The Art of Bellringing
Bell-ringing requires you to think and use your memory, which is great for keeping the mind as well as the body active. What's even better is that bell ringing is open to everyone - young and old - and with any level of existing fitness.
Whilst bells can weigh up to 4,500kg most are much lighter and are rung using mainly technique rather than strength. The movement of bell ringing often helps many people to stay active longer and increase agility.
Initial teaching takes place on a one-to-one basis and most beginners will be ready to ring with a band in a few weeks or months. The basic skill lies in being able to control a bell that rotates full circle using a rope attached to its wheel.
There is always something new to learn and ringers progress at their own pace, depending on the time and effort they devote to increasing their knowledge and practical experience.
How To Ring
Learning bell ringing is all about technique - much more than it is about strength or mathematical ability.
English bell ringing is called full-circle ringing, as the bell's mechanism on a wheel allows it to rotate 360 degrees.
First the bells are rung 'up', with the angle of swing gradually increased until the bell is swinging full circle and it can be balanced mouth upwards on the stay - known as being 'set'.
For the bell ringers, they must pull the bell at each 'stroke' to make it rotate again for another full circle swing. Each time the bell ringer pulls the rope the bell swings and sounds.
Ringing Rounds
The bells are tuned to a normal (diatonic) scale and it is usual to start with ringing down the scale, a sequence which ringers call "rounds".
The animation on the left illustrates (from left to right) six bells ringing rounds, starting with the lightest (highest-tone) bell, called the Treble, and down to the heaviest (lowest-tone) bell called the Tenor.
Method (or Change) Ringing
Bell ringing music is like no other. It is not written on a standard score, is performed entirely from memory and is learnt by the sequence that each of the six bells sound.
- In Method (or Change) Ringing, it is possible for the bell ringers to adjust the time at which they pull their rope to produce the pattern of the sequence and the 'tune' that the bells ring. So, they can:speed up to overtake the bell that they have been ringing after
- keep ringing at a steady 'rounds' pace
- slow down to swop places with the bell that has been ringing after them
Bell ringers learn the path that their bell makes through the sequence. They remember the line of their bell's path, which is known as the 'blue line'. These sequences are known as 'methods' and have names such as Plain Bob Minor and Cambridge Major. The picture below shows an example of a method diagram - it's actually less complicated than it looks!
New Paragraph
