Solo Ringing

Solo Ringing Skills – Weaving

Aidan Fozard - Deputy Musical Director of East Anglia Regional Team and Belleplate Soloist

I have been solo ringing for a number of years and have performed as a solo ringer at HRGB National Rally concerts.

The most basic skill in solo ringing is called weaving. This is the movement from one bell to another by alternating hands and is a vital skill for solo ringers (but also extremely useful for all team ringers to learn!)  Have you ever had that passage in a piece of music where you have to go from natural to sharps and back again or from F to F# to G to G#?  Weaving is often the best way to get around this problem and therefore a useful tool for any ringer's toolbox.

The first thing to think about when weaving is that you have to put the bells down! This might sound simple but can be very difficult to get your mind around. Those of us used to ringing a bell in each hand, have a natural desire to keep hold of those bells; to keep them close and safe within our grasp. But in solo ringing you need to put the bells back on the table. Eventually, with practice and experience, you will get your head around it and trust yourself to know where the bells are on your table.

So on to the basics and your first weave.

  • Place four bells in a line next to each other, going from lowest and largest on the left (which I shall call 1), to highest on the right (which I shall call 4), with 2 and 3 in order between - so 1 2 3 4 
  • Make sure there is a good few inches between them; you can reduce this distance later when you can more accurately put the bells down, but for now it is best to keep a distance to reduce clashes.
  • The first weave we shall do is ring 1 3 2 4. That is far left (1), right of middle (3), left of middle (2), far right (4). This is the simplest weave as your hands do not move across the mid line between bells 2 and 3.
  • Pick up bell 1 in your left hand and transfer your weight onto your left foot. (This will become important later) 
  • As you ring bell 1, start to pick up bell 3 with your right hand.
  • Lower bell 1 while transferring your weight onto your right foot and raising bell 3 to ring. (You want to have bell 1 touch the table in it's slot exactly as bell 3 rings and your weight is fully on your right foot)
  • As you ring the bell and follow through with a circlular motion, release the bell in your left hand and select bell 2

Once your hand is on bell 2, it is time to repeat the process:

  • Start lowering your right hand to replace bell 3 in it's slot, transferring your weight to your left and lifting bell 2.
  • Again, aim to ring bell 2 as you damp bell 3 on the table and your weight becomes fully on your left foot.
  • Finally repeat once more to play bell 4. Transfer your right hand from bell 3 to 4 as you ring bell 2.
  • Start lowering your left hand, lifting your right hand with bell 4, and moving your weight to your right.
  • When fully on your right foot, the left hand should be damping on the table and your right hand should be playing bell 4.

Try this slowly a few times and then see if you can do it faster. After a few goes, try to weave from right to left, 4-2-3-1, again starting slowly and then moving faster.

The next set of weaves to try is perhaps the more obvious; 1-2-3-4 and 4-3-2-1. This is where the weight transfer between the feet comes into play. In an ideal world, you want to have the bell you are picking up directly in front of the relevant arm at the point of picking it up. That way you will never have to cross your arms and therefore will be less likely to clash bells or to be unable to lift the bell due to your other arm being in the way. For a video explanation of a 1-2-3-4  weave see here

Once you have tried and are comfortable with these four bell weaves, try removing a bell for the three bell weaves.

The trick here is to keep alternating left hand (L), right hand (R) whilst transferring your weight and therefore moving your body position. This means you will go, 1(LH), 2(RH), 3(LH), 1(RH), 2(LH), 3(RH) before repeating the process. The tricky bit is that middle 3 to 1. This will probaobly require you to move your body more and quicker than the four bell weaves.

Give it a go but start slowly and be very careful to not cross your arms or clash those bells. If you do cross your arms, things can go downhill and intp knots very quickly.

See Aidan perform Jingle Bell Rock as a solo piece on Belleplates®