Editing Conducting (section)

== Field conducting ==
When a marching band is performing a field show, there will typically be a [[Drum major (marching band)|drum major]] conducting the band. This is known as field conducting.

=== Conducting patterns ===
Drum majors may each have a different style of conducting. Some may be smoother, but others are more rigid. The most commonly used pattern is called the "Down-in-out-up" pattern. The pattern is shown by the first beat being straight down and normal. The second beat goes down then after the focal point it goes in a 45-degree angle to the inside. The third beat is when the arm is coming back from the angle to the focal point at the angle and hits the point and goes to the outside at the same 45-degree angle. The last beat, fourth, goes from the outside angle back to the focal point. Then the process repeats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advanced Conducting |url=https://method-behind-the-music.com/conducting/advanced/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=method-behind-the-music |language=en}}</ref> It is typical for drum majors to use smaller, simpler patterns to accommodate faster tempos for endurance and clarity, emphasizing beats 1 and 3 and minimizing beats 2 and 4.

=== Controlling tempo ===
What is "appropriate" conducting has evolved over the decades. During the 1970s and prior it was not uncommon for a stationary drum major to do a high-lift mark time on the podium for an audible and visual [[tempo]]; with the arrival of increasingly higher drum major platforms and thus greater visibility this has become both dangerous and unnecessary. Current drum majors use a variety of conducting patterns and styles that suit the needs of their respective marching bands and/or drum corps.

=== Assisting musicality ===
In addition to memorizing the music (between six and nine minutes of music is typical for high school marching bands, college bands and drum corps may have that much or more, up to more than eleven minutes of music) a drum major must memorize dynamics as well as tempo in order to provide proper direction and cues, particularly in area where the drum major has some discretion, such as a [[ritardando]] or [[fermata]].