Q&A for How to Play Handbells

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Question

Can I ring a b flat with b natural bell?

Community Answer

No. B flat and B natural are different notes, and each bell only plays one note.

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Question

Where do you buy these handbells for a choir?

Community Answer

The two main handbell sellers in the U.S. are Malmark and Schulmerich. Buying online is probably easiest.

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Question

Are g# and Ab the same bell?

Community Answer

Yeah. Explaining here would take forever, but Google "chromatic scale" for more information.

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Question

Is it true that handbells can't be used to play fast-paced music?

Community Answer

No, that's not true. It is difficult to play handbells quickly, but it is possible.

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Question

How do I do a ring touch?

Community Answer

Ring touching (RT) is ringing the bell and immediately damping the bell on your shoulder. To ring touch, you keep the bell close to where you dampen it. You flick it out and bring it right back to your shoulder. The note should ring for a second and then stop. Be careful when practicing, the tendency is to push the bell too hard into the shoulder and hurt yourself. Dampen it as if you were ringing normally except your oval is much smaller.

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Question

How do I do a TD with bells?

Community Answer

TD means thumb damp. You thumb damp by placing your thumb on the back of the bell (in line with the handle). Then you play the bell like you would if you were ringing normally. When you play the note, you should hear the note, but it should not ring.

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Question

Which bells are alloted to each player?

Community Answer

It varies from choir to choir and piece to piece. Some pieces calls for one player to have four bells and the next player to have two bells. Depending whether a piece has been played before by a choir, the music will have the notes circled for each pair of players. If the piece is new, typically a person will have 2 natural notes with the respective sharps/flats (i.e. B, B flat, C, C flat).

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Question

If there are two mallet symbols in the middle of the measures, what do all the bells in that measure play?

Community Answer

It depends on the directions of the stems of the notes. Look for the instructions (like. "ring").

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Question

What is the lowest bell in a four-octave set?

Community Answer

Four-octave handbell sets have about 49 bells. G3 will be the lowest sounding bell and G7 the highest.

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Question

How are the bells named? I can tell it means different octaves, but I can't tell which is which.

Community Answer

Handbells are named like the notes on a piano. The lower number means lower pitch and higher the number means higher the pitch. So D3 is lower in pitch than D4, while A5 is higher in pitch than A4. The notes are also written in alphabetical order from A - G. So A3 is lower in pitch than C3 and vice versa. Then if your comparing two different notes from different octaves, whichever note has the larger number is higher in pitch.

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Question

Do I have to lay the bells out on the table from the director's right to left, or can they be laid out left to right?

Community Answer

Usually they start with the highest bells on the player's right all the way down to the lowest bells on the left.

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