Conducting is an Intuitive Language

I live in a musical household: my wife holds a PhD is in musicology, plays several instruments, and directs two different ensembles; my older daughter is concertmaster in the high school orchestra; and my younger daughter in middle school plays violin and flute. Because of those interests, discussion around the dinner table sometimes turns to the topic of conducting. Conducting is an interesting practice -- there's no manual for it, no one specific way to wave the baton that elicits a specific response from the orchestra. Some conductors don't even use a baton! Conductors don't produce any sounds on their own, yet they have a central role in the sound that the orchestra generates as a whole. Even when there is no separate person designated as conductor, one of the musicians in a group will generally take this role and give direction to the others. 

Musicians also don't usually receive any instruction in how to interpret the conductor's movements. Yet the ensemble can effortlessly take the conductor's direction, and they work together as a unit to produce the desired type of sound. At neither step -- movement nor interpretation -- does anyone stop to put the instructions into Narrative language. Instead, they simply respond. To me, this is a fascinating example of how the Intuitive mind works, both in the conductor's movements and in the musicians' response. 

Here are some interesting examples of Intuitive-level understanding in conducting:

• Some conductors sway their baton back and forth in time with the music, others go up and down or in a three- or four-sided pattern. There are schools of thought here but no set rule, and an orchestra can pretty quickly adapt to a new conductor's style. Orchestras interpret these motions as keeping the beat no matter which way they are done. In our church choir, the director's hands are busy playing the piano while we sing; he conducts by bobbing his head or tapping his foot, and his meaning is again perfectly clear. 
• Conductor Gianmaria Griglio declares that keeping the beat is the least useful thing a conductor does, because "orchestra players are professionals who are able to count." Besides just keeping the beat, a wide variety of hand or other movements can be used to communicate with the musicians about the specific musical qualities that are desired. A raised hand or baton might mean to play louder in some circumstances, while in others it might mean simply to sustain the note. Good performers will understand from the context which is meant, and from comparing the conductor's motion to what is written in the score. 
• Tense or shaking movements might suggest vibrato in the music. Opening or closing a hand, or presenting it palm-up versus palm-down, might be used to indicate a crescendo or decrescendo. Again in our church choir, the director sometimes opens his mouth to show that we should get louder on a sustained note, using a closed mouth or a downward head-bob to show when we should cut it off. After years of singing with the group, I have come to expect those cues, and I look at him without thinking about it; if he forgets to give the cue when we are rehearsing a new song, I get uncertain and flub the timing.
• A baton pointed at a specific section of the orchestra might mean "you come in now," or for that particular section to increase their volume. How does the rest of the orchestra know that this motion isn't meant for them? Again, it's an Intuitive-level understanding that comes from context and from people's ability to perceive the social dynamic of the group.
• When my wife conducts children's orchestras, she uses her facial expressions to communicate information. A smile or upraised eyebrows suggest a bright, sunny tone; lidded eyes and slow head motions suggest a more relaxed feel. Like many conductors, she keeps the time for them only partly with her hands, which are often used to give timing or volume cues to individual musicians. In addition, she sways back and forth in time with the music. Eye contact with individual musicians provides another type of cue. Even when the musicians might have only been playing their instruments for a year or two, the kids get it.
• My daughter sometimes conducts small ensembles while playing her own violin, which takes both hands. She plays turned partly toward the musicians, and again sways her body to keep the time (as well as just playing more loudly so that her colleagues can hear the beat). Like our choir director, she might use her eyebrows or a head nod to provide emphasis or timing cues. If not actually playing, she might use her bow as a baton. I have seen her conduct several different groups of peers, and I don't think they ever had a conversation about how to understand her signals. The musicians just understand her intent, and the characteristics of the music that she is asking them to create.
• Broad and flowing movements generally result in music that is smooth and melodic; sharp or small movements suggest notes that are crisp or clipped. My wife once played for students in a conducting class, where the student conductor was using short, abrupt baton motions. The orchestra knew (from their own experience) that the piece was supposed to be played in a smooth and flowing way, so they played it correctly despite the conducting. But when the instructor told the orchestra to "play it the way he is actually conducting it," they switched to playing staccato. The student conductor was surprised at what he was communicating to the players, but despite his own intentions it was perfectly clear to them what his motions meant.

Even though conducting has no specific "words," it nevertheless communicates information. Conductors use kinesthetic actions that the orchestra translates into sound with a surprising degree of accuracy. Conducting, then, might be reasonably understood as a form of language that is produced and interpreted based on a level of understanding within the Intuitive mind. Language is typically based in the Narrative mind, but in this case the translation of motion to music is more direct: Orchestras don't think to themselves "I saw him move the baton sharply downward and therefore I should stop playing." As with other Intuitive behaviors like catching a ball, they simply see the cue and respond. 

The fact that sound and kinesthetic motion bypass the Narrative mind might also help to explain some of the poignant examples from Oliver Sacks, in which people with damaged frontal lobes and limited language (the Narrative system) can nevertheless communicate via dance or music (the Intuitive system). As applied to conducting, "language" is perhaps more of a metaphor than a description: Conducting involves communication and intuitive understanding, but it doesn't involve words. It is another example of the surprising power of the Intuitive mind.