USING COURSING ORDER TO KEEP TRACK OF
COMPOSITIONS
The coursing order not only allows you to work out where all the bells should be during the ringing. It can also be used to help you to work out where you are up to in the composition. This is especially helpful if calling a long composition, such as a 720 of Plain Bob Minor, and you simply forget where you have got to. We will look at the way works for doubles methods and the look at how it works for minor methods. There is not a fundamental difference between doubles and minor but it is convenient to split the session into these two sections.
Keeping Track Of Touches Of Doubles
When calling a quarter peal of doubles you are calling 11 separate touches. Inexperienced conductors often, and experienced ones sometimes, realise, after calling several extents, that they have no idea where the next call is. This may be because they were thinking of the calling as In, Out, Make (calling by calling position) and have forgotten where they are up to or they may be calling a particular bell in long 5th's (calling by observation bell) but can't remember which call comes next. We will look at this problem from both sides.
Calling By Calling Position
When calling 3 Homes the problem is easy to solve. You just keep calling Homes until the coursing order 324 reappears. In other words you have called Homes until you have reached a target: 324.
In a sense, the other three callings also have as their target 324. This information plus the information that you also start from 324 can help you to find your way round the callings where your bell will do different things at each call (In, Out or Make). We will look at each calling in turn:
In, Out, Make:
Starting from 324, if the coursing order is still 324 then you've not yet called any bobs, so the next call must be In. This gives 234. If you promptly forget that you've called the In you can examine the coursing order, 234, and observe that if you now called an In 234 would become 324, which cannot be right because that would produce Rounds. In any case, since the coursing order is not 324 you must have at least called the first call, the In. Therefore the next call is either Out or Make. If you were to call a 4ths then that would give the coursing order 423 but you know that 4ths is the final call of this extent and should give 324, so the next call cannot be a 4ths and so must be an Out. From 234 an Out gives 243, which must then be followed by a Make to give 324.
If you have called the In and Out to give 243, and then got lost, you can note that the next call cannot be an In because you only call that when the coursing order is 324 (since In is the first call of this calling). Neither can it be an Out, giving 234, because the final Make wouldn't produce 324 and so must be a Make. Another way to see this is to note that the final Make must give 324 and therefore can only be called when the coursing order is 243.
If you've already got to 324 then you must have made all the calls (or none of them!).
Out, Make, In:
Starting from 324, if the coursing order is still 324 then you've not yet called any bobs, so the next call must be Out. This gives 342. If you promptly forget that you've called the In you can examine the coursing order, 342, and observe that if you now called an Out 342 would become 324, which cannot be right because that would produce Rounds. In any case, since the coursing order is not 324 you must have at least called the first call, the Out. Therefore the next call is either In or Make. If you were to call an In then that would give the coursing order 432 but you know that In is the final call of this extent and should give 324, so the next call cannot be an In and so must be a Make. From 342 a 4ths gives 234, which must then be followed by an In to give 324.
If you have called the Out and Make to give 234, and then got lost, you can note that the next call cannot be an Out because you only call that when the coursing order is 324 (since Out is the first call of this calling). Neither can it be a 4ths, giving 423, because the final In wouldn't produce 324 and so must be an In. Another way to see this is to note that the final In must give 324 and therefore can only be called when the coursing order is 234.
If you've already got to 324 then you must have made all the calls (or none of them!).
Make, In, Out:
Starting from 324, if the coursing order is still 324 then you've not yet called any bobs, so the next call must be Make. This gives 432. If you promptly forget that you've called the Make you can examine the coursing order, 432, and observe that since the coursing order is not 324 you must at least have made the first call, the 4ths. Therefore the next call is either In or Out. If you were to call an Out then that would give the coursing order 423 but you know that Out is the final call of this extent and should give 324, so the next call cannot be an Out and so must be an In. From 432 an In gives 342, which must then be followed by an Out to give 324.
If you have called the Make and In to give 342, and then got lost, you can note that the next call cannot be an 4ths because you only call that when the coursing order is 324 (since 4ths is the first call of this calling). Neither can it be an In, giving 432, because the final Out wouldn't produce 324 and so must be an Out. Another way to see this is to note that the final Out must give 324 and therefore can only be called when the coursing order is 342.
