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I'm going to move this to the marching band subforum.

12/8 is basically like 4/4, meaning you conduct four beats. It's a lot like 6/8, which is conducted in 2/4.

5/4 has two ways to conduct that I've heard.



This picture should help. The first one is a rough drawing of how you conduct 4/4. The second two are 5/4. 5/4 is basically like 4/4 with an extra beat added, either next to the two or next to the three.


You should be fine if you can conduct what you've listed. You don't have to conduct anything like 5/8 or 7/8, do you? (they're a lot like 6/8 and 9/8, but you linger on one of the beats. Which one depends on the music).

In addition to what WickedSong said, which of the two patterns for 5/8 you should use depends on where the strong beats are in the music. If the measures are constructed so that 3 is a strong beat, you'd use the third picture. If 2 is strong, your use the second picture. When you're just conducting in a concert band, you have to figure out which is more appropriate for the piece. In marching band, this would depend on how the director chooses to have the band march as well. There are some weird conducting patterns specific to marching - such as a down-out-down-up pattern for 6/8 music marched in 4 - but those are things the director would specifically instruct you on.

And [WaffleStomper.], if you're conducting, you're a drum major. A drum majorette twirls a baton.