Living Water - Dissertations - Bass Ringer's Notebook - Footwork

Footwork

For most ringers, footwork is a minor consideration. That's because they're hold all the bells they're going to play, or have the others right in front of them. The landscape changes, however, when you're a bass ringer because four or five (or more) large bells begin to exceed the limits of your reach. So you need to use your legs too. Some reasons for having good footwork are:

• To move to the next bell. It's a simple concept... if you don't get to where the bell is, you can't play it.
• To facilitate correct lifting of bells. It's best to lift a heavy bell if it's right in front of your shoulder, or at least not too far to the side. If you're not lined up properly, you risk a bad lift or, worse yet, injury.
• To facilitate correct playing of bells. If you manage a lift in spite of being out of line with the bell but are still in a bad position, trying to ring the bell will probably result in a lack of control, and at worst could lead to damaging the bell or hurting you!
• To facilitate correct replacement of bells on the table. If, after all of this, you ring the bell and are still off balance, you still might be in a sufficiently bad position so as not to be able to replace the bell conveniently.
• To provide counterweight for playing large bells and chimes. Unless you're a really huge person, bass ringing is best done if you can use your body to balance the load. Being able to throw an arm out to the side (without hitting your neighbor!) works best if, because of good footwork, you're already in a stable position.
• To protect equipment from damage. If you get hurt, you'll probably heal - but if, through poor footwork, you go off balance and end up damaging a bell irreparably, then that's another story.

I've watched Christine Anderson's footwork, and it's absolutely wonderful, If you've seen a good solo ringer at work, you've probably seen the same thing. This is analogous to the bass ringer's situation because there are times we end up with enough bells to make our part, effectively, a low-pitched solo.

The principles of good footwork are based on good dance form, I think (I'm not a dancer). If you prefer a different comparison, they're similar to the essentials of good form in the martial arts. The keys overall are to know where you are, and to be under control whether you're currently balanced or off balance (being "under control when off balance" means that the degree and direction of imbalance is purposeful, and is there for a purpose).

• Keep your feet perpendicular to the table edge as much as possible. This, of course, is within the restrictions of your own physiology, and so "perpendicular" may not happen. The martial arts analog to this is the "horse stance", where the knees are outward a bit with feet directly below the upper legs and parallel to each other. It's a very stable stance if done correctly.
• Keep your shoulders parallel to the table edge as much as possible. Doing this works with foot perpendicularity by keeping your feet the same distance behind the table and makes it equally easy for either hand to reach the bells.
• Keep your knees lightly bent. If you don't bend your knees, you aren't going to be moving much to either side - your legs will form a triangle with the floor and you're probably staying put. By the way, if your knees are bent a bit, you can also use your legs to contribute some power when you lift bells.
• Keep your weight on your toes. Flat feet don't move well (try running that way...). Having your weight on your toes brings you closer to being a dancer!
• Lead with the knee. If you try leading with your foot, two things probably will happen: 1) your leg will straighten out, and 2) your body will go the other way, i.e. away from the bell you're trying to reach, by way of counterbalancing (that's Newton's Third Law in action). If you lead with your knee, you'll stay on your toes, you'll tend to lean in the direction your knee's pointing, and if that's toward the next bell you play, you'll already be heading that way when you put your foot out onto the floor.
• Take steps roughly parallel to the table edge. It actually is not possible to step absolutely parallel to the table edge because your feet will crash into each other, but you can sidestep and cross-step in an approximation thereof. Just a thought: it's a lot better to take smaller steps than bigger ones - that's because you'll have more contact with the floor, which means more opportunities to stay in balance and, if necessary, to make minor directional corrections.
• Think about using a leg as a counterweight. I occasionally move a foot forward to balance when ringing a bell, and backward when I'm lifting or replacing a bell farther away from the table edge (see Layout Techniques if you want to know why you'd do this). Of course, you can't use both feet as counterweights at the same time...
• Anticipate where you're going. Bottom line: know your music. If you do, then you'll have a pretty good idea of which foot goes where, and when. When I have huge bass part on a piece, I find that after a couple of rehearsals my footwork in each passage is identical from repetition to repetition.

Comments from Friends: Now that I've reviewed some of the hints in the website, I realize why I prefer the big ones! My back doesn't appreciate standing still, and moving (dancing?) along the table helps to ease the stress a lot!! Anne