ABSTRACT
A musical phrase may lack the specific meaning, the immediacy of words or pictures, but it also escapes their limitations. Score studying, rehearsing, and conducting are among the first times as a music teacher people get to actually practice their craft. It is also when what people have learned in other classes comes together: theory; history; lessons; ensembles; and teaching/education. Score study is not simply a technical exercise of learning the notes and rhythms in order to teach them. A harmonic analysis is the most commonly skipped step, but it is crucial in order to audiate the piece and prepare effective rehearsals. Most conductors notate the analysis in the bottom margin and use the inner spaces of the score sparingly. Merely knowing what the correct notes and rhythms sound like provides only a generic, characterless version of the music. Score marking is a personal process; what works for one person may not work for another.
