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Handbell Toolbox

4. Exploring plain methods

4.1. Exploring plain methods

The first method that virtually everyone rings on handbells is Plain Bob Minor, but once you are confident ringing short touches the next step is less obvious. It’s very easy at this stage to progress to ringing well-known, named methods, however this can encourage ringing by just using two blue lines, which should be avoided at this stage. Most handbell ringers use a combination of places, grid, lines, and structure (based on where the treble is or what the first bell of their pair is doing) and these different approached need to be learnt and practised.

If you're new to method ringing, this can be an advantage at this stage – you just do as you're told and you have no preconceived notions about what's hard and what isn't. If you're a tower bell method ringer, you will already have ideas about which methods are difficult and often assume that those you've not heard of, must be hard. In fact, what's hard on tower bells can be easy on handbells (and vice versa). Ringing by rules rather than a blue line associated with a method name can magically work and you'll be surprised to find out what "hard" method you've rung.

Place notation

You can read some more about place notation and "breaking the code" from a new ringer's perspective in Learning Tips.

Adding extra pieces of place notation

You already know more than you think. So far you've learnt and rung the:

  • x16 block (in Plain Hunt)
  • x12 block (in Plain Bob Minor)
  • x14 block (bob in Plain Bob Minor)

Adding extra blocks may sound scary, but it's not if you add one block at a time, learning the effect of different blocks in small, easily achievable steps.

Remember, you never change which of the three positions you're ringing unless there is a block change and even then it's not necessarily true that you change positions even then. You've already started to ring by structure when you ring Plain Bob Minor. You know that ring one of the three positions and only even think about changing position when the a new block is introduced, such as the lead end (x12) block. Even then, you only change position if your bells do different things during this block:

  • If both of your bells dodge – you stay in the same position.
  • If both of your bells make a place – you stay in the same position.
  • If both of your bells hunt – you stay in the same position.
  • If one of your bells dodges, makes a place or hunts whilst the other does something else – you change position.

How do you know what this new position is? Well, you note where you bells strike in the change and relate those two places to one of the positions and ring this new position going forward. There is no ambiguity – each position has unique pairs of places. So if you strike in third and fifth place, you can only be in coursing position, and if you strike in seconds and fifths place you must be in opposites position.

Doing more with these four blocks

Let's put together the three blocks – x16, x12 and x14 – in different ways to give four more methods. Try to  think of these as different arrangements of these three blocks, rather than new methods.

There’s nothing wrong with someone calling the half-lead or the place notation (e.g. x14) whilst you're getting used to the new block order and/or explaining that the place notation leads to one bell (in the case of Little Bob, the treble) making fourths and coming back down to the lead.

Plain Bob Minor 

Requires the blocks to be rung in this order – x16 x16 x16 x16 x16 x12 – which we can translate into a rule, plain hunt (x16) until the treble leads when a seconds place (x12) is made, which causes all the bells above to dodge.

Crayford Little Bob

An easy next step is this set of blocks – x16 x14 x16 x16 – which is a lead of Crayford Little Bob

Little Bob

Crayford Little Bob naturally leads on to the second place version – x16 x14 x16 x12 – Little Bob.

Single Oxford 

Another way of arranging the blocks is to place the fourths (x14) at either side of the seconds place lead end – x14 x16 x16 x16 x14 x12 – explained as Plain Bob Minor with a fourth place made when the treble moves between 2-3, causing an extra dodge in 5-6. This is Single Oxford 

Single Court

If you substitute the x12 block at the lead end with a x16 block you get Single Court.

Adding more blocks

So far, you've expanded your repertoire considerably by mixing and matching the blocks you learnt for Plain Bob Minor. The next step is to look at another block. Take fifths for example. Think what (x56) at the half lead does to the bells.

Reverse Bob Minor

When fifths place is made the bells in 1-2 and 3-4 swap places (dodge) resulting in a parallel up or down manoeuvre and the scissors manoeuvre as in Plain Bob lead ends but involving the first four bells rather than the back four bells. This method is Reverse Bob Minor and is upside down Plain Bob. If you struggle to spot when to do the manoeuvres, then ask someone to call the half lead for you. It won’t be long before you'll be able to spot the half lead on your own, a skill that is so important in handbells.

Double Bob

With a seconds place lead end (x12) and a 5ths place half lead (x56) you get Double Bob – x16 x16 x56 x16 x16 x12.

London New Bob

That only leaves the (x36) block to master. Those in thirds or sixth place stay put, whilst the two bells on the front dodge. The bells in 4/5 swap places, which is what they would have done at a x16 (plain hunt).

If the x36 is added at the half lead then you get a three-lead method, in which 1, 2 and 3 all plain hunt – write this out and you'll see a method you've probably not rung in the tower! While putting in a seconds place lead end (x12) gives London New Bob.

St Clements

Finally – x16 x36 x36 x 36 x16 – with a seconds place lead end (x12) is St Clements.

Double Oxford

The ultimate method to ring having mastered all the places is Double Oxford in which a place is made every whole pull.

What have you learned?

All this mucking around with blocks is the perfect way to develop good handbell skills without the need to ring two blue lines. Ten plain methods have been mastered without Kent Treble Bob Minor even being mentioned.