Handbell Toolbox

7.8. Transposition

Keeping others right

Have you ever wondered how conductors keep people right or know if two bells have swapped over? Well... transposition is the answer. It is a method of calculating and writing out touches of methods in a shorthand-way and tells you the order that the place bells occur at each lead head of a method. It might sound complicated but it is easy to do and very useful.

Every time a call (bob or single) is made, the coursing order of the bells changes. Transposition allows you to work out the new coursing order and hence keep people right if they go wrong or tell if two bells have swapped over.

Ask an experienced conductor in your tower or local area to sit down and show you how transposition works; it shouldn’t take more than five minutes so you can do it between touches at a practice. Alternatively there are some good online resources that you can use to teach yourself at home.