As we learn bobs for plain bob, we decided last night to try some longer length rings. And were successful!

The first step was to remember all the different permutations for bobs in the trebles. To that end, Jane called a touch with bobs at the first three leads (for a very short, 36 change touch of bob minor). The trebles do nothing except course for all three leads. Jane was ringing 56, Randy was ringing 34, and both Genine and Maggie were (separately) ringing 12. They both got through it wonderfully.

Next was to ring a longer length, with bobs called at the end of every 5th lead. There were a couple of bobbles, but again with Jane on 56 and Randy on 34, both Genine and Maggie were able to ring the trebles for the full touch! So both Genine and Maggie have now rung a 180 change touch of bob minor. We all had a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

After that, we decided to just do random bobs (with Jane calling) so that we would need to think about what we were doing at all times. We all got a workout with that. Randy can ring bobs on the trebles easily, but ringing bobs while ringing 34 is a fairly new experience, and he still needs some practice. And Genine and Maggie are learning how to ring bobs on the trebles, and doing very well.

Next up – learning singles!

Since August, we have been working sporadically on ringing a full course of plain bob major. Sporadically, because we have four ringers sporadically. Genine, Karen, Maggie, and Randy are together only about once per month. We often have three ringers, and have bob minor down fairly well. But have struggled to ring bob major without interruption.

That finally changed on our first gathering of the new year (2017). After a few attempts, we were able to ring bob major with Genine on the trebles, Randy on 3,4, Karen on 5,6, and Maggie on 7,8. We rang it all the way through without interruption, and so now we know we can do it! It was a very satisfying feeling.

Of course, we tried again immediately, but were not able to repeat the accomplishment that evening. We will keep trying. As we have been telling ourselves lately, “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong!”

We have also been working on practicing bobs when we have three ringers. We are getting comfortable with them, but still need more work. Especially Randy, who needs to learn how to call bobs consistently and well, and continue ringing correctly!

In other news, we have a new ringer in our group! Jessica contacted us and wants to learn how to ring. She is a new hand bell ringer, having rung in a tower (Trinity in NYC) a few times. She has attended one practice so far, and, with some help, actually rang the trebles in a plain course of bob minor on her first night! We are hoping to see her more often.

And finally, we are looking forward to the return of the woman who started us all down this path. Jane is returning to San Diego this month, and will start ringing with us again in February. As a very experienced ringer and conductor, we are anxiously anticipating her return.

We are essentially down to 4 ringers now, with an occasional additional 1 or 2. And one of those 4 can only commit to ringing every other week. The 3 of us are getting really good at Bob minor! With that group, it is time to stretch, and start working on Bobs and Singles. Though I will also need to stretch, to work on creating a true method. More news on that as it develops.

But with the group of 4, we are working hard to ring a plain course of Plain Bob Major. We have been unsuccessful, so far. But I have high hopes that we will get there in the next week.

As we focus on that one method, we are staying at the same positions. So Genine is ringing 12, I am ringing 34, Karen is ringing 56, and Maggie is ringing 78. We are getting through the entire method, but in pieces. For example, we can get through 4 of the 7 leads, and then fall apart. We can start at the halfway point (23456781) and make it to the end. But so far, we have not gotten through the entire method in a single go.

We were close this past rehearsal. On our last attempt before quitting, we made it through 5 leads, and partway through the 6th, before falling apart. I considered that a success (of sorts), since we had rung so many changes consecutively. And we didn’t have time to try again.

We were fortunate to have Karen for 2 weeks in a row, and expect her to join us again this week. It is summertime, after all! Some scheduling can be changed. I’m hoping that this week, we will actually make it through the entire method, and even do it multiple times.