FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The following questions are paraphrases of actual questions. Some relate to questions about the Conducting Course and others originate from the author's experience.
Q1. When I'm not ringing the Tenor should I use the Tenor's coursing order or my own?
A1. It's a matter of personal choice. The standard way of looking at the coursing order is from the point of view of the Tenor. In order to use this version when not ringing the Tenor there must be it is necessary to know, somehow, where the Tenor is so that you know how to use and change the coursing order. There are three ways to do this: watch or listen for where the Tenor is; follow the Tenor's blue line as well as your own; work out from the coursing order what you will be doing when the Tenor is in a particular position. The first method is error prone, especially if the Tenor goes wrong or the ringing is too bad. The second method is difficult and is precisely the sort of thing we are trying to eliminate. The third method is the best and with practice is quite easy.
At first the new conductor will have difficulty in ringing bells other than the Tenor whilst keeping the Tenor's coursing order. It is probably best to use your own personal coursing order. However, if you ring a different bell each time, it is impossible to become totally familiar with any particular view of the coursing order and this method works out harder in the end. If possible, do your conducting practice from the Tenor, otherwise try to stick with the same bell each time. Once you have completed enough of the course sessions (up to Session 8) you will be able to know what your bell should be doing when the Tenor is in any particular position and therefore keep the standard coursing order.
Q2. When, precisely, do a call a bob?
A2. All calls (except "That's All" - see Q3 below) are made two blows before any ringer strikes a blow in a place different from that in which they would otherwise have struck it. This is done to give each ringer time to work out what to do and time to alter the speed of the bell. The rule is that the call should be made when the bell that is leading is just starting to pull the rope. This gives exactly two pulls warning. After the pull with the call in it there is therefore one pull for thinking time and the next pull is the actual call.
Most methods have the work of the calls taking place at the Treble's backstroke lead. This means that the ideal time to call the calls is as the ringer of the bell which is leading, at backstroke, when the Treble is in 2nd's place is just starting to pull the rope. Other methods, such as Grandsire or Stedman, are different - the calls take effect at handstroke. For Grandsire the calls must be made when the Treble is in 3rd's place, at handstroke, and the calls in Stedman must similarly be called at handstroke.
Many learners have difficulty with the singles of Stedman Doubles. One possible reason is that many conductors call the singles at handstroke (to reflect some relationship with Stedman Triples) so that the change in the work is not done until 3 blows after the call. This is wrong but all too common. The calls should be made at the backstroke before the places are made.
Q3. All the touches I call end with a crunching noise. When do I call "That's All"?
A3. "That's All" should be called just as the Treble ringer is about to start pulling the actual Rounds. Usually this will be at backstroke but for touches with an odd number of changes this will be at handstroke. The effect should be that the ringers immediately stop changing.
Some conductors leave the call a bit late and in this case the Trebles have probably already started to prepare to carry on. The result is that the change following Rounds is ragged in the first few places. Where the call is much before the correct place some of the ringers (particularly learners) will immediately stop, probably failing to ring the final dodge, and others will realise that the call was early and continue to the correct end, causing clashes with those who didn't. It's important to get into a regular habit of being accurate with "That's All" but, of course, there will be times when you get it wrong. If learners are involved it's best to explain that the ragged end to the ringing is your fault and not theirs.
Q4. After calling a quarter peal of Doubles I was told that I hadn't called it properly because I'd not completed one 120 before starting the next. How do I know when one 120 has finished and the next one starts?
A4. It sounds like you did something such as call yourself In, Out, Fourths followed by 3H but had called the first H too soon. There are also other ways in which this can happen. The problem here is that you must allow one 120 to get to Rounds before making the first call of the next. Whenever a 120 is followed by another one where the second one's first call comes later in the plain course than the first one's you must wait until you get to your home position in the first before starting the calls of the second.
To see how this works, consider the following example of calling the Tenor Out, Fourths, In followed by 3H. The touch is written out in lead ends and lead heads, a course in each column:
2345
2453
2534
4235 3425
3254 4235
5243 2453
4352
3524
4325
5423
2543 4532
O 5342 4 3452
I 4532 5234
5423
3542
4352
5432
5324 5243
5324 3425
4523 3542
2534
5234
3245
4253
3452 2354
2543 2354
H 2435 H 4325
H 3245
2453
2534
4235
3425 2345
If you call this you will indeed have called all the calls but it is only 5 courses long, instead of the required 6. The missing course is the plain course. The next example is the correct version of the above:
2345
2453
2534
2345
4235 3425
3254 4235
5243 3254
2453 4352
3524
4325
5423
3524
2543 4532
O 5342 4 3452
I 4532 5342
5234 5423
3542
4352
5432
5432
5324 5243
5324 3425
4523 4523
3542 2534
5234
3245
4253
4253
3452 2354
2543 2354
2435 H 2435
H 4325 H 3245
2453
2534
2345
4235
3425 2345
Note that Rounds now appears at the end of the 3rd column and that the missing plain course appears in the 4th column. Also note that there is a gap of 6 leads between the call at I and the first H. This is correct because two of them are in one extent and four are in another.
