Aug 16

Praise Him! Praise Him!

We’re in Harbor Springs, Michigan for a few days. It turns out that we’ve arrived on the hottest weekend of the whole year – it’s about 90º F. outside, so we’re thankful for air conditioning! We have a day to kick back before rehearsals start tomorrow, and plan to have a nice time, probably in the hotel. 🙂

Meanwhile, wherever you are, and whatever temperature it is in your neighborhood, we have a new eight-bell arrangement to share with you. Fanny Crosby is one of the great names in American church music, and we’ve added our new “standard” version of her hymn “Praise Him! Praise Him!” to the Surprisingly Easy™ one we published awhile ago.

Aug 15

Sixteen Bells and Michigan

We’ve added a new sixteen-handbell score to our catalog, Prelude No. 1 from J.S. Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier”. You can play it as a four-in-hand quartet (as friends from Bells of the Sound demonstrate in their video), or you can gather as many as eight musicians to play it. Take a look!

* * *

We’re in Bay View, Michigan for the annual Bay View Week of Handbells. About 100 handbell musicians will gather next week to rehearse for four days, and then will perform in our concert on Thursday evening at 8:00. Do drop by John M. Hall Auditorium at the Bay View Association if you’re nearby – you’ll enjoy the program!

Aug 10

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Today, we’re releasing our new eight-handbell arrangement of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. It’s a great piece with which to start the new season, especially if you’d like to give your full-size bell choir a bit of additional time to prepare their first piece for service.

Do take a look, and pick up the score for your own ministry!

Aug 04

Wrong Foot Forward

We’ve just released our arrangement of “Wrong Foot Forward”, a new generation Irish jig by Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen of the band Flook. It’s on their album “Haven” – and it’s a lot of fun!

You might ask yourself why Brian and Sarah chose this title. Well… there are two kinds of Irish jigs. The “regular” ones, usually danced by the men, have two triple beats (six eighth notes) per bar. “Slip jigs”, usually danced by the women, have three triple beats (nine eighth notes) per bar. But…”Wrong Foot Forward” has seven eighth notes per bar – so you can imagine what it will do to the unprepared dancer!

We truly enjoyed hearing Sarah’s rendition of “Wrong Foot Forward”, on which she adeptly plays five minutes of continuous music on a flute that she feeds with ultraquick “snap breaths”. Here’s our version, without having to worry quite as much about breathing!

Jul 19

And Here’s Some New Twelve-Bell Music!

We’ve just added seven new twelve-handbell arrangements to our catalog! You can play these as anything between a four-in-hand trio to a sextet of ringers with two bells each. And they’re fun, because they’re a bit challenging (well, okay, some of them are just plain challenging!) – but if you practice, you’ll find they have a wonderful sound, and will work well in your concerts of worship services. Do take a look – you’ll find the demonstration videos on the pages for the pieces!

  • Farandole: We hinted at having an arrangement of Georges Bizet’s famous piece in the previous post. Our twelve-bell score gives each player quite a bit to do, and will be an exciting piece to share with your friends.
  • Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee: This part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is one of the reasons that it’s been a world favorite for over a century.
  • Morning Has Broken: Cat Stevens helped make this song famous a relatively small number of years ago, but it actually has been around for much longer than that.
  • My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean: You probably have sung this from time to time at campfires, or maybe when you’ve been on the water someplace.
  • O Worship the King: Twelve-bell hymns are great for any service! This arrangement would be perfect as a prelude or as gathering music.
  • Shenandoah: This American folk song recalls gentle rivers, gorgeous scenery, and idyllic times.
  • There is a Fountain: The Christian faith is filled with vivid imagery. This hymn recalls the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Jul 14

Summer Doldrums?

It’s summer, and most of us are in off-season mode. That, of course, is because we traditionally synchronize our handbell (or choir) year to when folks are in town, so that means mid-August to mid-June. When we think of playing bells during the summer, we call around to see who’s available, and see whether we can find music that works.

Good news! If you have only two or three (or four, five, or six) friends who can get together to play in church or for a picnic, we have plenty of music for you to try. Our videos of our eight-bell music are presented as four-in-hand duets, but our friends have played them as trios and quartets as well. We’d like to mention “Ring 4 Glory” of Pacific Grove, California, who have played some of our eight-bell scores.

Our more recently-released twelve-bell scores are loads of fun, too. Who would have thought that Georges Bizet’s famous Farandole could be condensed into just a dozen notes? And we’re planning to add some more to what we have, so drop by now and then to check!

Have a wonderful summer!

Jun 25

Yay! A new collection!

We’ve been excited that our handbell musician friends have liked our “Surprisingly Easy”™ music, especially the collections. We’ve heard lots of stories of how our arrangements have found a home with duets, trios, and quartets. We’ve also seen some really nice videos too!

The news this week is that we’ve added a second “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell hymn collection. Most of them are “golden oldies” because they’ve been in our hymnals for centuries (literally!). But… they’re still great hymns with great lyrics, and we still worship with them today – that’s a testament to how great they are!

  • Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
  • Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
  • All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name (CORONATION)
  • At the Cross
  • Great is Thy Faithfulness
  • Jesus Shall Reign
  • He Keeps Me Singing

Do take a look – we think you’ll love playing these new arrangements!

Jun 20

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Difficult times provide opportunities for all-too-rare people to show incredible character. I’ve been following the news a bit in the wake of the church shootings in Charleston – a horrific crime and tremendous injustice – and have been amazed at how the folks at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church are willing to offer forgiveness to the killer despite the loss of their friends and relatives.

Martin Luther, I think, would have commended them for the staunchness of their faith. It’s one thing to acknowledge what the Bible tells you to do, but still another to act on it. Perhaps that’s what the brave monk who, in 1517, posted his 95 Theses at the church at the Wittenberg Castle Church, was thinking about when he wrote the words:

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

A greater hope than that which this life offers awaits us, and it’s founded on the God who made it possible for all men (and women, and children) to be saved from their sin.

Here’s our new eight-bell arrangement of Martin Luther’s famous hymn, by the way.

Jun 14

New Music – Greensleeves!

Today we’re releasing our eight-bell arrangement of the English tune “Greensleeves” (aka “What Child is This?” for the Christmas-minded)! The video we’ve posted, of course, is a complete play-through of the piece, and has a squirrel as a bonus (just after the one-minute mark, if you’re watching for it).

We really think you’ll like this one because it has a mysterious feel. Do try it out!

Sorry, squirrel not included… 🙂

Jun 02

Collaboration in King of Prussia…

As part of our concert with Philadelphia Bronze, we took advantage of our opportunity to work with Martha Alford, their director, to write a new piece for flute plus eight handbells. It’s titled Silver and Bronze, and has a playful mood. Take a look – we think you’ll enjoy it!