# The Orchestra's Conductor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418 "2003-01-18T04:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/1 "2003-01-18T04:43:56Z")
Any musicians out there? Does the conductor really serve a purpose? I know his hand motions help keep time, but is anyone watching? I mean, aren’t the musicians only watching their sheet music? And, can the conductor really keep the entire orchestra on time…or is it just the fact that the members ARE professionals? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/2 "2003-01-18T04:49:55Z")
Hmmm, I’ve always wondered this myself. If they are really doing something or just up there looking like they are. Anyway I wanted to be the first reply. ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/3 "2003-01-18T04:51:41Z")
[http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:tsDnKqsyVCAC:www.gprep.org/~music/musikbok/chap7.html+conductor+function+orchestra&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:tsDnKqsyVCAC:www.gprep.org/~music/musikbok/chap7.html+conductor+function+orchestra&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) How long you been saving up your questions? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/4 "2003-01-18T04:56:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRootabega \* > \*\*[http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:tsDnKqsyVCAC:www.gprep.org/~music/musikbok/chap7.html+conductor+function+orchestra&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:tsDnKqsyVCAC:www.gprep.org/~music/musikbok/chap7.html+conductor+function+orchestra&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) > > How long you been saving up your questions? \*\* Is that a valid link? Two links? I can’t get it to work. As for the questions…I can’t always get on the PC, so I have to save them up. Anyway, hope some may be wondering the same thing as me… (Will I be black-balled from the SDope?) - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/5 "2003-01-18T04:59:28Z")
Oops. The colon messes it up. I don’t know why I didn’t just put in the actual page’s URL: > **[Georgetown Preparatory School - Home](https://www.gprep.org/~music/musikbok/chap7)** > > Home - Georgetown Preparatory School There’s a section on the conductor if you scroll down a bit. It has a bold heading. And I’m just funnin’ ya about your questions. The more the merrier! ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/6 "2003-01-18T05:00:18Z")
I tried the link too, it doesn’t work, you can get to the home page of the site, but if you want to spend your time searching for whatever he/she was attempting to post, knock yourself out. 🙂 (I tried, it’s a universities site, in other words, big) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/7 "2003-01-18T05:01:34Z")
Short answer: yes. Long answer: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33076](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33076) ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orchestras-conductor/149418/8 "2003-01-18T05:44:09Z")
I sat in with a church orchestra once, and there was a conductor. Considering the fact that I ad-lib’ed the material and had no music (there was a rhythm chart, but I wasn’t too hot at reading), the conductor helped greatly; in fact, I don’t believe I would have gotten through without him.