Kent Treble Bob Major

Introduction

Kent Treble Bob is normally the first method to be tackled after the simpler Plain Methods. Kent preserves the natural coursing order of Plain Bob while offering the added interest that comes with Treble Bob Hunting.

Treble Bob Hunting for the treble creates a rhythm and pace markedly different from the Plain Methods, ringing Kent is a more relaxed process than Plain Bob, and has much musical interest.

Overview

Place Notation:
34-34.18-12-18-12-18-12-18, 18, Bob 14.

Diagram: Kent Treble Bob Major, Plain Lead, change-rows and grid.

After Plain Bob, the grid looks very busy. However, it should be noted that when the treble is dodging in 1-2, Kent places are made, and when the treble is elsewhere the structural elements are all found in Plain Bob.

Kent Treble Bob Major, The Rules
The treble rings treble bob hunting.
When treble dodges in 1-2, Kent Places are made in 3-4 and the other bells dodge.
When treble dodges above 1-2, the structure is as per a Plain Bob Lead End.
When treble hunts between dodging positions, all the bells ring Plain Hunting.

Double Blue Lines

Diagram: Kent Treble Bob Major, Double line for 1-2.

Diagram: Kent Treble Bob Major, Double line for 3-4.

Diagram: Kent Treble Bob Major, Double line for 5-6.

Diagram: Kent Treble Bob Major, Double line for 7-8.

Kent TB Major - Calls

Call Structure
The most commonly used call in Kent TB Major is a bob made in 4ths place..

• The bells leaving and entering the slow are unaffected by bobs.
• The bell that is making places up as the bob is called makes 4ths place at the bob, and then commences places down, going into the slow at the following lead.
• The bells dodging above 4ths when a bob is called, instead of hunting at the Lead End, they make another dodge in the place they are in. At that point they repeat the previous lead, starting with another dodge in the same place, making three dodges in all.

Structurally this looks like:

Diagram: 8t.s.26308.05 Kent Treble Bob Major, Structure of a bob.

Ringing the calls.
As with all handbell ringing, the issue with calls is
"What happens to my pair of bells, what do they end up doing"?.

My preferred answer is this:

• Begin ringing by the rules as defined above.
• Learn the double place bell sequences for each pair.
• Make yourself aware of the double place bells as you practise.
• Learn, and visualise the double places into which a bob will put your bells.
• Practise extensively on Abel and on real bells.

Learning Kent TB Major

Experience of ringing Plain Bob Major is essential before approaching Kent because the hunting and dodging patterns of Plain Bob are used extensively in Kent.

The difficulties in ringing Kent stem from the places, and also from the slow work.

Kent Places have the benefit of preserving natural coursing order, but their spacing relative to a bell dodging is not found in Plain Bob. The spacing needs to be learned and practised, Kent TB Minor is useful in this regard.

The slow work is closely akin to the slow work of Kent TB Minor but with the addition of the extra pair of bells. Again, extensive experience of Plain Bob is relevant.

Ringing Kent TB Major

Learning and ringing are inextricably linked, but the memory work comes first. Study the grid. Understand the rules. Take the grid and a pair and extract the double blue line, check for accuracy.

If you have multiple learners:

• Conquer Kent TB Minor and Plain Bob Major first.
• Ring Plain Bob Major, Treble Bob Hunting on 8, Bastow Little Bob Major, and Foward Major as stepping stones towards Kent TB Major.
• Tackle Kent TB Major one lead at a time and get it right before sticking to the same pairs and moving on to the next lead.

If you have a strong band (3 experienced and 1 learner) the learner should learn this pair by pair starting with 7-8, then moving on to 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6.

If you need to re-start a lead from a lead in the latter part of the course (i.e. not keep repeating the part wich is OK, only to fall over each time at the tricky part), ring the handstroke and backstroke of the preceding lead end and run from there into the lead. For example, to start at the lead where the 7 is in the slow, ring:
Handstroke: 18765432, Backstroke 17856342, and then 71853642 / 17586342, etc.

The difficult leads in the 7-8 pair are when one bell is in the slow. These two leads need to be studied and learned in detail, and practised until good enough before putting the whole course together.

Coursing Order in Kent TB Major

The natural coursing order, 8753246 is preserved very well in Kent TB Major.

The aspiring conductor will look for, learn and practise seeing coursing order everywhere, but perhaps the most important incidences are:

• Treble passes bells in natural coursing order.
• The bells go out of and in to the slow in coursing order.
• The six bells that lead in turn as the treble progresses through it's dodging places, do so in coursing order.
• The bell that runs out at a bob is the slow bell in the lead before the bob.