Connecting with Your Bell: How to Unlock Your Ringing Potential

Struggling to strike in the right place? Anxious about unpredictable sallies? Getting no satisfaction from your ringing? You’ve come to the right podcast!

Ace ringing teachers, Ruth Suggett, Judith Frye and Greg Russell, talk host Cathy Booth through the most common bell handling problems and, more importantly, how to solve them. From slow hand transfers, inadequate follow through and not catching the sally at the right time, it’s all here.

Don’t worry though, with the help of a good teacher, early diagnosis and willingness to master the necessary skills, all can be put right. Above all else, aim to be one with your bell - it is not the enemy, but ego is!


Top 5 Takeaways

• Don’t believe you have a handling issue? Ask someone to take a video of you ringing on your own phone and then watch it back at a slower speed – very often with bell handling issues, seeing is believing!
• Watch other ringers and consider their individual ringing styles, you can learn a lot through observation
• If you can get it up the tower, have a full-length mirror available, so ringers can watch their style and get instant feedback 
• Once learning a new bell handling element, go back and practice earlier skills so that you can successfully put everything together and develop an elegant and effective ringing style
• Check out the videos on the ART YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@ringingteachers

Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART).  To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org

Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth

Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).

For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org