Where Music Leaders Share and are Rewarded

Get in Step with Processionals

Get in step and add some interest to your next program by beginning with a ringing processional. There are plenty of resources available for ensembles of every age and ringing level.

Memorizing isn’t as difficult as it seems as many processionals are based on repeated patterns (ostinati). The key to successfully programing a processional is giving your ensemble plenty of time to rehearse and memorize before putting their feet into play. Often, memorization comes naturally with repeated playing – consider using a processional as a rehearsal warm-up and months later, it will be inherent.

Impressive, processionals add a little WOW into a performance adding aural and visual variety. Consider adding in some non-pitched percussion for more effect and it will also help to keep the group together rhythmically.

Children will jump at the idea of processing while adults may be a little less excited about the idea. If you do meet some resistance, you may consider having the first processional memorized but rung in place behind the tables. This will give your ringers the opportunity to connect visually with their audience and welcome them into the performance.

Here are some recommendations from ChimeWorks for you to consider all available for immediate purchase and digital download:

Processional Celebration

Processional Jubilee

Processional on All Things Bright and Beautiful

Processional on Good King Wenceslas

Processional and Joyful Dance (2 – 3 Octaves) or (3 – 5 Octaves)

Six Processionals

Earth Shall Ring (Personent Hodie)

Bell Processional

Fanfare and Alleluia (2 Octaves) (2 -3 Octaves) (3 – 5 Octaves)

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Processional and Bell Chime

Recorder and Handchimes Together

Look no further for lesson plans using recorder and handchimes! As music educators, we try to engage as many students as possible in our classroom with hands-on music making. Adding handchimes and non-pitched percussion with recorders is a sure-fire way to heat things up!

With ChimeWorks’ chordal lesson plans, students will learn to harmonize the melodies they sing by ringing the accompanying chords on handchimes. Non-pitched percussion can be improvised to add more rhythmic interest. You might consider doubling the melody on recorder by assigning it to some of your more accomplished students.

Do you have favorite recorder melodies? Consider adding basic chords to the score and have some of your students join in with handchimes. The handchimes will add a rich, harmonic accompaniment that will serve as an in-tune foundation for your little pipers! Consider sharing your successful lesson plans with others by submitting them here.

Here are some ChimeWorks lesson plans that will surely create some pipe dreams:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Tallis Canon

Kum-bah-yah

Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

Keep It Simple In September

It’s late summer and church choirs are beginning the new program year. You may be starting a ringing program, resurging one that took a gap or continuing the ministry with a mix of experienced and new ringers. This week’s tips will help you choose repertoire to get you started this season!

For new members, the art of ringing can be daunting – ringing, damping, arm motion, reading the score, etc. – there is so much to think about! Giving your ringers the opportunity to coordinate all of this with easier music will provide them with a strong foundation.

Likewise, after a few months off from ringing, it may be a good time to start anew with easier music to give your seasoned ringers a chance to review proper ringing techniques and your newest ringers an opportunity to get acclimated.

Easier music also provides the prospect of starting the year out with great success. The choir will add to the Service with their talents and by raising their gifts and the experience will be a worshipful one for the ringers as they will be more relaxed with a simpler score. Giving our ringers a positive experience will give them more satisfaction and a continued desire to be part of the music ministry.

Below are some pieces that come highly recommended for your consideration. All of which are available for immediate purchase and digital download on the ChimeWorks website.

Blessed Assurance (2 -3 Octaves) or (3 – 5 Octaves)

Breathe On Me, O, Breath of God (2 – 3 Octaves) or (3 – 5 Octaves)

Come, Christinas, Join To Sing (2 – 3 Octaves) or (3 – 5 Octaves)

God Himself Is With Us

Morning Has Broken (2 – 3 Octaves) or (3 – 5 Octaves)

Morning Hymn

Oh, Worship The King

Peaceful Blessing

Two Halves Make a Whole

Starting a new ringing ensemble with music that includes whole notes and half notes is recommended for the first rehearsals. If you are directing a new group this year, you’ll want your music choices to include simpler rhythms in a moderate tempo so that your new ringers can focus on developing their ringing skills even if they are seasoned music readers.