If you've already got to 324 then you must have made all the calls (or none of them!).
Summary
There is no need to learn the above paragraphs. The message is that is it possible quite quickly to work out where you are up to in a touch. Maybe the easiest way to do this is transpose the touch from the start until you reach the current coursing order and those calls must be the ones you've actually called.
As with the rest of conducting, this all requires practice and gets easier with familiarity with the coursing orders produced by each touch. The worst thing that happens is that you forget the coursing order at the same time as you forget where you are up to in the touch, pick up the coursing order by watching the bells and find that there has been a mistake or silent swap while you were doing this.
Calling By Observation Bell
You may find it easier to call by selecting a bell to be observation bell and then calling bobs when that bell is in long 5ths. This works well as long as the ringing remains correct and you can reliably see which bell is in long 5ths. Often it is convenient to work out your own position at each point where your nominated observation bell is in long 5ths. Luckily there is a very easy way to do this. We must look at what you will be doing at each of your 3 possible positions (In , Out, Make) when the observation bell is in long 5ths.
Calling 3rd As Observation:
If the coursing order is 324 and the 3rd is making long 5ths then your bell, the 5th, being one position earlier than the 3rd in the coursing order, is doing the dodge before long 5ths - 3-4 down. Therefore the first call is an In, to give 234. This now defines the rest of the touch as Out, Make.
From 234 the Out gives 243 and from this the final 4ths gives 324. From this example we see that our nominated observation bell, 3, moves one position to the right in the coursing order until it reaches the end and then it goes back to the beginning.
Calling 2nd As Observation:
If the coursing order is 324 and the 2nd is making long 5ths then your bell, the 5th, being two positions earlier than the 2nd in the coursing order, is doing the dodge two before long 5ths - make 2nds. Therefore the first call is an Out, to give 342. This now defines the rest of the touch as Make, In.
From 342 the Make gives 234 and from this the final In gives 324. From this example we see that our nominated observation bell, 2, moves one position to the right in the coursing order until it reaches the end and then it goes back to the beginning.
Calling 4th As Observation:
If the coursing order is 324 and the 4th is making long 5ths then your bell, the 5th, being one position later than the 4th in the coursing order, is doing the dodge after long 5ths - 3-4 up. Therefore the first call is a 4ths, to give 432. This now defines the rest of the touch as In, Out.
From 432 the In gives 342 and from this the final Out gives 324. From this example we see that our nominated observation bell, 4, moves one position to the right in the coursing order until it reaches the end and then it goes back to the beginning.
The General Case:
Given a nominated observation bell the calls come in the order that makes this bell move one position to the right in the coursing order until it reaches the end when it must be moved back to the start. If we take the coursing as ABC then if your nominated bell is in position A the next call is an In, if it is position B the next call is an Out and if it is in position C the next call is a 4ths.
Keeping Track Of Touches Of Minor
Since there is a large number of touches of Minor we will look at a few examples and give the general idea of what to look for. The list will not be comprehensive but by the end of this section you should be able to look at touches yourself and decide what you need to watch.
Calling 3 Wrongs Or 3 Homes
When calling a number of bobs at the same position a course apart there are two ways to do it. The first is to count them. This method of knowing how many you've called is fine for those people who can count but, unfortunately, nobody can. Instead you need an approach based on what you are trying to achieve.
For a touch consisting entirely of 3 Wrongs or 3 Homes the coursing order will start from 5324 and end up at 5324. Therefore calls are made until 5324 is regained. If the touch is 3 Wrongs it will come round 4 leads after the final call and if 3 Homes it will come round immediately after the final call. We can think of the final coursing order, 5324, as a target that we are trying to reach with our 3 calls. Once we have reached the target we have called all the calls; there's no need to count them.
More complex touches can be broken down into sections, each with its own target. We will look at a few standard touches to illustrate the idea.
360 Plain Bob/St. Clement's and 720 Cambridge
W H
- -
-
Repeat
Twice
This is the standard 360 of Plain Bob or 720 of Cambridge. There are two ways in which you might loose your place in this. The first is in knowing how many times you've called the part, so that Rounds doesn't take you by surprise, and the second is in knowing whether you must call an H or not.
