Thomas A. Alspaugh
Ringing Plain Bob Minor by Following

Basics

For Minor, there are:

  1. Your bell
  2. Your course bell
  3. Your after bell
  4. The treble
  5. Two other bells

The coursing order is 2-4-6-5-3.

The five landmarks are:

  1. Dodge 3‑4 Down

    You dodge down (in) with another bell in 4-3.

    (This dodge is done with your course bell's course bell, here termed your course² bell.)

  2. Dodge 5‑6 Down

    You dodge down (in) with another bell in 6-5.

    (This dodge is done with your after bell.)

  3. Dodge 5‑6 Up

    You dodge up (out) with another bell in 5-6.

    (This dodge is done with your course bell.)

  4. Dodge 3‑4 Up

    You dodge up (out) with another bell in 3-4.

    (This dodge is done with your after bell's after bell, here termed your after² bell.)

  5. Make 2nds

    After ringing your two usual blows in leads, you ring two successive blows in 2nds, then back to leads for two more blows.

    You always Make 2nds over the treble in Plain Bob.

All the dodges are scissors dodges. Unlike for Plain Bob Doubles, in which both dodges are with the same bell, the four dodges for Plain Bob Minor are with four different bells, so you dodge with everyone except the treble.

The Sequence of Landmarks and Passing the Treble

Pass the treble
(going up) in:
Then do: Then pass the treble
(going down) in:
At the back = 5-6 Dodge 3‑4 Down 3-2
4-5 Dodge 5‑6 Down 4-3
3-2 Dodge 5‑6 Up 5-4
2-3 Dodge 3‑4 Up 6-5 = At the back
1-2 Make 2nds 2-1
Underscored places are those in which you ring over the treble.
Plain Bob Minor clock

The clock for Plain Bob Minor

The treble hunts straight out and straight in, with a period of 12 strokes; the treble makes 5 cycles between rounds. The other bells interrupt their hunting with dodges (in 3-4 and 5-6) and making 2nds, so it takes them longer: 14 strokes, plus an extra 4 strokes while Making 2nds, and they make only 4 cycles between rounds (plus Making 2nds). Consequently each other bell passes the treble ten times between rounds (4 hunting up and 4 hunting down, plus 1 each way for Making 2nds).

Whenever any bell is in a landmark, all the other bells (except the treble) are also in their own landmarks:

  1. Whenever a bell is Dodging 3‑4 Down, it is dodging with its after² bell which is Dodging 3‑4 Up.
  2. Its after bell is Dodging 5‑6 Down with its course² bell which is Dodging 5‑6 Up.
  3. Its course bell is Making 2nds.

Useful Facts

  1. You Make 2nds over the treble.
  2. You always turn your course bell
    (= ring in 2nds over your course bell as you hunt down to lead)
    except before you Make 2nds.
  3. Your after bell always turns you
    (= ring in 2nds over your after bell to start hunting up from lead)
    except after you Make 2nds.
  4. You are always over your course bell, after bell, or the treble at the back.
  5. You always pass the other working bells in the coursing order (2-4-6-5-3) when hunting out and when hunting in, with the treble inserted at a point that depends on where you are among the landmarks.
    Your
    bell
    passes
    (out or in)
    2 4-6-5-3
    3 2-4-6-5
    4 6-5-3-2
    5 3-2-4-6
    6 5-3-2-4

Example: the 2

(The coursing order is 2-4-6-5-3)

Your bell is the 2
Your course bell is the 3
Your after bell is the 4

The 2's first landmark is Dodge 3‑4 Down.