Your ringers will have great success in playing homophonic music in which they will have the support of the group as they advance from chord to chord. Giving them the opportunity as they work as a team in ringing and damping together will be positive reinforcement. Musical results will be achieved as they coordinate their arm motion with the chordal ringing. Longer notes will also help develop to music literacy for pre-readers as well as eye and hand coordination.

If your new group includes those new to music-making – you will welcome the ability to teach them basic note values with resources that progress systematically. We’ve been busy at ChimeWorks compiling some suggestions (all available for immediate purchase and digital download) for you which will get your program off to ringing success:

A Simple Prayer (Soliloquy) by Linda R. Lamb

Prelude to Sunrise by Sandra Eithun

Tranquil Chimings by Sandra Eithun

Starting Point, Volume 2 ( 2- 3 Octaves) by Sandra Eithun

Starting Point, Volume 2 (3 – 5 Octaves) by Sandra Eithun

Pathways to Musical Ringing, Volume 2 (2 – 3 Octaves) by Sandra Eithun & Michael Joy

Pathways to Musical Ringing, Volume 2 (3 – 5 Octaves) by Sandra Eithun & Michael Joy

Go “Baroque” for Proper Damping

At times, musical results don’t depend on the correct notes being rung rather, that they are damped properly. Teaching damping is just as important as teaching ringing. Read more about it here. If you have piano training, you might think back to repertoire that helped mold you as the player you are today. Undoubtedly, music from the Baroque period filled your early years more specifically, J. S. Bach’s Anna Magdalena Notebook and Inventions. Just as these timeless works have helped develop proper keyboard technique to players over the centuries, a relation to ringing can be found.

While the English handbell was invented during the Baroque period, it wasn’t until the latter half of the 20^th century when more sophisticated tonal harmonies were used to accompany melodies on handbells. This proved to develop and refine ringing techniques which were later transferred to handchimes.

Because of the clean lines and harmonies of music of the Baroque, ringers who practice this genre will develop improved damping skills which will later transfer to all the music which they ring. When training musicians new to ringing, make it a point to program a Baroque piece which will help with their basic ringing and damping techniques. For seasoned ringers, it is a great exercise in “tightening up” their technique.

As you plan your program year, consider music of the Baroque – not only does it sound great on ringing instruments but, the proper technique that it develops will ring on.

Here are some recommendations of Baroque music for your handchime or handbell ensemble all of which are available for purchase and Digital Download on the ChimeWorks website under Handchime Ensembles:

Largo Antonio Vivaldi arr. Kevin McChesney

Two Short Classical Pieces Carl Bohm and Christopher Gluck arr. Bob Burroughs

Thine Is The Glory G. F. Handel arr. Margaret Tucker

Air in D J. S. Bach arr. William H. Mathis

My Heart Ever Faithful J. S. Bach arr. Sharon Elery Rogers

Sheep May Safely Graze J. S. Bach arr.Sharon Elery Rogers

Rondeau Jean Joseph Mouret arr. Arnold B. Sherman

Go Not Far From Me, O God Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli arr. Martha Lynn Thompson

PADDLE Your Way to a Musical Performance

As a director of a ringing ensemble, there is an easy acronym for you to remember as you strive to achieve the most musical performance with your handchime choir of any level. Most of the letters of this acronym are attributed to Don Allured, who was one of the early leaders of the ringing movement and taught us these points to remember as we educate and direct our choirs.

Precision is on the mark in an ensemble! Getting your ensemble to play together precisely on the beat separates excellence from mediocrity. Work with your ringers in preparing for the beat so that their chords sound together and do not imitate an arpeggio. It is important to have your ensemble work as one rather than a group of individuals. Ringing together on the beat requires physical practice for coordination and muscle memory, anticipation of the beat through breath and unified motion throughout the choir. Unified motion can be defined as ringers moving their arms in the same height or plane and all at the same tempo.

