Bedrock Skills.

Laying down firm foundations pays off in the medium and long term, even if it takes a little longer to get the first achievements in place. These foundation skills are:

• Rhythm
• Counting
• Plain Hunting
• Plain Bob

And we have concentrated on six bell ringing as being the optimum number for teaching purposes.

Rhythm.

The rhythms for change ringing are consistent across tower bells and hand bells and across all of the stages. The change rows are rung in pairs with handstroke being followed without pause by the backstroke.
But after each backstroke there is a (silent) pause.
So on six bells the beat is 13 units (6 - hand + 6 back + pause).
On 8 bells it is 17 units (8 + 8 + 1), etc.

Click Rhythm for more information on developing a sense of rhythm.

Counting.

Counting is the technique by which the places within the change row are identified.
Counting becomes more challenging as the number of bells increases, but if the skill is properly developed for MInor it will come more naturally when higher numbers of bells are tackled.

Click Counting for more information on developing the ability to know where the places fall.

Plain Hunting.

The simplest form of change ringing is hunting, the treble bell moves one place at a time from lead to lie, and then turns round and hunts from lie to lead.
All of the bells perform the same action but starting at a different point. Plain Hunting forms 91% of the work of Plain Bob Minor, the remaining 9% being dodging.

Click here for instructions on ringing Plain Hunting .

Plain Bob.

Plain Bob is the bedrock method. All change ringers should be able to ring Plain Bob accurately and reliably.

Plain Bob is also worth ringing in its own right, it is a simple fluid method, and when rung well (consistent accurate rhythm, free of mistakes) is as rewarding as more complex methods.

Plain Bob is also worth studying in great detail. Much of what is found in Plain Bob recurs in a large proportion of the methods in common use and is the learning environment for many advanced skills of method ringing and conducting.

The mastery of Plain Bob is a worthy goal for the handbell change ringer, 1,000 courses is not too many.

Click here for instructions on learning and ringing Plain Bob Minor .

Beyond Plain Bob.

Amongst the thousands of methods that have been rung and named, a small number stand out for their elegance and significance. Study, practice, performance, and where relevant mastery of these Cardinal Methods is highly recommended.

The Cardinal Methods are listed on the methods index pages.