Questions About Method Ringing And Conducting
This section deals with the questions put to Aunt Sally about how to ring methods without getting lost all the time. She says that she fully understands the feeling of embarrassment in getting lost, saying that she once got lost herself in 1942. She blames Hitler for forcing the renaming of all the roads during the war.
Dear Aunt Sally,
I've been trying to ring spliced Plain Bob and St Clement's Minor and
I just don't get how to know what to do when the method changes. Can
you give me some advice?
Yours, Mavis Coconut.
Dear Mavis,
The
trick is to know exactly what all the starts are for every method
that you learn. There are no short cuts. You also need to know that
running in, out or making the bob mean that you end up as 2nd's,
3rd's or 4th's place bells respectively and that what you do
afterwards depends on the works of the bells that start from Rounds
in these positions. "But the method always changes at a single"
I hear you say. Doesn't matter. If you make 3rds you will be 3rd's
place bell and if you make 4th's you will 4th's place bell. What you
do afterwards depends only on what the 3rd or 4th normally do when
starting from Rounds.
If the touch is
correctly called the change of method will be called at handstroke.
This will usually be at the handstroke following the calling of any
bobs or singles. Ring the first method (including any calls) for the
next backstroke, which is the first blow of the new method. The first
blow that might be different from what it would have been without the
change of method is the next handstroke.
Aunt Sally.
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Dear Aunt Sally,
I am heartily sick of calling the same old boring standard touches of
Doubles and Minor for my learners, who now know them by heart and
gain nothing from them. Some people seem able to make up touches as
they go along. How is this done?
Mr Bobagain.
Dear Mr Bobagain
There isn't much scope in Doubles for variety but here is a selection
of touches you might try:
100 Plain Bob Doubles P B P B P
twice (call 5th: Out, In, 4ths, 4ths - twice)
120 St Simon's, St
Martin's etc.: B B B P
three times (call 5th: In, 4ths, Out - three times)
240 Grandsire
Doubles: P S S S B S S S three times (call 5th: single Home, single
2nds, single out of hunt, bob into hunt, single out of hunt, single
long 3rds, single Home - three times).
For minor methods it is
possible to undo the effect of a call at one place by a call at
another place. Thus a call to make the tenor make 4ths is cancelled
by another such call. A call at Wrong (tenor in 5-6 up) is cancelled
by calling the tenor to run in (and vice
versa) whilst a call at Home is cancelled by
calling the tenor to run out (and vice versa).
Thus the following are possible touches: 4ths twice, Wrong and In, In
and Wrong, Home and Before (out), Before (out) and Home. If truth is
important to you then you must ensure that you call a touch in which
the first call of the touch is at a calling position that comes
before that of the second call of the touch. Thus Wrong and In is
true in Plain Bob but In and Wrong is false because
There are
a couple of interesting touches in which every bell does everything
that can be done at a bob. These are: 4ths, Wrong, Before, In, Home
and In, 4ths, Before, Wrong, Home. Each can be started at a point
appropriate to the method and are probably best started with a call
at the first opportunity. Another touch is had by calling each of the
5 pairs of calls described above. Each pair is called immediately
after completing the previous pair so that each time the Plain Course
returns there is a bob at the end of that lead followed by its
opposite when that comes up.
Does that help? Please visit my
new web site at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/auntsally/index.html
for further information. This is my new site so isn't very full yet.
There is also another web site that I have come
across here
which deals with touches of Doubles methods that are longer than 120
changes.
Aunt Sally.
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Dear Aunt Sally,
I've recently been learning Cambridge Surprise Minor but nobody at my tower can call or even ring a touch of it. I'm trapped in a maelstrom of plain courses. I think I've worked out the theory of Cambridge bobs but how can I get some practice?
Doolabolly Wallamolly Asbestos-Smith.
Dear er, Doola,
Your first task is to find a name better than the stupid one you already have. The next job is to find a tower where Cambridge is regularly rung and ask the tower captain if you may go along and ring with them. Other ringers will be able to advise you which towers in your area are best. Too many learners don't realise that visiting other towers in an important way of making progress. Don't expect to ring all night but any extra practice will help. Make sure that you go on the next DDA Education Committee Cambridge Course. I can guarantee that you'll find it useful.
Aunt Sally.
P.S. I really would drop the "Smith" from your name!
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