Accuracy in ringing the correct notes and rhythms is what it is the most significant part of a great performance. Allow enough rehearsal time so that your ringers can learn the notes accurately and with confidence so that there are none missing.

Duration of the note increases musicality. Musical ringing is about giving each note it’s full duration so that there are legato lines in the melody, counter-melody and harmony throughout. Cheating the beat just because or to get to another handchime does not create a beautiful, rich sound. When preparing the score, the director should review any handchime changes to make sure that they can be accomplished as musically as possible.

Dynamic contrast is key to your music becoming a master work. So often, the range of dynamics that we use is restricted. Since we have limited sonorities within our handchime set, we should use dynamics and their effects such as crescendo and diminuendo to create a larger landscape of sound. Encourage your ringers to expand their sound limits in high and low directions.

Legato Ringing – Arm motion is the breath support for the handchime. So many of us come to ringing from singing and we recognize that a good singer uses breath to form and support their sound. In ringing, the snap of our wrist initiates the sound of the handchime but it is how we move the handchime through the air once it is ringing that determines the musicality of the tonal response. How we decide to move the instrument through the air decides how it will sound.

Emotion is key to music. Encourage your ringers to put themselves into the music. With their hearts and spirits revealed, their music will be like none other.

Remembering to paddle your way through the music is one way to ensure that your music will ebb and flow to the best possible performance!

Let Freedom Ring

Looking for some ideas to celebrate The USA during your summer music-making fun? We have some suggestions for you that will ring out during your celebrations:

Sing and Ring:

ChimeWorks has some suggestions for pre-readers of any age. Teach a basic song and add in chords or harmonic patterns taught without the printed score!

Teach these patriotic gems and harmonize them with basic chords indicated by using a chart:

America

America The Beautiful

Learning simple patterns by rote, pre-readers will be able to accompany this
camp favorite:

Taps

For older youth and adults try these Ring & Sing favorites – Pass out a text sheet with the appropriate handchime, have participants sing – when a word is circled they ring their handchime and when it is underlined, they damp.

The Star-Spangled Banner

America the Beautiful II

Music Literacy:

Introduce the steps to music literacy to pre-readers by teaching eye-hand coordination using our Icon chart and be dandy:

Yankee Doodle

With these patriotic lesson plan favorites, summer will be a blast!

Summer: Ringing Options with Fewer Ringers

It’s finally summer and the program year has come to a rest; however some may be busy preparing special music for Sunday services, teaching a summer music class or maybe you ring and just can’t get enough! Don’t disregard ringing over the summer just because rehearsals have ended and your musicians have scattered in different directions. There are resources available for fewer ringers and some of them won’t even require a lot of rehearsal! Consider the readily available options below on the ChimeWorks website under Handchime Ensembles, each title is available for immediate purchase with digital download.

For lower intermediate ringers, consider twelve bell music. The resources that we are recommending require you to own a three octave set of handchimes or handbells and the 12 note range is from F₅ to C₇. The arrangements themselves have no chime or bell changes and can be rung without tables. These collections lend themselves to little rehearsal and can be put together quickly for a summer occasion.

All Praise to Thee, Vol 1

All Praise to Thee, Vol 2

Classical Favorites for Twelve Bells

Spirituals for Twelve Bells

Hymns for Twelve Bells

Five Hymns for Twelve Bells

With most ringing ensembles, there are varied skills within a group. Summertime is a great time to challenge the more advanced ringers that you have by offering them pieces arranged for 5, 6, or 7 ringers. In the arrangements below, a minimum of two octaves (G₄ – G₆) of instruments are needed and arranged for a minimum of five ringers. Depending on the skills of your ringers, these arrangements can be put together quickly or they are a summer project with results being shared on Rally Sunday.

