PLAIN BOB MINOR - TOUCHES 2

 

In this session we will be looking at singles in Plain Bob Minor and other Minor methods where the Tenor is unaffected by the singles.

 

Calling Positions

 

The following diagram shows all the calling positions where the Tenor is unaffected at a single along with their usual names:

 

123456                        135264                        156342                        164523                        142635

214365                        312546                        513624                        615432                        416253

241635                        321456                        531264                        651342                        461523

426153                        234165                        352146                        563124                        645132

462513                        243615                        325416                        536214                        654312

645231                        426351                        234561                        352641                        563421

654321                        462531                        243651                        325461                        536241

563412                        645213                        426315                        234516                        352614

536142                        654123                        462135                        243156                        325164

351624                        561432                        641253                        421365                        231564

315264 *                     516342 *                     614523 *                     412635 *                     213456 *

132546                        153624                        165432                        146253                        124365

135264 W                   156342                        164523 B                    142635                        123456 H

 

   *       =          Single called here

  W      =          Wrong

  B        =          Before

  H       =          Home

 

            Fig. 1  - Plain Bob Minor calling positions where the Tenor is unaffected at a single.

 

Touches Of Plain Bob Minor

 

There are loads of touches of Plain Bob Minor so the following examples are a selection of common and useful ones, using the calling positions W, B and H:

 

                        120                                          720                                              240

            W        H         2345                W        H         2345                W        B          H         2345

             -          s          5423                -          -          4523                s          s          s          5234

             s          -          2345                -          (s)        3425                Repeat 3 times

                                                            Repeat 5 times calling

                                                            (s) in parts 3 and 6 only

 

                        96 *                             240 *                               360/720

                        23456                          23456              W        B          H         2345

                        35264              s           32564              s          s          s          5234

            s           53642                          26345              s                                  4235

            Repeat 3 times                          64253              Repeat twice. For 720 call sH

                                                s           46532              at the ends of any two parts

                                                Repeat 4 times              two parts apart.

 

In each touch the singles are shown by an "s". The touches marked * need careful calling because the part ends do not have the 6th at home.

 

Transposition Of Singles At Home

 

We must look at the fifth lead continued into the first lead of the next course at both a plain lead and a singled lead:

 

         Plain Lead                Bobbed Lead

 

142635                           142635

416253                           416253

461523                           461523

645132                           645132

654312                           654312

563421                           563421

536241                           536241

352614                           352614

325164                           325164

231546                           231546

213456                           213456

124365                           124365

123456 *1                      124356 *2

214365                           213465

241635                           231645

426153                           326154

462513                           362514

645231                           635241

654321                           653421

…                                   …

 

If we compare rows *1 and *2 we can see that:

 

In row *2 the 2nd, 5th and 6th are where they are in row *1

In row *2 the 4th is where the 3rd is in row *1

In row *2 the 3rd is where the 4th is in row *1

 

Considering the coursing order:                                     (6)5 3 2 4

Following the bob:

 

            The 2nd 5th and 6th remain where they are:       (6)5 * 2 *

The 4th takes the place of the 3rd:                     (6)5 4 2 *

The 3rd takes the place of the 4th:                     (6)5 4 2 3

 

The new coursing order is therefore:    5 4 2 3

 

Put more generally, the last three bells in the coursing order, A B C, are affected by the single and become C B A.

 

Transposition Of Singles At Wrong

 

We must look at the first lead continued into the second lead of a plain course and compare it with the first lead followed by the lead produced after a single. Look at these figures:

 

Plain Lead                Bobbed Lead

 

123456                           123456

214365                           214365

241635                           241635

426153                           426153

462513                           462513

645231                           645231

654321                           654321

563412                           563412

536142                           536142

351724                           351624

315264                           315264

132546                           132546

135264 *1                      132564 *2

312546                           315246

321456                           351426

234165                           534162

243615                           543612

426351                           456321

462531                           465231

….                                  ….

