Category: Repertoire

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 20th 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

Tips for Choosing Repertoire for Beginners

It’s hard to believe it’s late June – have your thoughts taken you to planning the program year?  If you are starting a new handchime ensemble this fall, here are some tips to help you choose the appropriate repertoire for your beginning group:

 

  • Be sure to check the Handbells (Handchimes) Used Chart.  Use music that remains in the key that it is written and does not use any extra or accidental handchimes. This insures that each ringer will have no more than two diatonic pitches to ring so that they don’t have to tackle any handchime changes.

 

  • Choose music that is homophonic (chordal) in texture so that your ringers will have the support of each other as they progress through the score. Independent lines are not desirable for beginning ringers.  Ringing together in chords avails your ensemble to the support of the team.

 

  • Keep the tempos moderate while your ringers develop their eye and hand coordination. As a director, you are asking your ringers to do a lot – ring the notes accurately, damp when needed, move their arms to produce a more legato line and so much more.  Slower tempos will allow your ringers to think through the process.

 

  • Simple rhythms are best! Choose music that is based on whole notes, half notes and quarter notes.  No subdividing the beat at first.

 

  • Stick with the basics of ringing and damping. There is plenty of time to teach different techniques.  In the beginning, it is important to develop a strong foundation in ringing style by moving the instruments through the duration of the beat and damping.  Once this is mastered, go to the next step with articulations.

 

If you are not sure how to begin in choosing music, visit our Handchime Ensembles page on the ChimeWorks website and filter the Difficulty choices to Levels 1-, 1 and 1+.  There you will find titles of interest and click further to view sample pages and hear a recording.  Click here to view the Starting Point resource as shown above.

 

With these resources, planning will be easy and you may find time to fit in another vacation before the new year begins!

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!

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!