Handling
Whether you are teaching a non-ringer or a proficient tower bell peal ringer you need to start with:
- An appropriate positioning of both the handbells and the ringer
- Basic handling and rhythm
Appropriate positioning
- Rivets can be either up or down – but consistency is required to preserve handles.
- Lie the bell down on their side, not mouth down, to protect the spring.
- Don’t clash the bells together – they go out of tune.
- Inter-lock handles with a 90o turn.
- Posture – feet flat, back straight and rest knuckles on knees after the down stroke.
Appropriate action
- Don’t double clapper – the hand or (up)stroke to be flipped right over so that the mouth of the bell is facing your chest (clapper on downward lip of bell).
- Flick of the wrist – not a town crier. Compact style aids precision.
- Open handstrokes at the lead.
- Count the sounds of the bells and anticipate your place
The initial pitch
Everyone must have good rhythm and handling but then differentiation
is important. How you start and how you progress depends on the needs
of the individual ringer and the capabilities of the supporting band.
Rhythm
Exploring rhythm with rounds
- Write out rounds and then ring rounds rhythmically.
- Swap two bells, write it out and then ring it rhythmically.
- If your student is not an experienced tower bell ringer discuss the place each of the swapped bells is ringing in.
- Listen to some good handbell ringing.
- Hear the rhythm of even handstroke sounds then backstroke sounds then a (handstroke) gap. Repeat.
- Tap out 3-4 on the table following your 1-2 and before another teacher's 5-6.
- Encourage the practising of rhythm at home through clapping or using a ringing simulator package set to ring either rounds or with the tenor covering.
Ring tunes
Try some tunes to build rhythm
Jingle Bells
4, 4, 4, - 4, 4, 4, - 4, 2, 6-, 5, 4,
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 2,
4, 4, 4, - 4, 4, 4, - 4, 2, 6-, 5, 4,
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6.
Happy Birthday
8, 8, 7, 8, 5, 6, 8, 8, 7, 8, 4, 5,
8, 8, 1, 3, 5, 5, 6, 7,
(3, 6), (3, 6), 3, 5, 4, 5.
The First Noel
6, 7, 8, *, *, 7, 6, 5, 4, *, *, *, 3, 2, 1, *, 2, *, 3, *, 4, *, *, *,
3, 2, 1, *, 2, *, 3, *, 4, *, 3,*, 2, *, 1,*, 4, *, 5, *, 6, *, *, *, *,
Other ideas to reinforce rhythm
- Everyone chants the rhythm of rounds (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, -, ) as the bells ring.
- Handclap or tap the table rather than ringing whilst counting the rhythm, this is good homework as no bells are required.
- Slow rounds becoming gradually faster then back slower again –
harder to be rhythmical if ringing slowly, quicker really is easier!
Plain hunting
Teaching theory
Hunting is the starting point for all method ringing – make
sure everyone understands what it is and how we achieve it – this will
be time well spent if you are teaching handbells to non-ringers. Here is
a representation of hunting:
XXX
IXXI
XXX
IXXI
XXX
Walking Plain Hunt
Line up your ringers and get them to walk the pattern. Every
time they
arrive in a new place they should ring one stroke of their bell – or
announce their place. Ringers / walkers moving up to the back of the row
should walk behind the ringers moving down to the front. This
establishes the routine of moving to a new place once a single stroke is
rung.
Why not tie a ribbon around someone’s wrist so onlookers can watch one bell’s progression?
Lapping
This exercise is not appropriate for socially distanced handbell ringing.
- Sit three people down at a table with two bells each in front of them on the table.
- The most experienced ringer (or you as teacher) should ring the middle pair.
- Pick up and ring in order right to left. Everyone crosses their hands and replaces their bells in front of them.
- Pick up and ring in order right to left. The end two ringers keep
their outside bell in their same hand but place their inside bell on the
table closer to the inside of the line of bells – at the same time the
centre ringer splits their bells placing each one out towards an outer
edge.
- Pick up and ring in order right to left. Everyone crosses their hands and replaces bells in front of them.
- Pick up and ring in order right to left. The end two ringers keep
their outside bell in their same hand but place their inside. bell on the
table closer to the inside of the line of bells – at the same time the
centre ringer splits their bells placing each one out towards an outer
edge.
- Repeat until rounds return.
Teaching the coursing position
- Encourage
your students to draw the pattern out in two colours (be consistent –
always use red for left hand and blue for right).
- 90% focus on the lead hand, other follows with a gap of one bell or learn the pairs of numbers.
- Lead hand stays the same until the next meet and cross.
- Learn in two halves. Start with all bells up for reverse rounds.
- Ring several times without stopping.
- Ring on higher numbers.
- Trebles to a bob course of Plain Bob Minor.
- Ring Plain Hunt on bells 3-5 or 4-6 or 5-7 or 7-9 or 8-10 – this can be a challenge but it gives everyone the same
chance and underlines the nature of coursing.
Teaching the opposites position
- Encourage your students to draw the pattern out in two colours – consistent use of colour.
- 90%
of the ringer’s focus should be on the lead hand, the other hand
follows as a mirror or reflection of the lead hand or learn the pairs of
numbers.
- Lead hand stays the same until the next meet and cross.
- Extend by ringing several times without stopping and ring opposites on higher numbers.
Learning the 2/3 position
- Encourage your students to draw the pattern out in two colours – consistent use of colour.
- 90%
focus on the lead hand other follows as a gap of three but on only six bells
that ‘signature’ is not overly apparent so know your crossing points or
learn the pairs of places in each row by rote.
- Be aware that the
lead hand stays the same until the next meet and cross, then 2 between, 3
between, 3 between, 2 between, meet, cross.
- Extend by ringing several times without stopping.
Mental agility
- Rotate bells (i.e.pass one to the right) and plain hunt from here –
twice through, three times through.
Lots and lots of practice of the three positions is required.
These positions form the foundations of all subsequent method ringing and must become automatic.