Which Call Change?
5 & 6 Bell Game
Can you identify a pattern of bells just from their sound? Which Call Change: 5&6-Bell is a game where you listen to a short clip of a call change and see if you can match it with the numbers we offer you?
Whether you are calling the changes or ringing them… being able to identify the pattern from the sounds alone is a very useful skill. It will help you sort out mistakes… be it your own or someone else’s. It will also help to develop your ear for many other situations where being able to identify your own or a fellow ringers bell will be useful.
In the first group, we have mixed up a variety of 5 and 6 bell call changes on different numbers, but all are very common changes which all but the least experienced will be familiar with… and probably by name!
You should not find this too difficult to do and will probably be able to identify the change without having to analyse it… all you then need to do is recognise what it looks like when written down!
Example
In the example, you will recognise the call change as reverse rounds. If you listen carefully, you will hear that there are 6 bells ringing, so the correct answer is 654321.
Which Call Change: Easy
Which Call Change: 5-Bell
Notes
In this section, you will find only 5-bell changes…. But we have now chosen a selection of changes which might not be so familiar, so you will need to listen more carefully to the patterns of interval between the notes…
For trained musicians, this will be very easy, but for those who are not, it will require some careful listening and thought.
- Listen carefully to the first bell, is it the treble… if not, where is the treble in the order… and which bell is leading? …. Is it low or high pitched?
- Listen to the interval (jumps) between each bell… is it to the note next door… up or down one note, or a bigger jump?
- Where is the tenor… is it last or has it moved. If it has moved… where is it and who is now last… is it a low or high pitched bell?
If you combine all of this information, you should have a pretty good chance of piking the right answer!
Which Call Change: 6-Bell
Notes
There is now an extra bell to listen for, so more choices and a little bit more difficult!
The same advice applies but with some added extra clues…
- Listen for sequences of consecutive numbers. Remember, this might be a roll up, or a run down.
- Listen for big intervals…. where are they? In 1-2, 2-3, 3-4… etc.? Is the interval a leap up or down?
Add this to what you learned with the 5-bell sequences and the right answer will probably become much clearer!