The first difficulty is solved by simply calling the part until 5324 reappears. In this way it is the same as calling 3W or 3H. The second difficulty is more interesting. In order to look at it we must look at the following table, which gives the coursing orders produced by one part of the touch:
W H W H
- - 5324 3254
- 3542
5432
Coursing orders in the column labelled W are those from the start of each course up to the W. Coursing orders in the column labelled H are those from the W to the H, the end of the course. The first thing to notice is that there is always a call at W, so calls at W shouldn't be missed. The second thing to notice is that the final coursing order is 5432. Thus this part ends and the next part starts with 5432. Since the first part started with 5324 and the second part with 5432 it looks like each parts starts with the 5th in its home position.
Since each part starts with the 5th in its home position it will move through the same sequence of positions in each part, since each part is called the same. Since in the first part, as shown in the table, there is a bob at H when the 5th is not "at home" and there is no bob at H when the 5th is "at home" then the same will be true of each other part. This is our rule for knowing whether to call a bob at H or not.
Rule: Only call a bob at H when the 5th is not in its normal place in the coursing order.
This rule only applies to this touch, of course. Each touch that you call should be written down as in the table above and the coursing orders inspected for useful patterns.
720 Plain Bob/St. Clement's Minor
W H
- -
-
Repeat
5 times
calling SH
half way
and end.
This is the standard 720 of Plain Bob or St. Clement's. In addition to getting lost in the ways mentioned for the 360 above there is the added complication of knowing where to put the singles, especially the second one.
The following table gives the coursing orders produced by the touch up to the single:
W H W H
- - 5324 3254
- 3542 5432
- - 5432 4352
- 4523 5243
- - 5243 2453
-
s 2534 5324
5423
Repeat.
As can be seen, every time the 5th is at home there is not a bob at H. The main point here, though, is that the single at the end, after 5324 reappears, results in the coursing order 5423. If the second half starts with 5423 then it must end with a single when 5423 reappears. Notice that the first single is called when the 5th is at home and the 2nd is also at home. Now notice that, because both 5 and 2 start the second half in the same positions as the first half, the second single will also be called when the 5th and the 2nd are at home. One more thing to notice is that in the first half and therefore in the second half the 2nd is only at home at a part end once, right at the end where we call the single.
The rules for calls at Home in this touch are, therefore:
Call bobs at Home only when the 5th is not at home at a course end.
Call a single at Home when the 2nd is in its home position.
When the 2nd is at home it is making 2nds. The important point about this is that it will make 2nds whether a single is called or not. These rules can also be applied by using either the 3rd or 4th instead of the 2nd to determine where the singles should go. The reason for this is that at each part end bells 2, 3 and 4 are rotated and in turn occupy the home position of the 2nd at part ends. Strictly speaking the two singles can be called at two places 3 parts apart and are not restricted to half way and end. Therefore if the first single is called at the end of the first part the second single must be called at the end of the fourth part. In both instances it will be the 3rd that makes 2nds and which will occupy the home position of the 2nd. If the first single is called at the end of the second part it will be the 4th that is in the home position of the 2nd at each one.
The result of this is that the two singles are called when a bell nominated from 2, 3 or 4 is making 2nds at a part end. The rules above can therefore be generalised slightly to read:
Call bobs at Home only when the 5th is not at home at a course end.
Call a single at Home when the nominated bell is in the 2nd's home position.
720 Plain Bob/St. Clement's Minor
W H W H
s 5324 2354
s
- 2354 5324
5243
Repeat 5 times calling s for - half way and end.
This 720 works in a similar way to the previous one. There
is a single at every W but now there is a bob at H when the 5th is at home.
This time the singles half way and end are called instead of bobs. The
following table shows the entire first half:
W H W H
s 5324 2354
s - 2354 5324
s 5243 4253
s - 4253 5243
s 5432 3452
s
s 3452 5432
5234
Repeat
This time you will notice that of the three bells which rotate at the part ends it is the 4th that is at home at the start of each half. In calling a single instead of a bob it has become the bell the makes 4ths that is the signal for the single because this bell will make 4ths at a bob or a single. Therefore any of 2, 3 or 4 could be nominated as the signal for a single instead of a bob when that bell will make 4ths at the call. If either 2 or 3 are chosen this will correspond to calling the singles in parts 2 and 5 or parts 1 and 4. This is quite valid because in a 6-part composition the single half way and end can actually be called at any two part ends 3 parts apart.