Foundation

Land of Rest

Holy Manna

When Morning Gilds the Skies

One more option would be solo ringing. Maybe you love to ring and can’t get others together to ring in an ensemble. Consider covering the melody yourself and ask your favorite accompanist to join you. Cathy Moklebust has adapted several of her most popular works for use by the handbell soloist. These solos are easily adapted to handchimes. Her husband David has created keyboard accompaniments, which are also available electronically for use in either practice or performance. The seven solos in this first collection are very accessible, and encompass various seasons of the church year. A pull-out soloist’s book is included.

Easy Favorites for the Handbell Soloist is a collection of solos that will take your ringing to the next level and keep you busy during these longer days of summer. You’ll feel great in the fall when you reflect on all you’ve accomplished and being lazy was not how you spent your days!

Using the Appropriate Ringing Techniques with Handchimes

At ChimeWorks, we are reviewing handbell pieces that may be played on handchimes effectively. All the titles which we recommend under Handchime Ensembles have been reviewed and approved for handchime use. Under the product description, you may find a note of Caution which means that either the work should be played a bit slower than the suggested tempo to eliminate the percussive sounds that handchimes can make if rung too quickly or that there is a technique used in the score that is not recommended to be used with handchimes.

Not all ringing techniques and articulations that are performed on handbells may be performed on handchimes due to handchime design and the stresses that may be put on the tines of the handchime tube. The following techniques that may be used are: Ring, Damp, Finger Damp, Gyro, LV, Swing, Vibrato and a Mallet Strike (while the handchime is held) in the air.

Some ringing techniques cannot be used with handchimes either because they are damaging to the instrument or the handchime design does not allow the technique to be properly executed. We’ve created the chart below for easy reference in substituting ringing techniques on handchimes:

Click here to learn more about ringing techniques on handchimes.

VBS – Sing, Ring and Rejoice!

Summer is almost here and as a musician that may mean your annual VBS responsibilities are right around the corner. As you study the music, text and gestures that go along with the songs of this year’s curriculum, don’t forget about the traditional songs that have been carried through generations and better yet, don’t forget your handchimes.

If your Worship style is more traditional, children will most likely welcome the change of the more contemporary and upbeat songs that are included in most VBS packages. Having the opportunity to sing along with the rock-like soundtracks and put their best foot forward with the accompanying moves will certainly add delight to each day.

It is my experience that the older children (Grades 3 – 6) excel at the packaged music programs of VBS. The younger children struggled a bit as the melodies were sometimes outside their singing range, rhythms were a little difficult and some of the text was too complicated to catch by rote and memorize quickly. I found that I would still use the curricular music with the younger children for rhythmic and movement activities but went back to the traditional songs of my own childhood as a supplement for singing and ringing.

Using the more traditional Bible songs helped me be a more effective teacher during that special week of summer for several reasons. I could pick and choose appropriate songs for the age with which I was working controlling the pitch range, the amount of text and the message. While any onlooker would think that I was just teaching songs of Christian life, I actually had a captured audience of music-makers who learned all about matching pitch, breath control, phrasing and most importantly, were able to combine their bodies, minds, spirits and voices to sing and rejoice! as eloquently taught by Helen Kemp.

Adding handchimes into the mix for the older children took it all to a new level. While the traditional Bible songs are familiar to some and not as challenging, adding percussion, handchimes and Orff-style instruments opened a whole new world to the children who are not actively involved my choir program and was a great recruitment tool. The children welcomed the opportunity to make music by an alternate method in addition to singing. The accessible chords and ostinati taught accompanied our songs and carried them to a higher level musically and spiritually.

Consider using some of the following lesson plans from ChimeWorks in your VBS classroom this summer as you train our future church leaders to sing, ring and rejoice!

LP00006 Amazing Grace

LP00007 Amazing Grace

LP00010 Simple Gifts

LP00012 Kum-Bah-Yah

LP00031 Kum-Bah-Yah

LP00038 For Health and Strength

LP00041 Peace Like a River

LP00046 Tallis Canon

LP00064 Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

LP00095 Good and Joyous

LP00097 Alleluia Round

LP00098 Jubilate Round