It all started several years ago, when Jonathan Frye and Angela Deakin asked if we were interested in forming a handbell band, including teaching Angela to ring handbells. We had been trying and failing to do just this for many years (for reasons far too boring to go into), so we said ‘YES’.
(Really, it all started when Mike Clay began some regular handbell practices with some of the students in Edinburgh and various other handbell ringers in the area, including Jonathan. One day our schedules will mesh enough to all ring together – but in handbell ringing, patience is everything.)
Our journey from those first beginnings to where we are now has been both fun and interesting. Also, we learned a lot about teaching handbells to people at various levels of ability. Through it all we have discussed theories of how people learn, best methods of learning (we don’t always agree), and how to transfer some of this expertise into the bell tower.
The blogs below are about that journey, our progress and the progress of other bands by guest authors. They describe the ups and downs as they happen, as honestly as we can.
Wednesdays are the day that I run the Handbell Club over the lunch period, and after our success with the students at the Scottish Handbell Day, I was thinking about ways to keep that momentum. I was also thinking about how to catch the other pupils up.
The bad news...
After a bit of a break, we tempted Josy back into some more handbell practice, and the small holiday from handbells appears to have had some benefit. We reviewed some plain methods, worked on rhythm and pace, and plunged off into the tidal race of Cambridge Minor. All showing signs...
My brother has recently eloped, and we have been trying to get a quarter peal round for the last couple of weeks. Our string of frustrations is a good way to encapsulate the progress of our ringing over the last few months.
(We have had a long period 'off-blog' in...
I learnt a long time ago that trying to combine too many activities into one bundle usually doesn’t work. However, something compels me to test this rule periodically, just in case it is no longer true. After the latest test, I can report that it is still true. I hope...
The two-week hiatus between attempts at London Major has not been beneficial for our band. We had three goes last night, and not once did we make it as far as we had a fortnight before. Overall, the ringing quality was better, so it meant that instead of limping...
Having learned our lesson about warming up before starting a lengthy piece of handbell ringing, we were rewarded with a successful quarter peal:
Scottish Association
Glasgow
1 Albany Quadrant
Wednesday 19 October 2011
1260 Plain Bob Minor
1-2 Tina R Stoecklin
3-4 Simon J Gay (C)
5-6 ...
Our regular band was one short last night, so we rang a quarter peal of minor and named a method. It is a six-bell version of something we have been ringing on 8 in the tower, and is a perfectly straightforward method on paper.
However, in handbells, the many places...
Having dedicated September to mastering Bristol Surprise Major, our regular band is now focussed on getting to grips with London. We have limped to the end of a plain course a few times, but last night we attempted our first quarter.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go. It didn’t go about six...
After the last Scottish Handbell Day, we had a bit of a rest from our labours, but managed to meet with Josy for some more ringing practice last week.
Josy had a great handbell day. Not only did she ring her first quarter peal (Plain Bob Minor of course), but...
Now that the children are well-versed in the allowable interruption protocol during handbell ringing, we have started to increase the number of peal attempts and to broaden our pool of handbell ringers. Anyone who looked at the calendar will realised there was supposed to be such an attempt last Saturday...