This page uses a Javascript program to help you prepare to ring Call Changes. Please enable Javascript in order to use it.

(You do not need Java enabled to use this page. To protect your computer and personal information, you should keep Java disabled in your browser.)

This page has been tested on recent versions of Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

How to Avoid Reading the Rest of This Help

1. Look for the highlighted areas. The call is on the left.
2. Type in your guess for You move (or any other you see).

   For You move, type - for in one place, = for same place, or + for out one place.

   You can use your Tab and Shift+Tab keys to move back and forth among them.
   (Safari users: Option+Tab and Shift+Option+Tab unless you did this.)

3. Click the button. The highlights go away and you'll see or guesses. You can type and as many times as you like.
4. Click the button to try again with another call.

   The correct answers will appear for the previous call. If you guessed an answer correctly, it will be shown like this; if incorrectly, like this; and if you did not enter a guess, the answer will be shown like this. In all cases, the answers will be the correct ones.

5. Once you've mastered which way you move for each call, click the button and work on Your Place, One ahead, and Two Ahead.

Help for this Call Changes Program

This page helps you prepare to ring Call Changes. Some ringers can keep the entire sequence of bells in their head during Call Changes, but for most novices this is too much to manage. To ring Call Changes, it is often said you need to keep track of:

1. which bell you are ringing, of course;
2. your place,
3. the bell one place ahead (your one-ahead), and
4. the bell two places ahead (your two-ahead).

Most of the time, your one-ahead will be the bell you are following; but if you are in leads, it will be the bell you are leading off of. And most of the time, your two-ahead will be the bell your one-ahead is following; but if you are in 2nds, your one-ahead will be leading off your two-ahead.

With that information, you can always figure out what you need to know right now for each call, namely:

1. Will you move in, move out, or stay in the same place?
2. Who will you follow (or lead off of)?

This page can help you practice the mental part so that when you are actually ringing you'll know what to do without having to think about it.

What Are Call Changes?

Call Changes are a way for a band that includes inexperienced ringers to ring something other than rounds, and a way for any band to ring irregular sequences of rows.

The conductor calls out changes one by one and the band acts on them. Each call causes two bells to swap places at the next handstroke. The calls are of the form A to B, where A and B are bells; for example, 4 to 2. The result of the call is that A will follow B starting at the next handstroke.

The conductor calls out each change at a handstroke, and the change is acted upon at the next handstroke, so that everyone has time to get set and make it happen.

There are two conventions for Call Changes. In both conventions, the call A to B means A will follow B.

1. In calling up, the bells that swap are A and B, the bells named in the call. Before the call, they were in the sequence A-B. After the call, they will be in the sequence B-A.
2. In calling down, the bells that swap are A and a third bell C not named in the call. Before the call, they were in the sequence B-C-A. After the call, they will be in the sequence B-A-C. B doesn't move.

   Some down calls are of the form A to lead, in which case C is leading, A is in 2nds, and A swaps with C.

For more information, see:

• Call Changes
• Calling Up
• Calling Down

Calling Up or Down

By default this page calls up. To practice down-calls, click the Down radio button. Clicking the button toggles between up and down calls.

Practicing Call Changes

The areas to focus on in practicing call changes are highlighted like this when the page first loads. The highlighting goes away the first time you click or .

The call is listed at the left. What effect is that call going to have?

Simplest View

• Which way will you move — in, stay in the same place, or out? Type your guess into the in the You move column.

  In	- or -1
  Same place	= or 0
  Out	+ or +1 or 1

Basic View

• What bell is going to be two ahead of you? Type the number into the in the Two ahead column.

  If you prefer, you may type the full name of the bell, for example the treble or the 2.

• What bell is going to be one ahead of you? Type the number into the in the One ahead column.

  If you prefer, you may type the full name of the bell, for example the treble or the 2.

• What will your place be? Type the number into the in the Your place column.

  If you prefer, you may type the full name of the place, for example leads or 2nds.

Row View

• What is the row of bells after this call? Type the row into the in the The row column.

  The checkbox shows or hides the rows you have already practiced with. I recommend you keep them hidden, as otherwise your practice will be too easy to be helpful for you, but if you need to look back at an earlier row you can check this box to see and then uncheck it to continue practicing.

Call View

• In this view, instead of being presented with a call chosen for you, you choose the call. Type the call into the in the call column.

  You may type the full call, like 2 to 3 or 4 to lead, or an abbreviated version like 2-3, 2 3, or 4-L.

  (If you change the direction of calls, the column heading will change to call.)

• What is the row of bells after this call? Type the row into the in the The row column.

Up/Down View

• What is the equivalent call in the other direction? Type the call into the in the second column.

  You can type the call in exactly (like 4 to 2), or just the two bell numbers separated with space, a dash, or nothing (like 4 2, 4-2, or 3-L).

• What is the row of bells after this call? Type the row into the in the The row column.

Check Your Answer

Press to check your answers. The background color will change to show whether they are or , or whether .

Get Another Call

Press to check your answers and move on to the next call. The background colors for your answers are retained as the correct results are redisplayed, to help you keep track of what you knew and what you were puzzled by.

