How to Avoid Reading the Rest of This Help

1. 

   Singles	3
   Minimus	4
   Doubles	5
   Minor	6
   Triples	7
   Major	8

   Click the button for the method you want. For example, for Plain Bob Doubles, look for the row of Plain Bob buttons and click .
2. Click the checkbox for the covers you want to work with: 0 for none, 1 for a tenor behind, 2 for two covers.
3. Click the checkbox for the bell you want to ring.
4. Admire the informative table for the method and bell you have chosen. It will all come in handy at some point.
5. Look at the schematic image of the ringing chamber. (If you see a photograph instead, click on it to see the schematic image.)
   1. The image shows each ringer (represented by bell number) as seen from the bell you have chosen. If you choose a different bell, the image shifts to it.
   2. Your bellrope is in the center (sally for handstroke, tail for backstroke).
   3. Your place is shown at the lower center (leads, 2nds, etc.).
   4. A useful landmark for where you are in the method or principle may appear from time to time at the bottom of the image.
   5. The bell you are following is highlighted in a column of light, or if you are in leads the bell you are leading off is highlighted in a lavender column.
   6. 

      
      If there is a tenor or covers, their numbers are white. Bells that aren't active are grayed out (grayed out).
6. Click the button each time you are ready to move on to the next stroke.
7. The method chart and diagram automatically extends as you move on.

This page helps you prepare to ring Plain Hunt and simple methods. Some ringers can listen and ring by counting their place, but most ringers need to look at the bell they are following (and their looking often helps other ringers the band). In order for looking to be helpful (to yourself and others), you have to know where to look.

It's easy to look at the bell you are following when ringing rounds—it's always the same bell and it's right next to you. But for Plain Hunt and methods it's more complicated, though not a lot more complicated. This page will help you practice.

What the Dynamic Image Shows

The schematic image shows an abstract representation of the bell ropes you see as you ring. (If you see a photograph of a ringing chamber instead, like the one at right, click on it to see the abstract representation, and consider using a modern standards-compliant browser such as Firefox.)

Each ringer and his/her rope is represented, quite abstractly, by that bell number. Initially, since you start out on the █, the image shows the █ to your left, with the █, █, etc. on around to the █ at your right, just as the bellropes would be in the circle relative to you.

one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight

• The base under each bell number is the same color as that bell's line in the diagram.
• The █ is highlighted as though by a spotlight because that's the bell you are initially following in rounds. As you click the button and make your way through the method or principle, the spotlight will move to always be on the bell you are following.
• If you are leading, the spotlight will be on the bell you are leading off and will be this color to show the difference.
• Your course bell has the word "course" under it.

  Your after bell has the word "after" under it.

  You'll learn to figure out which are your course and after bells and what that knowledge can do for you.

  (Uncommonly, the same bell can be both your course and your after bell, as for Plain Bob Singles (3), in which case it has the word "" under it.)

• The tenor behind or covers (if any) are shown in a different color.
• The inactive bells (if any) are grayed out.

The Coursing Order

The coursing order is the order in which the working bells do things, more or less:

• The order in which the bells come to the front.
• The order in which the bells come to the back.
• The order in which each bell passes the other working bells on the way in, and on the way out.
• The order in which they do each piece of work for a method, for example Make 2nds in Plain Bob.
• And other useful things that depend on the particular method.

The coursing order for the method or principle you have chosen is shown in the informative table as a circular diagram. Most experienced ringers seem to find the coursing order very helpful.

For a principle, in which all the moving bells follow the same pattern, the coursing order comprises all of them, including the treble. Plain Hunt is an example of a principle. For a method, in which the treble rings one pattern (often Plain Hunt) and the other moving bells (also known as the working bells) ring another pattern, the coursing order includes only the working bells, and not the treble.

For many (but not all) methods, the coursing order is 2-4-…-5-3 (evens course up, odds course down). For the principle Plain Hunt the 1 is included: 2-4-…-5-3-1.

(Although it makes no difference to you when you are starting out, it should be noted for the future that the coursing order lists places, not bells. The distinction becomes important when you start working with calls.)

Your Course Bell and Your After Bell

Within the coursing order, the two most important bells for you are your course bell and your after bell.

course bell

Your course bell does everything you do, immediately before you do it.
It is the bell before yours in the coursing order.

after bell

Your after bell does everything you do, immediately after you do it.
It is the bell after yours in the coursing order.

