tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5434633263599984652.post434360417077988122..comments2009-04-30T10:51:03.977-04:00Comments on Bob!: What If?The Chickengoddesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14641974423046068278noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5434633263599984652.post-50462265733317862732009-02-04T10:15:00.000-05:002009-02-04T10:15:00.000-05:00In my humble opinion ringing comes down to one thi...In my humble opinion ringing comes down to one thing: Rhythm. Now to get said rhythm you have to pull in the listening, the bell handling, blah, blah, blah. Then there is this Oh my God! Rhythm!?! I don’t’ have rhythm! Well, yes you do. You can walk reasonably well right? Well that is rhythm. Try this next time: Think about ringing like pushing a child on a swing. You push the same amount every time they come back to you right? Well think of ringing as pushing a bell on a swing set. Breath easily, relax, bring your bell into place, and then let your body fall into a rhythm of swinging the bell. I have found myself actually pulling the sally ever so slightly toward me as I catch it and pushing it ever so slightly out as I pull it down. <BR/><BR/>One last note to think about. I have found that most bells (maybe up the 8 or so at St. Luke’s) do not need to be pulled at the back stroke. Give the sally just enough of a pull to bring the bell to (not over!) the balance at handstoke. Then when the time comes pull just enough to tip the bell back over the balance and just keep the rope strait. The hand stroke will rise –by itself- to the balance. It’s not as easy as it sounds but it is worth mastering now.<BR/><BR/>These are two things that are the most important and hardest things for a bell ringer to learn. Learn them now and you will float though plain hunt right into trying to do methods!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5434633263599984652.post-25093164783638107552009-02-02T20:54:00.000-05:002009-02-02T20:54:00.000-05:00This is the third time in as many days that I've h...This is the third time in as many days that I've had occasion to trot out my well-beloved smart-ass remark: "Read the book? But... I haven't even taught the course yet!"<BR/><BR/>I suppose I shouldn't be telling too many people how many of my current solid skills have come to me as a result of just "doing it as if I can." Not that they haven't then also been refined by effort and study, but I'm convinced that for at least one class of learner (in which class I'd say you and I both belong) faking it confidently is often the key to the acquisition of real knowledge. Or the catalyst for a breakthrough, anyway, as you have just illustrated.Tsarina of Tsockshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157327516427282460noreply@blogger.com