What You See

Simplest, Basic, Row, Up/Down, or Everything View

Buttons along the top control which view you are looking at:

	gives you (not surprisingly) the simplest view, in which you can practice which way you move (in, out, or no change) for each call.
	gives you what is probably the most useful view for most learners, in which you can practice your place, who's one ahead, and who's two ahead.
	gives you a view for practicing keeping track of the sequence of bells.
	gives you a view for practicing making calls.
	gives you a view for practicing translating between up and down calls.
	shows you everything. You can then pick and choose using the Control what you see checkboxes.

The Practice Session box

The Practice session box is always visible. It shows the calls, whichever columns you decide to show, and and .

The Control what you see box controls which columns are visible.

Due to a bug in Webkit, Safari and Chrome currently do not display the upper-right border of the Practice session box.

The Explanation

The Explanation box gives an explanation of the current call. It is visible unless you are in the Simplest View.

The explanations are in terms of the five cases for up-calls and the nine cases for down-calls.

The Diagram

The Diagram box gives a graphical representation the calls and the resulting swaps. It is visible whenever Show diagram is checked.

Control What You See

The Control what you see box is visible when you are in the Show Everything View. It has a separate checkbox for each item that can be shown or hidden:

In the Practice session box:

• The dual call, the call in the other direction whose effect is the same as the call. The label for this checkbox (and the column) changes when you change the direction of the calls; if the session is calling up, then the dual call column and checkbox are labelled Down call, and vice versa.
• The row of bells.
• Your Two ahead bell.
• Your One ahead bell.
• Your place.
• Your move (-1, 0, +1) between your place in this row and the next (in=-1, out=+1).

Other boxes:

• The Diagram.
• The Explanation.

1 or treble:

There is also the Call the 1 treble: checkbox that controls how the treble is named. For compactness, it is called the 1 by default, but you can check the box to have it called the treble.

Quick See Buttons

There are hundreds of combinations of the Control what you see checkboxes. The Quick see buttons gives shortcuts for the most useful combinations:

• shows you the least-scary minimum: the You move input box where you can type in -1 for move in, 0 for stay in the same place, or +1 for move out. This is also what shows.

  It's a gentle introduction. A ringer can always know which way to move from just hearing an up-call, and often from just hearing a down-call:

  The call	You to n	N to you	Any other call
  If it's an up-call	+1	-1	0
  If it's a down-call	-1	0	0 or +1

• shows you instead the slightly more challenging Your place input box where you can type in your place.
• shows the One ahead and Your place input boxes. This is a good combination since to know what your place will be after some calls, you have to know which bell is one ahead before the call.
• shows in addition the Two ahead input box. This is a good combination since to know what one-ahead will be after some calls, you have to know which bell is two ahead before the call. This is also what shows.

  This is the most useful combination for practice sessions, so it's marked with a ☼.

• shows everything: all the columns of the Practice session box, the diagram of the bells' motion, and the explanation of the current call. This is also what shows.

The Swap Control

The Swap control box is visible when you are in the Show Everything View and Show swap control is checked. In contrast to the and buttons that give you a randomly selected call, the Swap places and Start over with buttons in this box allow you to force a call between the bells in specific places.

Swap places

Each button in the Swap places row is between two place numbers, and pressing the button makes a call that swaps the bells in those two places.

Start over with

Each button in the button in the Start over with row is between two place numbers, and pressing the button starts a new sequence of calls with a call that swaps the bells in those two places.

The Internal Status

The Internal Status box is always visible. If the program detects an internal error, the ◉ changes color and one or more error messages appear.

What You Hear

You can hear the current row, if your browser is up-to-date enough; press .

The program will play each row as it is presented if Sound each row: is checked.

The bell sounds are in the scale of the Miami tower (F major), for whose ringers this page was made.

Setting Up the Call Changes

By default the changes are called up, for five bells, with you on the 3. The Set up the call changes box lets you change any or all. Any change in this box clears the calls and starts a new sequence.

Up or Down

Two radio buttons Up and Down control the direction of calls.

How Many Bells

A row of radio buttons 4 5 6 controls the number of bells.

The maximum number of bells is 6. More bells just give you more calls that leave you unaffected; 5 bells is enough for all cases of down-calls, and 4 bells for all cases of up-calls.

The minimum is 4 because call changes on 3 or fewer bells is neither usual nor interesting.

Your Bell

A row of radio buttons 1 2 3 4 5 6 controls which bell is yours. The buttons beyond the number of bells are disabled.

Browser-Specific Notes

Safari

Tabbing

Safari demands Option+Tab and Shift+Option+Tab to tab among input fields and buttons, unless you have checked
Safari | Preferences… | Advanced |
Press Tab to highlight each element on a web page.

Internet Explorer

There are many reasons why you should not be using Internet Explorer under any circumstances; one compelling reason, if you want to look at these web pages, is that you will be unable to see any of the images, since IE does not support SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) images. Please install one of the excellent free standards-compliant open-source browsers such as Firefox.