In this context everything means everything in the list of things that happen in the coursing order.

Since the coursing order for a method does not include the treble, the treble has no course or after bell in such cases.

Your bell, your course bell, and your after bell are listed in the informative table, or you can figure them out from the circular coursing diagram or from the coursing order you memorized. The course and after bells's colors in the diagram is shown as the color of the ◉ to its right in the pane; the colors are chosen with a alliterative/assonant mnemonic between bell numbers and color names where possible (see table). Your course bell number and after bell number are shown over a background of the color of that bell's base in the schematic image of the circle of bells.

As a consequence of the coursing order, you interact with your course and after bells and the other working bells in ways that are useful to know:

• You take your course bell off leads (except when Making 2nds or in a few other situations specific to the method).
• Your after bell takes you off leads (except when Making 2nds or in a few other situations specific to the method).
• You take your course bell off the back (except in certain situations specific to the method).
• Your after bell takes you off the back (except in certain situations specific to the method).
• On your way out to the back, the coursing order gives the sequence in which you ring over the other working bells.
• On your way in to the front, the coursing order gives the sequence in which you ring over the other working bells.
• For methods as opposed to Plain Hunt, the treble is not a working bell; where you pass it on your way in and out corresponds to where you are in the method, and you can use this either to confirm that you are doing the right part of the method or to figure out what you should be doing in case you get lost.

But of course to benefit from this, you have to know your course and after bell, and you have to be looking.

Working Your Way Through the Changes

Initially the page shows the bells in rounds. To step through the changes, click the button repeatedly. Each time you click it:

1. The new row will appear at the bottom of the list of rows.
2. Your place in the new row will be shown.
3. The bell you follow in the new row will be highlighted in the schematic image.
4. The diagram will be updated to show how the bells moved to get to the new row.

You can continue clicking the button as many times as you wish.

Make a mental guess at which bell you will follow (or lead off) next, then click the button to see.

You can also watch as you click the button to see what patterns are occurring, or to confirm the patterns you have learned or are guessing. For example, one well-known pattern that works for Plain Hunt and many methods is that you follow all the smaller bells to your right around the circle (not counting the treble) before you follow any larger bell to your left, and vice versa. Try to see if you can see this pattern.

Another well-known pattern, for Plain Hunt only, is that the bell you follow jumps two places over at each stroke, changing directions when it reaches the tenor or the treble. When the bell you follow would be you, that is a sign that you are either leading or at the back.

You'll see a transparent image of either your sally (during each handstroke) or your rope (during each backstroke). At the bottom of the image, the name of the work your bell is doing or the landmark it is passing will appear from time to time.

When you change the Your bell field, the image is rearranged to show your new view.

The Diagram

The diagram shows the path by which each bell has moved from place to place. Each bell's path is shown in a different color. Click the button to roll the diagram forward in the changes.

The diagram scrolls automatically, keeping the most recent row visible at the bottom of its viewport.

Playing Rows, Leads, and Segments:

The button plays the current row, in the pitches of the bells of the Miami tower.

To hear every row as it is displayed, check the checkbox beside it.

Starting Over with a Different Method and Different Bell

Initially the page is set to show █, with you on the █. You can change these if you wish.

To change your bell, click one of the bell number buttons. When you change your bell, you also change the perspective shown in the schematic image and which bells (if any) are your course and after bells.

To choose a different method, either click on one of the method buttons, or (if you are knowledgeable) enter the method name and place notation, along with the place notation for bobs and singles if any (check the appropriate checkboxes before entering place notation for bobs or singles).

See below for help with place notation.

Row, Place, Direction, and Oomph

You are probably familiar with the rows (the sequences in which the bells strike) and your place (where your bell strikes in each row). When ringing a method, you also need to be aware (consciously to begin with, then implicitly once it becomes a habit) of the direction in which you are moving (hunting out, staying in your place, or hunting in) and whether you are changing your direction.

This page partitions your choices into nine cases. Each case is represented symbolically by +s, -s, and =.