 

If we compare rows *1 and *2 we can see that:

 

In row *2 the 3rd, 4th and 6th are where they are in row *1

In row *2 the 2nd is where the 5th is in row *1

In row *2 the 5th is where the 2nd is in row *1

 

Considering the coursing order:                                     (6)5 3 2 4

Following the bob:

 

            The 3rd, 4th and 6th remain where they are:      (6)* 3 * 4

The 2nd takes the place of the 5th:                    (6)2 3 * 4

The 5th takes the place of the 2nd:                    (6)2 3 5 4

 

The new coursing order is therefore:    2 3 5 4

 

Put more generally, the first 3 bells in the coursing order, A B C, have become C B A with the rest unchanged.

 

Transposition Of Singles At Before

 

We must look at the third lead continued into the fourth lead of a plain course and compare it with the third lead followed by the lead produced after a single. Look at these figures:

 

Plain Lead                Bobbed Lead

 

156342                           156342

513624                           513624

531264                           531264

352146                           352146

325416                           325416

234561                           234561

243651                           243651

426315                           426315

462135                           462135

641253                           641253

614523                           614523

165432                           165432

164523 *1                      165423 *2

615432                           614532

651342                           641352

563124                           463125

536214                           436215

352641                           342651

325461                           324561

….                                  ….

 

If we compare rows *1 and *2 we can see that:

 

In row *2 the 6th, 2nd and 3rd are where they are in row *1

In row *2 the 4th is where the 5th is in row *1

In row *2 the 5th is where the 4th is in row *1

 

Considering the coursing order:                                     (6)5 3 2 4

Following the bob:

 

            The 6th, 2nd and 3rd remain where they are:     (6)* 3 2 *

The 4th takes the place of the 5th:                     (6)4 3 * *

The 5th takes the place of the 4th:                     (6)4 3 2 5

 

The new coursing order is therefore:    4 3 2 5

 

Put more generally, the first and last bells have swapped.

 

General Points About The Transpositions For Singles at W, B and H

 

When we look at the three bells making 2nds and dodging in 3-4 the underlying transposition is always ABC => CBA. Closer inspection of the figures will reveal that the two bells that change places in the coursing order are the two bells on either side of the bell that makes 2nds. This is the case for singles at all the calling places. However for singles where the Tenor makes 3rds or 4ths, and its position in the coursing order therefore changes, there is a second transposition to put it back to the start.

 

There is an additional aspect to the basic transposition which can be extremely useful at times: It directly tells you which bells will do each bit of the single. We need to compare the affects of the singles at W and H in the diagrams above. For the H we had:

 

            124365

            124356

 

in which the bells A B C were 3 2 4. Now, 3 2 4 became 4 2 3 and from the figures we see that bell 3 (bell A) made the bob, bell 2 (bell B) made 2nds (unaffected) and bell 4 (bell C) made 3rds. In short, for the three bells A B C affected at a H, A made the bob, B made 2nds and C made 3rds.

 

Similarly, for the W we had:

 

            132546

            132564

 

in which the bells A B C were 5 3 2, which became 2 3 5. In this case bell 5 (bell A) made the bob, bell 3 (bell B) made 2nds (unaffected) and bell 2 (bell C) made 3rds. In short, for the three bells A B C affected at a H, A made the bob, B made 2nds and C made 3rds.

 

Similarly, for the B we had:

 

            165432

            165423

 

in which the bells A B C were 4 6 5, which became 5 6 4. In this case bell 4 (bell A) made the bob, bell 6 (bell B) made 2nds (unaffected) and bell 5 (bell C) made 3rds. In short, for the three bells A B C affected at a B, A made the bob, B made 2nds and C made 3rds.

 

The way that a single at B works is exactly the same as a single at H. Bell A makes the bob, bell B makes 2nds and bell C makes 3rds. This applies equally to the W, B and H in Plain Bob Major and Bristol Surprise Maximus.

 

Summary Of Transpositions For Each Calling Position

 

For the standard coursing order taken from the Tenor we have the following transpositions:

 

Calling Position          Transposition             Notes

For a single at Home     ABC => CBA              ABC are the last 3 bells in the coursing order

For a single at Wrong   ABC => CBA              ABC are the first 3 bells in the coursing order

For a single at Before    ABC => CBA              ABC are those bells such that B is the Tenor

 

If the coursing order from a different bell is being used the transpositions are exactly the same for that bell's coursing order when they do the work above as they are for the Tenor's coursing order.

 

Summary

 

We have seen how to extend the transposition of coursing order to singles and applied it to those calling places where the Tenor is unaffected.