Good handbell post

I found this excerpt in another handbell blog and thought it was quite interesting:


teaching handbells


If you've never seen a handbell choir, you ought to search around your local area for an active group (most are church-based) and go hear them. You could simply check YouTube, and maybe you actually should start there, but watching a video of a handbell choir falls far short of being present to see and hear it properly. Note that I said both “see” and “hear.” That’s because taking in a handbells performance is very much like going to a symphony orchestra concert; the visual effect is as wonderful as the auditory experience. Watching all those bows go up and down in synchronization is part of the joy, and it’s the same with seeing all those beautiful brass bells working together. You see, the choir plays a single instrument, each individual being responsible for just a few notes. If this sounds hard to believe, imagine ten or twelve people sitting on a piano bench and each of them playing just certain notes whenever they appear in the printed musical score. This is exactly how a handbell choir works, albeit with a little bit more room to work. Playing handbells teaches music reading, teamwork, sensitivity to subtle differences, attention to detail…I could go on and on.


I have had the opportunity to assist in teaching children to play chimes and handbells and it is easier when you start at a young age and learn the basic notes and rhythms.