Learning change ringing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article describes the process by which a ringer will learn the art of change ringing. For information on the actual art of change ringing — see Change ringing.
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes", without attempting to ring a conventional tune. It originated in England and remains most popular there today, as well as in countries around the world with British influence.
Change Ringing is a relatively complex task and it can take many years for someone to become proficient, although this varies from person to person. They are almost always trained by a more experienced ringer, although there are some self-taught ringers. Ringing is also very "open-ended" and there are always more stages and skills to master. Different individuals have different methods of teaching but they will generally follow this pattern.
Contents |
[edit] 1. Ringing the bell
The ringer first has to learn how to swing the bell around 360 degrees, using as little energy as possible. The bell is rung by itself, and is often "silenced" by some mechanism. The ringer will first learn to ring the "Back-stroke", while the teacher does the "Hand-stroke". Then they swap around and the ringer learns the Hand-stroke. Then the learner will learn to combine these to "peal" the bell. The action of ringing will eventually become instinctive, allowing the ringer to concentrate on other matters.
The ringer will also learn how to "stand" the bell, i.e. stop the bell by resting it on the slider. He will learn about ringing a bell "up" and "down".
[edit] 2. Ringing in Rounds / Call Changes
The ringer will now learn to ring the bells in sequence, i.e. with other bells. This is one of the more difficult stages, as the ringer must learn to ring the bell at the right place, at the right speed, and at the right time. He will also learn to make changes, in preparation for ringing methods.
At this point, the ringer will start developing his 'striking' skills; and will probably continue developing for the rest of his life.
[edit] 3. Plain Hunt
Plain Hunt is the ringer's first introduction to method ringing. As described above, the ringer must hunt to the back/front, stay there for two places, hunt to the front/back, stay again for two places and return to his original position. The ringer must learn to "count his place", as well as ring the bell in that place.
Although the learner is plain hunting, often the other members will be ringing a method around him - increasing the challenge.
[edit] 4. Method Ringing - Plain Courses
The learner will learn the Plain Course of relatively simple methods, such as "Plain Bob" or "Grandsire", and will learn how to dodge and make places. The ringer will not do any "Bobs" or "Singles"; at least, any calls made will not affect him. The ringer will then move on to more complicated methods, such as "Stedman" or "Cambridge".
This is another difficult stage to learn as the ringer now has to concentrate on the method as well as simply ringing the bell and counting his place.
[edit] 5. Method Ringing - Bobs and Singles
The ringer will now learn to ring "Bobs" and "Singles". These are the calls that are unique to every method and must be learnt individually. The ringer will learn to ring longer compositions and improve his endurance abilities.
Once a ringer is past this stage, he can generally be counted as a proficient ringer.
[edit] 6. Ringing a Peal
The ringing of his first successful Peal is a major event for a ringer and almost an initiation into advanced bell-ringing. Ringing a peal is Change-ringing's great test of endurance, as the peal will last at least 3 hours. The ringer will have rung several quarter-peals (about 45 minutes) leading up to this point, and will know generally what to expect.
[edit] 7. Conducting and Compositions
This is the most difficult skill as a budding conductor must learn about the calling of "Bobs" and "Singles" and must now be aware of every bell's position, not only his own. The ringer must become the "leader" and be responsible for the successful ringing of every method. Not all ringers are attracted to conducting as it is a huge responsibility, not to mention being extremely difficult. A call in the wrong place can throw everybody and if the problem is too severe then the ringing must be stopped, usually by calling 'Go Rounds'. This tells the ringers to abandon the method and move as quickly as they can back to rounds.
[edit] Other Skills
There are always new methods to learn, new peals to call and new skills to be mastered. For example, A ringer can learn to ring with just one hand; then he can learn to ring another bell with his other hand; then he will learn to ring a peal on two bells; etc. This can be attempted on handbells first, giving the ringer an opportunity to practise the mental strategies needed to ring two bells at once before having to also concentrate on ringing technique.
For the top ringers, there is the milestone of ringing 1000 successful peals.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Central Council decisions — scroll down the page to see the council's definition of a peal
- Campanophile - the Ringers' Resource
- free ringing practice page
- "Abel" Bell ringing simulator programme
