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

Teamwork

Sorry, bell hogs, but there really are times when you can't play it all. Yes, there really are! and that's why you have friends next to you to help. You and I both have to remember that musicality is more important than merely playing the part, and that the quality of the ensemble comes before proving that we can hog up that last bell.

Since I'm a bass ringer, I can admit that I have some experience with this problem. My impression is that every bass ringer, myself included, goes (or has gone) through a phase where the puercus carillonicus manifests itself; my impression is also that most of us get to a point where we mature in our understanding to the point where we rebalance our priorities.

So, I guess this page is an attempt to get you to think this through sooner rather than later. Teamwork is essential to the function and form of an ensemble!

Now, to do this when you're playing bells, it means that you have to look out for the total effect. You'll share bells when it works better than keeping them to yourself. You'll pass them when it works better than damping them yourself,. You'll let them go when it's time rather than holding them to the last microsecond so that your partner(s) can get to them.

I have a friend who says, "ink it, don't think it" (in the case of music, we customarily use pencil because things change from time to time, such as when we figure out a better way to solve a problem). So far, so good - but it's important to have some generally systematic method of marking your music so that other people can learn from what you did. And just as importantly, it's essential to be minimalist in your markings so that you don't have to decode long notations such as "give the G3 to Keith RIGHT NOW or he's going to grab my hand and hurt my fingers!'.

I have my own preferences, and I imagine that you'll have yours... so here are my markings, but with the understanding that you might find something else that works for you better:

Marking	Meaning	When you might use it
	Left-side player plays this bell	When the person on the left needs to cover the bell for you
	Right-side player plays this bell	When the person on the right needs to cover the bell for you
	Left-side player passes bell to right-side player	When you need some help with a sustained bell
	Right-side player passes bell to left-side player	When you need some help with a sustained bell
	Put the bell down (or table damp it)	When you need to get a bell out of your hand, but not to someone else
	Fight for this bell	Uh... maybe not.
	Smile!	All the time!

There sometimes are other rewards for sharing. One time I was playing C3-G3 in a concert at a festival, and Kim was on my right with AB3. Our last piece was in C major, which means AB3 doesn't usually do much on the ending. I was having a pretty good time, and the assignment was managable, but God had me notice Kim standing there with a "I wish I had something to play at the end" look on her face. So I gave her G3 for the whole piece, and after the concert got a bear hug and a lifelong friend!

AMEN to the teamwork page.  It can’t be stressed enough.  We bell hogs need to learn that we can be part of a team of bell hogs! Pennsy