i have joined my uni handbell choir for more than half a year now and just had a concert last week.
i think handbells is so fun and if you try it you will like it!!!
anyone wants to share their ringing experiences?

Hi pandf! I joined a handbell group at a local church about 6 months ago. We only practise about every three weeks, but I enjoy it very much. I have the D and E bells at the moment.

I'm part of a handbell group. Well, it only exists at christmas at the moment - I've been trying to get it going more regularly, but no one else can be bothered Its great fun while it last though. I play the middle G/Ab/A bells usually, although sometimes F# or up to C depending on the piece.

If anyone around Cambridge wants to play handbells other than christmas carols...

This brings back memories! I played handbells at Junior School (I was B, B flat, C!) I loved it so much I wanted to take them with me when I left

They are surprisingly popular in Japan - son Viohazard's school has a handbell group, but it's de facto "girlz only"!

Do any of you play with groups which include (gasp!) guys?

I cant stand the darn things! What a cacophony they make !

Ha, ha, I have to agree with you - they are much more fun to play than to listen to!

Well, my group doesn't include any men. They tend to go for "proper" bellringing with ropes. Handbells don't require a lot of skill, they are just fun to play.

We all play the 'big bells' and the 'little bells'

Handbells sound nice when played well - a like most instruments.

Does any church have handbells, but nobody to ring them?

P4

When I was at secondary school (11-ish years old to 15-ish), as well as playing the cornet in the school band I played the handbells. I remember starting with just 2 medium size ones, and then later I held the more enviable position of having 2 smaller ones in each hand which tended to be part of the melody a lot more. Orpheus was always a good one to play.
It was actually good fun, and we used to do lots of little concerts, usually in old peoples homes ;-) We even played on "Radio Leicester" one Christmas and recorded an album. We were called the "New Parks Handbell Ringers".
20 years later, I think they still exist: http://www.nphr.org.uk/
I tend not to tell people often as I think they find it hard to imagine unless they actually see / hear it. I practically lived in the music room at school, definitely better than getting beat up outside during lunch! It was a pretty rough school. I even remember flame throwers in some classes
Besides that, thanks to the music room I have fond memories of school

Not sure I'd go along with that! (The skill bit that is, not the fun bit.) It's easy to make a handbell go 'ding', but I find tune ringing ridiculously difficult.

It's quite strange seeing remarks one made almost 4 years ago! Not too long after that post I attended a Handbell Day organised through these forums, where several participants quite new to handbells were able to try them out. I don't think the newcomers had much difficulty ringing tunes. If you're used to following a score, as instrumentalists are, it's easy to know when to ring your particular bells.

I've very recently joined a new, larger handbell group which meets in the evenings and where 4 of the 16 members are men! It just goes to show that men do ring too, though they have all the bass bells (which are mostly struck with a mallet because too large to be rung by hand) and the ladies are on the treble ones. I should have gone for the second time tonight, but have a wretched cold which I didn't think would be welcomed.

D'oh! I didn't realise I was replying to a 4-year-old comment - must pay more attention! I wouldn't mind, but as I was typing I was actually thinking how nice it was to see Sarah123 back, because we haven't seen much of her for ages....

I'm very used to following a score, but the thing I find difficult about handbell ringing is that you are responsible for 2 (or 3 or 4) notes, they sometimes come up unexpectedly, and if you miss them... well you've missed them! Also, I find it hard to feel the rhythm unless the playing is absolutely excellent. I struggle with that, as I rely heavily on rhythm. Give me method ringing any day.

A few years ago there was a handbell group playing at a local music festival. There were probably 15 to 20 people performing, and a good balance of men and women. They changed positions for different pieces, and there were times when women were ringing the bass bells that are bigger than your head. They were a really impressive group, and I wish I could remember who they were And there were several men handbell ringers shown in the Charles Hazlewood bellringing programme recently.

BerkshireMum, I hope you see the back of your cold soon. And I'm glad you are enjoying handbell ringing, and that you've found a group to join.

I'm glad to see that handbell-ringing is alive and well.

Since the Forum rules say "no advertising", I was hoping someone would wail, "I've got a set of handbells that nobody seems to want".

P4

Funnily enough, not long after my last post, one of Viohazard's mates was inspired to take lessons in an instrument Viohazard plays, and another, conversely, not wanting to compete, joined the all-girl handbell group. Since then, a couple of other boys have braved the deeps and joined up too.

They have really improved over the years, and I am forced to admit that skilled performers are a pleasure to listen to.

'fraid I'm also not persuaded....it would be the stuff of nightmares for me, all that tintinnabulation....

My 85 yr old father plays in a group of blind handbell ringers. He went along with my stepmother (who is blind, my Dad is not) and just got roped in.

They played at a concert recently which also had a local primary school performing. After the performance one of the boys went up to him and asked what it was like being the only "boy". It made his day!