You can write out other examples, such as 4, I, O followed by O, 4, I or any of the Tenor-affected ones followed by 3H. In each case you can see that the result is a course short and that the missing course is the plain course. If you or one of the other ringers in a quarter peal attempt is convinced that this has happened then an extra plain course can be rung following any of the 120s or the 60 and the quarter peal will be true, if somewhat structurally marred.
Q5. How do I know from the coursing order which dodge each bell is doing at the lead end?
A5. Given the coursing order (5)324 we can see that at the end of the plain course the 5th will make long 5ths, the 3rd will dodge 3-4up, the 2nd will make 2nds and the 4th will dodge 3-4down. Notice that in reading off the work of each bell as they appear in the coursing order we have also listed the dodges in the order in which they come in Plain Bob Doubles. Notice also that we never mentioned Plain Bob in the description and that the same would apply to St Simon's, a method with a different lead order. In other words it does not matter which method is being rung the work of each bell at the lead end can be read off the coursing order by taking each bell in turn and applying the dodges in Plain Bob dodging order.
For example, if you are ringing the 5th and are about to make 2nds the coursing order tells you that the next bell in the coursing order, the 3rd, will be doing the next dodge after yours in Plain Bob dodging order, 3-4down. Continuing with this, the 2nd will be making long 5ths and the 4th will be dodging 3-4up. This works in the same way for Cambridge Maximus as it does for Plain Bob. One further example is, given the coursing order 243, if you are ringing the 2nd and are dodging 3-4down then the 4th is making long 5ths, the 3rd is in 3-4up and the 5th is making 2nds.
Q6. If I want to call a bell to do a particular 120 of Plain Bob Doubles but I'm ringing another bell, how do I know what to call?
A6. There are two ways of doing this. The first way is to count how many leads the ringer must ring to get to the first bit of work and then see what you are doing after the same number of leads. That will tell you what you need to call yourself to do. For example, if your learner is ringing the 2nd and is to be unaffected then the number of leads to be rung up to when the 2nd make long 5ths is 2. If you are ringing the 5th then after 2 leads you will be making 2nds and so will run out at the first bob. The touch from your point of view is now defined as O, 4, I, so this is what you call. This will work for whatever you want the other bell to do, whichever bell this is and whichever bell you are ringing.
The second way to do this is to think of the coursing order and count round the dodges to your bell from the bell you are watching. The plain course coursing order is 324. Suppose you are ringing the 2nd and you need to call the 3rd to be unaffected. Since your bell is the next bell in the coursing order after the 3rd, as the 3rd makes long fifths you will do the next dodge after long 5ths, 3-4up. Therefore you will make a bob at this point and your calling will be F, I, O. If you are ringing the 5th and calling the 2nd to do F, I, O then, since the 2nd will be coming to 3-4up at this point and your bell is two places further along the coursing order therefore that you will be doing the dodge two dodges further along in the method, 3-4down, you will run in at the first bob. Therefore you call yourself I, O, 4.
Q7. If I'm calling a quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles then usually towards the end I become more confused about where I am up to in the composition. Is there a way of using the coursing order to prevent my miscalling it?
A7. In any 120 of Plain Bob Minor there is one bell which will be unaffected at each call. There is a simple means of knowing what the next call is if you always know which bell is the unaffected one. To do this we must look at the transpositions for each calling place and compare them with the work of each bell at the call:
CALL TRANSPOSITION
WORK OF 5TH WORK OF 3RD WORK Of 2ND
WORK OF 4TH
H 324 => 243
Long 5ths Make 4ths Run
Out Run In
4 324 => 432
Make 4ths Run Out
Run In Long 5ths
O 324 => 342 Run
Out Run
In Long 5ths
Make 4ths
I 324 => 234 Run
In Long 5ths
Make 4ths Run Out
For the calling where the 5th (or your own bell) makes long 5ths we will assume that this one will not be a problem. The problem arises after calling several Ins, Outs and 4ths and you forget where you are up to. The first thing to notice from the table is that at each call some bell makes long 5ths. Next, notice that for the calls at O and I the bell making long 5ths is the bell that moves one position to the right in the coursing order where the transposition is done by swapping two bells. Also notice that for the bob at 4ths the bell making long 5ths is already at the right hand end and moves back to the "start" at the left hand end. In other words the bell that is unaffected during a particular extent is the one that will move one position to the right when the transposition is done.
For example: you are ringing the 5th and want to call the 3rd unaffected. At the start the coursing order is 324. Since we want to move the 3rd one position to the right by swapping it with one other bell we must make a call which will swap 3 and 2 to give 234. This call is a In (as can be seen from the transposition column of the table). Therefore the first call is an In. The next call is an Out, which again will move the 3rd one place to the right by swapping it with one other bell, to give 243. Now the 3rd is at the right hand end of the coursing order and so the next call is a 4ths.
As a second example we will consider the situation where you have called some extents and you know that you are calling the 2nd to be unaffected but can't remember what you have already called and what the next call must be. Suppose the coursing order is 234. If the 2nd is the unaffected bell for this extent then it is the 2nd that we must move one position to the right. Since, in this case, this would be achieved by swapping the first two bells, 2 and 3, the next call must be an In. This gives 324 and is therefore the final call of the extent.
To summarise, if you are calling some bell A to be unaffected then:
COURSING ORDER NEXT
CALL
Axy
In
xAy
Out
xyA
4ths
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