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The music produced by bells is produced by varying the order of the bells. Ringing always commences with 'Rounds' i.e. 1-2-3-4-5-6 down the scale. 'Changes' occur when adjacent bells swap place e.g. 2-1-4-3-6-5. The path that each bell follows is called the 'Blue Line' and these paths are memorised by all the participants. Below are links to some of the 'Methods' we ring regularly. Websites such as Bob Wallis' Blueline also allow you practice the method on your laptop or phone:
Right place methods: Wrong place methods:
Plain Hunt on five / six / seven / eight bells Grandsire Doubles / Triples
Plain Bob Doubles / Minor / Triples / Major Stedman Doubles / Triples
St Simons Doubles / Minor / Triples / Major
Resources for Learners
Resources for Learners
These websites, videos and booklets have been gathered by Peter Blight of the Pimlico band to support his learners during Covid. The order of introducing some of the methods may differ but I've left it as an alternative to our usual order at Abbots Bromley i.e. Plain Bob Doubles first.
Many of you will have seen this before but it I recommend you really get to grips with it before moving on. It starts from assuming you know nothing, and moves on through call changes to method ringing using plain hunt on six and Plain Bob minor as the basic methods. Parts of this page are not easy to view on a mobile phone so if you have access to a device with a wider screen, such as a desk top, lap top or tablet, that would be better.
YouTube video by Graham Nabb.
YouTube video by Graham Nabb featuring the late Sue Marshall.
YouTube video by Graham Nabb.
How call changes work explained in detail by the late John Heaton. This covers “calling up”, “calling down” and more.
Another article by the late John Heaton which reinforces some of the material covered in 1 above, including plain hunt.
At Pimlico, they tend to ring Grandsire Doubles before Plain Bob because Grandsire is designed to be rung on an odd number of bells (typically 5, 7, 9 and 11) with a cover bell (making a total of 6, 8, 10 or 12 bells respectively), the cover bell providing a rhythm which makes leading easier.
Grandsire is constructed in a similar manner to Plain Bob but with a “thick” treble consisting of the treble plus one other bell that also plain hunts. All the other bells either make a place or dodge when the “thick” treble leads. In Plain Bob, the place is made in 2nds place and the dodges are in 3-4 and 5-6 (in Minor i.e. on 6 bells) whereas in Grandsire, the place is made in 3rds place and the dodges are in 4-5 (in Doubles i.e. on 5 bells). In the plain course, the bell that plain hunts (other than the treble) is the 2nd bell , but this changes to another bell whenever a ‘Bob’ or a ‘Single’ is called, and this bell is known as the ‘hunt bell’. I hope that makes sense after you have studied the pages that come up after you follow the link. The linked pages were produced by Pip Penny and are on the old web site of the Central Council which may be slow to load.
Plain Bob is normally thought of as an even bell method (rung on 6, 8, 10 bells etc.) but the Doubles version is commonly rung. This article by the late John Heaton reinforces more of the material covered in 1 above.
This booklet covers a lot, so don’t expect to understand everything straight away. The main reason for including it at this stage is to get used to some common terminology, and there are helpful diagrams to explain some of this. And before giving up, have a look at Appendix B (page 67) which explain the terms “lead end”, “lead head”, and “half lead” (change). Many ringers confuse the lead end row and the lead end change, i.e. the change that occurs between the two rows when the treble leads at handstroke then backstroke.
This excellent channel includes videos on “How to Learn Methods”, “An Introduction to Handbell Ringing”, “Listening Skills Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3” , “How do methods actually work?”, “Calling Simple Touches”, “A Beginners’ Guide to Coursing Order”, “An Introduction to Ringing Room”, “New Methods from Old”, “An Introduction to Striking Competitions”, “How to Organise a Quarter Peal”, “Towards Better Striking”, “Ringing oddities” and “An Introduction to Handbell Ringing”
Tom encourages you to subscribe to this channel for other training videos.
This is simply a shorthand way of defining a method, based on the fact that, between two successive rows, some or all of the bells swap with one of their immediate neighbours, while some or none of the bells stay in the same place. A knowledge of place notation can help understand how a method “works”, and things such as what really happens at a bob or a single. But this is not a substitute for actually learning a method, and people who try to ring a method having learned only the place notation are a liability to the rest of the band; if they go wrong, it is virtually impossible to put them right.
This is a really simple method that can be used as a gentle introduction to Stedman, with the treble for both methods doing much the same work at the beginning.
Stedman is an odd bell method (rung on 5, 7, 9 bells etc.) and is possibly the most commonly rung odd bell method.
Plain Bob Minor is easier to learn than Stedman but, being an even bell method, there is no cover bell to help keep the rhythm.
This is a straightforward extension from Plain Bob Minor.
This is a straightforward extension from Grandsire Doubles, and you might learn some similarities to Plain Bob Minor.
This 18 minute video by Emily Russell, a mathematician and ringer at Boston Massachusetts, is aimed mainly at non-ringers, so might interest both mathematically minded ringers and their families.
This shows how being able to spot where you pass the treble when you hunt up from leading, can help you know when to dodge next. The logic explained here can be applied to Plain Bob and Grandsire at all stages (i.e. for all numbers of bells).
These methods form a simple series that can be learned sequentially, and they are all “Plain Bob above the treble”.
A fun way to discover how methods work (I hope!)
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