what to do during instrumentals?

Question

so i am attempting to translate a song into asl and then put it on youtube. my only problem is that there are pretty long instrumental portions and i do not know what do do during them. what can i do that won’t look really awkward? i’m doing trees by twenty one pilots if that helps.

Answer 1

Awesome! Music interpreting can be a lot of fun. I know instrumentals can seem challenging, but it really gives you an opportunity to express the song. Sometimes you can express the tempo of the song with clapping- but it is important to keep time. Other times you may need to highlight the particular instruments being played such as a piano, guitar, or violin. (In your song, I would definitely highlight the drums) In those cases, gesturing is the best route, you can still show the tempo but now you've made it visual. Another option during instrumentals is to simply show the sign for MUSIC, this indicates the song is not over because your hands are still up, but also lets the audience know this part of the song does not have words.