720 Plain Bob/St. Clement's Minor
W H W H
- 5324 3254
s 3254 5234
- 5234 2354
s - 2354 5324
5243
Repeat twice
There are two questions here: Is the next W a bob or a single? and when does the H come? The answer to the first question is that the W is a bob if the 5th will make the bob (i.e. is at home) and is a single if the 5th is where the 2nd normally is (i.e. is in 2nd's), or, when the 5th is not at home. The bobs at H are called when the 5th is at home and the other three bells are rotated. From the table it can be seen that within the part there are two course ends with the 5th at home. One of these is approached with the coursing order 5234 and the other is approached with the coursing order 5324. 5234 is like the plain course coursing order but with two bells swapped. If the whole touch were written out you would find that the other two parts would have 5423 and 5342 where the first part has 5234. Again these are the plain course coursing orders with just one pair of bells swapped (3 & 4 and 4 & 2). In other words, if the 5th is at home and you cannot remember whether to call a single or not then see if the coursing order just has two bells swapped. If it does there is no call.
This is an example of the use of a target to know when you've reached a certain point. The target is reached when the coursing order starts with 5 and the other three bells are rotated, not just a pair swapped. When this happens there is a bob at H and that is the end of the part, otherwise you keep calling Wrongs (bob when 5 makes it, single otherwise) until the target coursing order appears.
This use of targets results in large sections of compositions generating themselves as the ringing proceeds and can save a lot of learning and a lot of effort when calling. We've not looked at Grandsire Triples yet but the first part of Parker's 12-part peal is:
In, Out at 3, S Home, Before, In, Out, Before, In, Out at 2, S Home, In, Out, S Home, Before, Home.
This is quite a lot to learn and the repetitive nature of it means that after calling it several times (12 times in total for the whole peal) you become completely confused as to where you are up to. Also, it's quite difficult to count the 3 or 2 leads that you occasionally remain in the hunt. What is needed is a nice set of simple rules.
The rules for Parker's 12-part are:
1. The second call, out at 3, is called when either 5 or 6 would go into the hunt if called one lead later.
2. If either 5 or 6 is in the hunt then the next call is a Before.
3. If neither 5 nor 6 is in the hunt then the next call is an In.
4. If 7th is in the hunt then call it out as soon as either 5 or 6 will go in.
5. When approaching a call at H if neither of 5 or 6 is at one end of the coursing order then call a single H.
6. But if both 5 and 6 are at the ends of the coursing order call a bob H, otherwise there is no call at H.
The whole thing revolves around where 5 and 6 are in the coursing order. Rules 5 and 6 can be combined into the "Both or Neither" rule: Only call a H if both or neither of 5 and 6 are at the ends of the coursing order; bob if both, single if neither. Rules 2 and 3 can also be combined by saying that if either 5 or 6 is in the hunt then they must be called out before the 7th is called in. Notice the before in italics. This is mnemonic to remind us that the next call is a Before.
These 6 rules, or 4 rules after rules 2 and 3 and rules 5 and 6 are combined, will generate the whole peal with the exception of one more detail, the single for bob half way and end. The first is called when the bob would produce Rounds and the second is called when a single would produce Rounds. Actually, they are called if the coursing order is 5xx6 with 4 in the hunt.
Summary
In this session we have seen how the coursing order can be used to tell us what the next call is and as a reminder about when the ends of parts are reached. The way in which it does this is dependent on the structure of the composition and the way the conductor likes to look at it.
Certain coursing orders throughout a touch can be seen as targets and the calls necessary to reach that target can be worked out. Taken to its limit the structures in the coursing orders can be used to generate whole compositions and more or less remove the need to learn a composition at all.
Many compositions become easier to call if the coursing orders are studied beforehand and a conductor that does this becomes a more competent and confident one. It also helps with remembering the coursing order if it is known how the calling relates to the coursing orders it produces.