Category: Handbells

May 28

What does it mean to “specialize in bass handbell ringing”?

By admin in Choraegus, Handbell Choir, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells, Low Ding Zone

I’m a “bass ringing specialist”. The simple explanation of that phrase is that some people think that I’m reasonably proficient at ringing bass bells. I realize that still requires a bit of clarification, because the bass clef in modern handbell music tops out at C5 (which is written as a middle C on the handbell …

handbells, Larry Sue, Low Ding Zone

O Come, All Ye Faithful (ADESTE FIDELES) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 2)

By admin in Christmas, Handbell Choir, Handbells

The celebration of Christmas centers on the promise that God is always working toward His ultimate triumph. O Come, All Ye Faithful draws us not just to the manger, but to the everlasting future of Christ’s kingdom. O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and …

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May 23

Why is handbell music notated an octave lower?

By admin in Choraegus, Handbell Choir, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

In case you didn’t already know, handbell music is notated an octave lower than the bells actually sound. For instance, the “middle C” that handbell ringers read really is the C that’s on the third space (counting upward) of the treble staff. The convention in place, however, is to name a particular note by its …

handbell choir, handbell ensemble, handbells

May 20

It’s small ensemble time!

By admin in Choraegus, Church Music, Classical Music, Eight-Bell, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells, Six-Bell, Sixteen-Bell, Twelve-Bell

Small (handbell) ensembles are much more the order of the day after mid-May, at least in the Northern hemisphere. Pretty much everyone in the United States syncs their calendar to the end of the school year, and so family vacations and summer programs ramp up, resulting in a local population decrease as people get out …

handbell ensemble, handbells

May 15

Here’s the “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell “O Worship the King” (LYONS)!

By admin in Choraegus, Church Music, Eight-Bell, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

We started writing “Surprisingly Easy”™ variants of many of our eight-bell arrangements years and years ago. That was to provide a faster-to-worship learning time, especially for duets, trios, and quartets who are newer to four-in-hand and ensemble ringing. If you aren’t already familiar with our easier eight-bell scores, they’re generally equivalent to a Level 2 …

8-bell, handbell ensemble, handbells, hymn, Larry Sue

May 12

ENGELBERG (Handbells, 2 octaves, Level 2+)

By admin in Church Music, Handbell Choir, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

We’ve published a new arrangement of the hymn tune ENGELBERG today. In case you’re happier with hymn titles, ENGELBERG has been paired with several texts: All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine When in Our Music God is Glorified We Know that Christ is Raised This arrangement is for two octaves of handbells, …

2 octaves, AGEHR Level 2, handbell choir, handbell ensemble, handbells, hymn, Larry Sue

May 05

“How Do You Play Six Bells at Once?”

By admin in Handbells

Rather curiously, “how do you play six bells at once?” is one of the questions that comes our way now and then. The funny thing about it is summed up something like this: We have a slight familiarity with how to set up what’s called “six-in-hand”. Somewhere along the way we learned, perhaps in a …

handbells

May 02

New video of (Level 1) “Newness”!

By admin in Choraegus, Church Music, Handbell Choir, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

Newness is one of our very special compositions for handbell choir. In addition to being written for three or five octaves of handbells/handchimes, it’s possible to play it at Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. The difference between the Level 2 and Level 3 versions is simply whether or not you choose to use …

3-5 octaves, AGEHR Level 1, handbells, Larry Sue, original work

May 02

What’s our easiest handbell choir piece?

By admin in Choraegus, Handbell Choir, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

Sometimes we’re asked which of our pieces for handbell choir is the easiest. Hands down, it’s Celebration. This piece is AGEHR Level 1; for those of you not familiar with what that means, the score has nothing smaller than a quarter note. The piece itself is composed of big block chords; if you’re ringing it, …

3-5 octaves, AGEHR Level 1, handbell choir, handbell ensemble, handbells, Larry Sue

Apr 29

Free sheet music is fun!

By admin in Choraegus, Eight-Bell, Handbell Ensemble, Handbells

We love to give people a chance to see what we do at Choraegus. Like everyone else, we provide contact information so that you can ask questions or make suggestions. That’s all normal; you’re supposed to be available to deal with what happens. However, we also want you to be able to try out a …

8-bell, free handbell music, freebie

Type of PDF score	Number of copies per PDF score you’re allowed to make
6-bell score, accompanied	Three handbell score copies, one accompanist copy, and one full score copy
8-bell score	Four score copies
8-bell score, accompanied	Four handbell score copies, one accompanist copy, and one full score copy
12-bell score	Six score copies
12-bell score, accompanied	Six handbell score copies, one accompanist copy, and one full score copy
16-bell score	Eight score copies
Handbell choir score	Fifteen score copies
(Handbell) ensemble	One copy of each part for each ensemble member