Try the same pattern once without the baton and once with it, but your pattern should be the same in its structure and clarity.
It is tempting, when beginning to learn the four beat pattern, to make your gestures as wide and large as possible to ensure that your beats are visible. This is a common misunderstanding that is quickly solved when working with an ensemble. The clarity of the arrival of each beat, as well as the steady tempo are clearer with a small, well-defined pattern. The four beats of a four beat pattern need clear points so the ensemble can easily identify each beat. A smaller pattern with four clear points is far more readable than a large pattern with continuous movement and no clear ictuses.
As you begin your four beat pattern, pay close attention to your movement from one point to the next. As you conduct this pattern, make sure that your gestures do not grow too wide. Each beat should have a distinct ictus and natural rebound. Conduct the pattern again paying attention to rebound of the downbeat and make sure you do not stiffen the rebound of your ictus. The movement should remain constant in order to provide a steady tempo. A pattern that is too wide will result in the correction for the next beat occurring in the shoulder and elbow. As this happens, precision can become lacking and the tempo can become inconsistent.
Now conduct the four beat pattern paying attention to how far each beat travels. The distance from one beat to the next should be enough for clear gestures and visible direction changes. You may feel that you are not moving your arm very far, but the direction changes should be very readable.
Conduct the four beat pattern in front of a mirror. Make sure your conducting plane is accurate and the direction changes are clear. Conduct a passage and note if the pattern is too large. If so, the changes in directions can become unclear and your rebounding will be heavy. Your arm may also become tense because of the size of the gestures.
Conduct a passage and pay attention to where the rebound occurs on each beat. It is important to make sure your arm is not too tense in the shoulder because it makes the rebound of the ictus heavier. The arm should be supported by the shoulder but not all of your gestures should be coming from that location.
Conduct another passage and make sure your wrist and hand feel loose and not tight. Your hands can become tense if you feel the need to correct with a tighter grip on the baton.
Now, make sure each ictus is clear. Conduct the pattern and feel for the point of each beat. Now make sure that beats two and three do not merge to make one large curve. This can occur when the pattern is too large.
Conduct the beat pattern and listen to a metronome at a moderate tempo. It is important to listen for consistency in your gestures. When conducting a larger pattern, it becomes clear that each beat has a different speed to arrive at the ictus. This causes an inconsistency in tempo and may result in rushing your gestures.
Next, try expanding a crescendo. The pattern should always be clear and readable. It is okay to make your patterns bigger for different situations, for example, to show the dynamic growth of a crescendo. However, when you do increase the size of the pattern, make sure the pattern remains clear, with an accurate conducting plane and identifiable ictuses and directions.
Finally, review your conducting and make sure that you can clearly see each of the four beats in your pattern. If you are unsure, take a video of yourself conducting 4 beats and watch it back silently. You should be able to see all four beats and the clarity of each. Do this for about 10-15 seconds.