orchestral response. Performance broadcasts don't consistently give us that view and the subtleties of cue leadins and handling.

Iestyn

May 21, 2017

This course is extremely helpful for me, as I am learning how to conduct more properly in order to better serve my ensemble. It goes through all of the basics and will help me so much in becoming more expressive with my conducting.

Nuno

April 17, 2017

The explanation is concise. The technical details are very detailed. I miss a lot of whole purpose of each thing: Score preparation; Musical examples; Coordination of the two hands; The real conducting; the decision.

Charts

Price

Rating

Enrollment distribution

Become a Master Conductor - Leading Musicians Made Simple - Distribution chart