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these signs are the general basis for the conducted improv that we did in the Orchestra during the first half of 2005. since American Sign Language (ASL) is already a highly developed and extablished form of communicating with signs, I attempted to use it whenever possible to develop this system. ...
the actual set of cues in use for the 2006 Rudie's sessions will certainly be a lot less detailed than all this... it will have to be, as the sessions will be unrehearsed and the group of musicians will be different every time. I will post a list when Aaron decides upon a general cue set. looking back to when this list was last edited (July 2005,) I see that I was still of the mindset that developing the complexity of the cues was a good path towards making the conduction work better. I now generally think that keeping the cues simple creates a better climate for the musicians, as they have more opportinity to use their unique skills, expressiveness, and intuition when they play.
Play - wave player or players in with one hand
Stop Playing - slice hand motion with one hand
All Play - wave everyone in with two hands
All Cut - slice motion with both hands
Resume - turn hands over toward players
“Everybody” - wave arm in a big circle vertically
“Everybody except” - ASL for ‘but’ - cross forefingers and wave them apart
“Take over” - grabbing motion
Riff - hand in a little circle horizontally. Indicate length of riff by size of circle
Solo - rub hand over heart
Watch for/coming up (but don’t do it yet!) - ASL ‘watch’ - two fingers act as eyes
Go - (ASL) wave two forefingers off to the side
Return - (ASL) wave two forefingers back towards self
Again - (ASL) fingers of one hand come down into open palm of other hand
Softer - push hands down
Louder - push hands up
‘Staccato’ or short tones - choppy motions with both hands
Long Tones - pulling motion like taffy with both hands
Play a lot (dense) - (ASL) hands expand to show a lot of something
Play a little (sparse) - (ASL) hands close together to show a little
“OK” (I like that) - ASL ‘K’
“Stay there” (don’t change that) - (ASL) Y shape moves forward to hold something down
“Stop there” (relating to some sort of motion like a scale or tempo change) - palm up toward person, traffic cop style
Pick/choose a... (generally harmonic - note, chord, etc) - (ASL) picking motion
Listen to - cup ear
Imitate - (ASL) one hand takes something and puts it in the open palm of the other
Support - (ASL) one fist moves up underneath the other
Free - (ASL) cross ‘F’ shapes over chest then open the arms up
Focus - (ASL) hands move forward from the sides of the head
Conduct - (ASL) one hand pulls the other hand forward
“Wrap it up” - make a motion like tying off a bow
Question - key here is body language - shrug while indicating the sign for what you want
to know
Consonant (general concept) - baby rocking motion
Dissonant (general concept) - scary monster claw motion
Low pitch - thumb down
High pitch - thumb up
Ascending -spiral finger up
Descending - spiral finger down
Single pitch - wiggle one finger like playing a note on a piano
Chord/Arpeggio - like playing a chord on a piano
Scale - fingers walking like steps
Drone notes - push down with elbow like playing a bagpipe
Home Key - (ASL ‘home’) outline a house with fingers
Find Key center - hand over eyes like shielding from sun to look
Abandon Key centner - thumb over shoulder like ‘out the window’
Modulation - spiral finger off to one side
Note Names - ASL A-G hand shapes
Sharp - ASL middle finger down like pricking
Flat - ASL hold hand flat parallel to grounds
Natural - hold hand flat perpendicular to ground
Diatonic Modes (ASL letters)
Major - M Lydian - L Myxolydian - X
Minor - I Dorian - R Phrygian - P Locrian - O
Other 7-note modes - sign closest diatonic mode and altered scale degrees
Whole Tone - ASL ‘W’
Triangle mode (coutesy of Sean Eagan) - ‘L’ fingers make a triangle
½ Step diminished - no signs for this yet!
Chromatic/any pitch ok - putting coat on motion
Pitch set - (ASL ‘group’) ‘G’ shapes point fingers at each other then point upward
Tone Cluster - no signs for this yet!
Chord progressions - no signs for this yet!
“Rhythm” - (ASL) ‘R’ shape in a wave
Time signatures - conduct classical style
Syncopation - clap or tap out syncopation
“Pick a new rhythm” - snap and point both fingers (with a number means using that # of beats)
Slower tempo - roll hands backwards
Faster tempo - roll hands forwards
Play slowly (within current tempo) - turtle motion
Play quickly (within current tempo) - bunny ears motion
Play only on the pulse - tap your pulse where you want the beats
Arrythmic - cross hands in an X shape with forefingers pointing
Lock in - key turning motion
Straight feel - move hand straight out from face
Funky - (ASL ‘disco’) ‘V’ sign shows dancing on the palm of the other hand
Burst (basic) - pull back and punch fist (hit me!), on beat and in register (high, low, medium)
Burst and cutoff - slash motion during burst
Burst (x) times - sign the number with one hand while the other pulls back
Burst on a note - sign the note with one hand while the other pulls back
Burst and ascend/descend - spiral forefinger of bursting hand during pullback
Blur bar lines - (ASL ‘erase’) a fist rubs the open palm (facing up) of the other
Dissolve (the piece ‘falls apart’ into silence or the next section) - sitcom flashback motion
Contrast (general concept) - (ASL) index fingers point toward each other and are pulled apart