The 2 passes the
treble in 2-1 (down).
123456
1214365
2241635
3426153
4462513
5645231
The 2 passes the
treble in 5-6 (up).
6654321
7563412
8536142
9351624
Dodge 3‑4 Down
The 2 dodges down with the 5,
which takes place over four
strokes.
10315264
11132546
12135264
12135264

The 2 passes the treble in 3-2 (down).
13312546
14321456
15234165
16243615
17426351
18462531
The 2 passes the
treble in 4-5 (up).
19645213
20654123
21561432
Dodge 5‑6 Down
The 2 dodges down with the 4,
which takes place over four
strokes.
22516342
23153624
24156342
24156342
25513624
The 2 passes the
treble in 4-3 (down).
26531264
27352146
28325416
29234561
30243651
31426315
The 2 passes the
treble in 3-4 (up).
32462135
33641253
Dodge 5‑6 Up
The 2 dodges up with the 3,
which takes place over four
strokes.
34614523
35165432
36164523
36164523
37615432
38651342
The 2 passes the
treble in 5-4 (down).
39563124
40536214
41352641
42325461
43234516
44243156
The 2 passes the treble in 2-3 (up).
 
45421365
Dodge 3‑4 Up
The 2 dodges up with the 6,
which takes place over four
strokes.
46412635
47146253
48142635
48142635
49416253
50461523
51645132
The 2 passes the
treble in 6-5 (down).
52654312
53563421
54536241
55352614
56325164
57231546
The 2 passes the treble in 1-2 (up).
 
58213456
Make 2nds
The 2 strikes its two blows in 2nds.
59124365
60123456

Example: the 3

(The coursing order is 2-4-6-5-3)

Your bell is the 3
Your course bell is the 5
Your after bell is the 2

The 3's first landmark is Make 2nds.

123456
1214365
2241635
3426153
The 3 passes the
treble in 6-5 (down).
4462513
5645231
6654321
7563412
8536142
9351624
The 3 passes the treble in 1-2 (up).
 
10315264
Make 2nds
The 3 strikes its two blows in 2nds.
11132546

The 3 passes the treble in 2-1 (down).
12135264
12135264
13312546
14321456
15234165
16243615
17426351
The 3 passes the
treble in 5-6 (up).
18462531
19645213
20654123
21561432
Dodge 3‑4 Down
The 3 dodges down with the 5,
which takes place over four
strokes.
22516342
23153624
24156342
24156342

The 3 passes the treble in 3-2 (down).
25513624
26531264
27352146
28325416
29234561
30243651
The 3 passes the
treble in 4-5 (up).
31426315
32462135
33641253
Dodge 5‑6 Down
The 3 dodges down with the 4,
which takes place over four
strokes.
34614523
35165432
36164523
36164523
37615432
The 3 passes the
treble in 4-3 (down).
38651342
39563124
40536214
41352641
42325461
43234516
The 3 passes the
treble in 3-4 (up).
44243156
45421365
Dodge 5‑6 Up
The 3 dodges up with the 3,
which takes place over four
strokes.
46412635
47146253
48142635
48142635
49416253
50461523
The 3 passes the
treble in 5-4 (down).
51645132
52654312
53563421
54536241
55352614
56325164
The 3 passes the treble in 2-3 (up).
 
57231546
Dodge 3‑4 Up
The 3 dodges up with the 6,
which takes place over four
strokes.
58213456
59124365
60123456
Plain Bob Minor 1 and 2

Blue line for
Plain Bob Minor

Plain Bob Minor all bells

All bells for
Plain Bob Minor
All working bells
(2-6) perform
their landmarks
at the same time

Blue's course: Green
Blue's after: Orange

flip bgunflip 

123456
1214365
2241635
3426153
4462513
5645231
6654321
7563412
8536142
9351624
10315264
11132546
12135264
12135264
13312546
14321456
15234165
16243615
17426351
18462531
19645213
20654123
21561432
22516342
23153624
24156342
24156342
25513624
26531264
27352146
28325416
29234561
30243651
31426315
32462135
33641253
34614523
35165432
36164523
36164523
37615432
38651342
39563124
40536214
41352641
42325461
43234516
44243156
45421365
46412635
47146253
48142635
48142635
49416253
50461523
51645132
52654312
53563421
54536241
55352614
56325164
57231546
58213456
59124365
60123456