Keeping eye level with conductor and avoid neck spasms

I play standing most of the time. I just keep the stand high enough for comfort and low enough so I can see the conductor. Pretty much eye level for the center of the stand. Maybe you're not standing as straight as you could be, use the mirror. You shouldn't be watching the conductor so much anyway, he/she will just confuse you.

 

Try using other hinges to redirect your vision, particularly your knees and hips. I find that my playing posture while playing standing up lends itself nicely to a lowish music stand. I really don't stand perfectly straight anyways; a little more forward as if I were getting ready to perform an athletic task rather than a still, starionary one.

 

It's also crucial to keep your neck from locking, move your head and neck from time to time rather than aiming to keep it stationary.

This problem is indicative of tension in your playing that you will have to deal with eventually. The sooner the better, to be sure.

 

I place the stand at a comfortable level to read the music. I don't so much look at the conductor as notice his movements in my peripheral vision.

 

Yes, if you are standing, the stand should be high enough that you can read the music without looking down, and at the same time clearly see the conductor in your peripheral vision. If you do need to look directly at the conductor (which is required at times) you should be able to do so, simply by raising your eyes, not your head or neck.

For me at 5'-11" standing, that means my school stand is pulled to the top of it's range.

 

Whether I'm standing or sitting, I like to have the top of my stand, visually, level with the conductor's stand. I prefer to have a stand to myself rather than share. This way the conductor is always right in front of me and my eye/head movement is up and down plus I can catch most of the subtleties without actually having to look up or away from the notes. I look up if there's a cue so he/she knows I am actually watching.

 

I like to have the stand high enough to cover the conductor, so I don't get distracted and mess up.