=	Rounds speed	You are ringing at rounds speed. Your backstrokes strike N beats after your handstrokes (for N bells), and your handstrokes strike N+1 beats after your backstrokes. The extra beat is for the handstroke pause. In the remainder of the table, we will write M [N] beats to indicate M beats later for a backstroke and N beats later for a handstroke.
++	Preparing to hunt out	You are ringing at rounds speed, but will change to hunting-out speed for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at rounds speed, placing your stroke after N [N+1] beats. But you will pull with more oomph to make the bell rise higher for the next stroke, so it will strike at hunting-out speed N+1 [N+2] beats later.
−−	Preparing to hunt in	You are ringing at rounds speed, but will change to hunting-in speed for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at rounds speed, after N [N+1] beats. But you will pull with less oomph to make the bell rise lower for the next stroke, so it will strike at hunting-in speed N−1 [N] beats later.
+	Hunting out	You are ringing at hunting-out speed. You pull steadily at hunting-out speed, to strike the next blow after N+1 [N+2] beats.
−−	Hunting out and preparing to change to rounds speed	You are ringing at hunting-out speed, but will change to rounds speed for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at hunting-out speed, after N [N+1] beats. But you will pull with less oomph to make the bell rise lower for the next stroke, so it will strike at rounds speed N−1 [N] beats later.
−−−	Hunting out and preparing to dodge back in	You are ringing at hunting-out speed, but will dodge back (at hunting-in speed) for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at hunting-out speed, after N [N+1] beats. But you will pull with even less oomph to make the bell rise lower for the next stroke, so it will strike at hunting-in speed N−2 [N−1] beats later.
−	Hunting in	You are ringing at hunting-in speed. You pull steadily at hunting-in speed, striking after N [N−1] beats.
++	Hunting in but preparing to change to rounds speed	You are ringing at hunting-in speed, but will change to rounds speed for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at hunting-in speed, after N [N+1] beats. But you will pull with more oomph to make the bell rise higher for the next stroke, so it will strike at rounds speed N−1 [N] beats later.
+++	Hunting in and preparing to dodge back out	You are ringing at hunting-in speed, but will dodge back (at hunting-out speed) for the next stroke. You will time your pull to strike at hunting-in speed, after N−1 [N] beats. But you will pull with even more oomph to make the bell rise lower for the next stroke, so it will strike at hunting-in speed N−2 [N−1] beats later.

The amount of oomph in each case, from least to most, is approximately as shown in the table below. Keep in mind that in all cases you will need to pull a backstroke with a little more oomph, and a handstroke with a little less oomph.

		Dodging, out to in
		Hunting out to rounds, or rounds to hunting in
		Hunting in
		Rounds
		Hunting out
		Hunting in to rounds, or rounds to hunting out
		Dodging, in to out

Your Work

This is a key concept, especially once you start ringing Bobs and Singles. It is not needed for Plain Hunt.

Many experienced ringers seem to organize their thoughts about what work they need to do in the next lead in terms of which bell did that work when Go method-name was called. For example in Plain Bob Minimus, the 2 initially leads, hunts out, and Dodges 3‑4 Down; that is the 2's work. The 3 hunts out then in, then Makes 2nds; that is the 3's work. Finally, the 4 hunts in then out, then Dodges 3‑4 Up; that is the 4's work. A useful way to think about the sequence of work each bell does is in terms of these units, which (conveniently) occur in the coursing order. Thus the 2 does

1. the 2's work,
2. the 4's work, and
3. the 3's work

over and over until That's all or Bob is called.

It is also the case that each bell does the work of the place it is in at the lead end backstroke. Thus strictly speaking the work should be called the 2nds work rather than the 2's work. If your bell is in 2nds at the lead end backstroke, then you are about to do the 2nds work. Click Plain Bob , set Your bell to 2, and repeatedy press to see this unfold.

Bobs and Singles

Some methods support calls, with which the conductor can rearrange the bells within the pattern of the method. Typical calls are a bob or a single.

Bob

• The bell in 4ths at the handstroke lead makes the bob by ringing a second blow in 4ths;
• the bells in 2nds and 3rds at the handstroke lead exchange places; and
• the remaining bells do what they would have ordinarily done;

Single

• The bells in 3rds and 4ths at the handstroke lead make 3rds and 4ths respectively, striking a second blow in the same place; and
• all other bells do what they would have ordinarily done.

This page implements bobs and singles for methods that have them. During the stroke at which a call can be made, the and buttons are enabled (if the method supports them), and you can click on one of them to call a bob or single respectively.

Most (but not all) calls change the coursing order. Examples:

• A Bob in Plain Bob Minimus does not change the coursing order.
• A Bob in Plain Bob Doubles changes the coursing order.

Place Notation

This page uses a restricted subset of standard page notation, explained at length on the Chart/Diagram Generator page. Bobs and singles use a related mask notation.