Schottenbauer Publishing

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Learning to Conduct Music at Home!


How many people have wanted to learn conducting, but have not had any access to instruction or materials? With The Big Print Conducting Method, most people can learn to conduct in the comfort of home, without ever needing an ensemble! The series, available from MusicaNeo as e-files, features the following materials:
  • Instructional Books
  • Follow-Along Videos
  • Written Scores
  • Audio Files
  • Parts for Instruments

With these multimedia materials, students learn common time signatures (44, 34, 24, 11, and 68), plus uncommon time signatures (54, 74, 94) and skills for starting, stopping, and cuing instruments. While it is best if students can already read music, it is possible to learn basic conducting skills even without these rudimentary skills, simply by using the Follow-Along Videos.

The series is accompanied by multiple parts, so that the exercises can be practiced with one or two Western band or orchestral instruments. Parts are included for the following transpositions:
  • Treble Clef 
    • Instruments in C
    • Instruments in F
    • Instruments in Bb
    • Instruments in Eb
  • Alto Clef
  • Bass Clef

The series is available in several packages, costing $10 for the instructional books with videos, and $12 for the expanded exercises corresponding to books 1 and 2.

For additional convenient home practice, students can purchase Big Print Ensemble pieces with flexible instrumentation. Each Big Print Ensemble piece contains a score in C, plus parts for four instruments in all transpositions listed above, plus audio and MIDI files for convenient home practice. In the series, most pieces are written for three pitched instruments plus one to three unpitched percussion parts. Big Print Ensemble pieces are available from MusicaNeo, with audio samples available for each piece online. Currently, 40 Big Print Ensemble pieces are available, including exercises, folk tunes, classical melodies, and original tunes, organized into 4 levels corresponding to The Big Print Music Method.

  • Level 1: Simple Time Signatures, Simple Rhythms, One Octave (Naturals)
  • Level 2: Subdivided Rhythms, One Full Octave
  • Level 3: Compound Time Signatures, Two Octaves
  • Level 4: Dotted Rhythms and Ties, Over Two Octaves

The Big Print Music Method is a series of books and videos designed for elementary music education. The series is currently being expanded, with completion expected by 2015. The full set of selections will include the following instruments and skills: 
  • Orchestral Strings
  • Woodwinds
  • Brass
  • Percussion
  • Guitar
  • Piano
  • Organ
  • Theory
  • Ear Training
  • Conducting

All books in The Big Print Music Method are available on MusicaNeo, with selected options are also available from Amazon and CreateSpace Wholesale.  

Additional information on The Big Print Music Method is available on The Big Print Music Method blog and Schottenbauer Publishing website.


Supplementary Materials

Individuals who are serious about learning conducting may also benefit from other publications from Schottenbauer Publishing, including the following books available and upcoming from MusicaNeo, Amazon, and CreateSpace Wholesale:




In particular, conducting students may benefit from Schottenbauer Publishing's multimedia ear training series in regular print, available from MusicaNeo:


Additional Information

Books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million
CreateSpace, & CreateSpace Direct Wholesale!

Links to Amazon Worldwide Affiliates
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain

United Kingdom, & United States!

Sheet Music & Multimedia from MusicaNeo!