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Learn Handbells from scratch or become a better Ringer.
This is the thoroughly revised 2023 "Handbell Ringers Bible".
A set of handbells creates ONE musical instrument. They are always 'in tune,' and most ringers play only two bells plus their accidental, making it one of the easiest musical instruments to learn and a lot of fun to play. Having said that, you need to study and practice to play any instrument well.
You don't need to be a musician to begin to play bells, but you will be a musician once you have mastered the instrument and its techniques. If you can count to four and know your left from your right, you have the necessary qualifications. You don't need a deep understanding of music theory. I have selected the parts of music that you do need, making it as simple as possible.
It is all too common for new handbell ringers to be thrown in at the deep end with just a short explanation of how to ring the bell, and off they go playing in an existing handbell choir. I have created this Method Book, a full explanation of all the terms and techniques, training videos as well as handbell music notation to make learning handbells more structured and informative.
About the author
As a kid, whenever I saw an old clock at a jumble sale or going cheap, I would buy it and take it apart to see how it worked. I don't think I ever got one back together again, but I enjoyed tinkering with them.
Twenty years later when I was getting married, now living in the USA, Auntie Florrie wrote to me saying I could now have my Grandfathers clock.
I arranged to have the clock shipped over and it was proudly placed in the entrance hall to my home. It was built in about 1880 in Maghull England by a local clockmaker, [before the electric light was invented], had a stately mahogany case, hand-painted dial and ran nicely.
After a few years, it stopped. I was frustrated that I didn't know what was wrong with it or how to get it going. I ended up having it serviced by a local repair shop and it ran again. I was fascinated with the clock.
In 1995, my family decided to spend a year in England including putting the kids in school. It was a big challenge to arrange to swap houses with an English family. Finally, we were settled, and the kids started school, my wife was volunteering at a local charity shop and suddenly I had time on my hands.
I read the paper that morning and came across an ad for a clock course starting nearby at Manchester City College. I called the college and they told me it was a three-year course, one day per week. I explained I was only in the country for one year, so I persuaded them to let me take the course, coming all three days.
I enjoyed the course and did very well. The final exam took several weeks, making a ‘suspension bridge' from scratch to exact specifications, restoring several old clocks and watches. I documented the process and took the extensive final written exam all set by BHI [British Horological Institute]. I did pass the exams and became a Horologist.
25 years later I teach clock repair classes and ‘pass it on'. This is the class workbook.
