American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Although choirmasters have their unique ways of directing performances, conducting has undergone changes, thus, resulting in a proliferation of unethical practices. This study focuses on interrogating music conducting practices with specific focus on Church-based music directors and conductors in Delta State, Nigeria. The study utilized ethnographic, observation and analytical methods as well as interview research tool in data gathering. Seven conductors were randomly selected from different Church denominations in Delta State. In all the church denominations visited by the researcher, conducting practices in areas like beat patterns, facial and body gestures, posture, cues, cutoffs, kinetic use/responses, and the creative philosophies that informed the use of such practices were studied. Findings also reveal that although there are a plethora of conducting practices used by many conductors that can be referred to as unconventional, some of them can still be adopted into art music performances. The research recommends that in adopting some of these unconventional practices, conductors must apply caution so as not to jeopardize the fundamental ethics of the art of conducting