Single Court Bob Minor

About Single Court Bob Minor

Single Court Bob Minor is in many instances, the first method rung by a novice where places are made away from the lead end and half lead. As such it represents a progressive step on the development ladder.

However, in fairness, Single Court Bob Minor is a minority sport, there being only 10 recorded handbell performances on BellBoard (as at 20 September 2023).

Single Court Bob Minor is essentially plain hunting but with perturbations based on the treble passing through 2-3 and 3-2 places.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
X 14 X 16 X 16, 16, Bob 14, Single 1456.

Grid:

Diagram: Single Court Bob Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
Single Court Bob Minor is a fluid, flowing method, but the sixths place lead end, and seemingly odd dodges makes this a challenging method to ring.

Learning Single Court Bob Minor.

The Structure

Single Court Bob is deceptively simple in structure, being akin to "misplaced bobs in Plain Bob". All of the dodging takes place in 5ths and 6ths places, and the pivot bell, 3rds place bell makes the places that cause the dodges.

The Rules

Single Court Bob Minor: The rules
Ring plain hunting except:
When treble passes through 2-3, 4ths place is made and the bells in 5-6 dodge.

Double Blue Lines

Single Court Bob Minor, 1-2

Diagram: 6p.04.01 Single Court Bob Minor, 1-2.

Single Court Bob Minor, 3-4

Diagram: 6p.04.02 Single Court Bob Minor, 3-4.

Single Court Bob Minor, 5-6

Diagram: 6p.04.03 Single Court Bob Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

Two features of the blue lines are worth noting:
3rds place bell:
makes 4ths as the treble hunts up through 2-3
leads when the treble lies behind at the half lead
and makes 4ths again as the treble hunts down through 2-3,
and in so doing goes from coursing, into opposites, and back into coursing.
At the back
There is always at least one dodge, but of course, never with the treble.
4ths place bell does dodge lie dodge, and the lie between the dodges is at the lead end.

Place Notation and Grid

The grid is a good memory jogger, the place notation is not of much help, the best approach is to visualise the application of the rules.

Pictels

Pictels are of little value in learning Single Court.

Ringing Single Court Bob Minor.

Track the treble

Awareness of the position of the treble is a key skill for most bellringing methods, and a significant help in ringing Single Court Bob Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Single Court Bob Minor is a great method to extend the skill of following the treble. The treble hunting up through 2-3 is usually easy to spot as it comes immediately after the treble's lead. The treble hunting down through 3-2 is harder and requires good concentration.

Positional Awareness

Single Court Bob Minor is gives useful practice for identifying where 4ths place is inside the change rows.
If the band is intending to ring Single Court to a long touch or 720, add in at least one extra technique over and above "the rules". The double blue lines are probably the best supplementary aid in ringing the method.

Also, if this is the first 6ths place method that a band has tackled, then the calls will need to be studied thoroughly.

Place Notation Elements

The plain course only contains 3 elements (X, 14, 16), all of which will already have been rung.
Singles introduce PN element 1456 which can be entertaining!

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts

If the method is essentially rung by the rules, these techniques are not needed.

Awareness of other bells

This method is more complex than Plain Bob, Double Bob, etc. Ring Plain Courses for the fun of the method and the learning of watching the treble. To develop awareness of the other bells, a ringer needs to learn the details of how each blue line is integrated into the structure. It is rare for Single Court to be treated sufficietly seriously in order to make such study worth the investment of time.

Coursing Order in Single Court Bob Minor

3rds place bell makes both "4ths for the method" in each lead.
It jumps past its two afterbells to lead as the treble is lying behind. It then jumps past the following two afterbells to get back into place for the lead end.
The bells work together at the back in natural coursing order except that the treble takes the place of thirds place bell in that sequence.

Bobs and Singles in Single Court Bob Minor

The calls take effect when the treble is leading.

Bobs in Single Court have the same structure as in Plain Bob, however, the method feels very different from Plain Bob.
The unaffected bells cross over in 2-3.
The bell making the bob makes 4ths, instead of hunting up to 5ths, and then returns to the lead.
The pair of bells in 5-6 are made to dodge again, and as these bells have just dodged in 5-6, and will start by dodging in 5-6, the net effect is to introduce three dodges in succession, a "3-pull".

A single in Single Court is made in 4ths and 5ths place.
The bell that hunts 4ths to 5ths in a plain lead, makes 4ths at a single and returns to the lead.
The bell that hunts 5ths to 4ths in a plain lead, makes 5ths at a single. This bell has just dodged 5-6 down for the method, and after making 5ths for the single, dodges 5-6 up for the method.

Touches of Single Court Bob

It is normal to use the tenor as the observation bell .
The lead-end order is identical with Reverse Bob Minor

The calling positions for the tenor are:
4ths, Before, In, Home, Wrong.

Goals and learning approach

What you are trying to achieve needs to drive your approach. There is much enjoyment, and a great deal of skills learning involved in Single Court.

At a Basic Level here are two or more different reasons for tackling Single Court Bob Minor.
First, this is a progressive method. It requires some thought processes not called for in Plain Bob, and is good practice for watching the treble.
Second, as a sixth place method, it has several challenges all of its own.
Third, (at a Performance Level ), for a ringer who has embarked upon the ART LtR - Handbells scheme, Single Court Bob Minor can be useful in satisfying some of the more abstruse requirements.

Basic ringing and skills.

Do not memorise the lines, learn the rules, get stuck in, ring, and watch the treble to know when to dodge. It all happens very quickly.

Performance Level

Build on Plain Bob experience, but note how fast the hunting patterns change. Study the lines.
Practice a lot.

Method Mastery Level

It's better to master Plain Bob and allow those skills to cover Single Court.