26
ESSENTIALS IN CONDUCTING
SHALL WE BEAT THE RHYTHM OR THE PULSE?In this same connection, the amateur may perhaps raise the question as to whether it is wise to beat the rhythm or the pulse in such a measure as 
. In other words, is it well to give a down-beat on 1, two small beats toward the left for 2, while 3 and 4 are treated in the ordinary way? This question may be answered by referring to the rule given on page 25, but perhaps it will be safer to make the application more specific by advising the young conductor to adhere fairly closely to beating the pulse unless a much slower tempo makes extra beats necessary. The additional movements may be of some service in certain cases, but in general they tend to confuse rather than to clarify, this being especially true in the case of syncopated rhythms. The only exceptions to this principle are:
- When a phrase begins with a tone that is on a fractional part of the beat; e.g., if the preceding phrase ends with an eighth, thus: ; for in this case the phrasing cannot be indicated clearly without dividing the beat.
- When there is a ritardando and it becomes necessary to give a larger number of beats in order to show just how much slower the tempo is to be. The second point is of course covered by the general rule already referred to.
The conductor must train himself to change instantly from two beats in the measure to four or six; from one to three, et cetera, so that he may be able at any time to suit the number of beats to the character of the music at that particular point. This is particularly necessary in places where a ritardando makes it desirable from the standpoint of the performers to have a larger number of beats.
THE DOTTED-QUARTER AS A BEAT NOTEAlthough covered in general by the preceding discussion, it may perhaps be well to state specifically that the compound measures 6–8, 9–8, and 12–8 are ordinarily taken as duple, triple, and quadruple measures,