No… not the purple dinosaur! It’s been more than a month since the last post, so bringing out a new piece of music is way-y-y overdue. The new eight-bell piece is the Irish jig Barney Brannigan. It’s a lively, bouncy slip jig that’ll have you dancing even as you’re ringing it!
Tag: 8-bell
Starting in 2012, we (Larry and Carla Sue) developed a large repertoire of music for eight handbells which we perform as four-in-hand duets. These pieces ranged from fairly simple to maniacally difficult, and eventually led to the creation of their “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell arrangements so that there would be more options for the ringing world at large.
As eight-bell repertoire works well with a two-in-hand quartet (two bells each) or a four-in-hand duo, or with a trio where the bells are divided 4-2-2 or 3-3-2. We've even seen one instance of playing eight-bell music with eight ringers with one bell apiece, a la Sacred Harp.
Jul 03
Children of the Heavenly Father
We have a new eight-bell arrangement, Children of the Heavenly Father. As far as our eight-handbell pieces go, this one is on the easier side – but it’s still fun to play and hear. We hope you’ll give it a try!
May 15
Take the Name of Jesus with You – the Standard Eight-Bell Version!
Sometimes we release the “Surprisingly Easy”™ version of an eight-bell score really quickly, and then it takes a bit longer to arrange or learn the “standard” (whatever that actually means) arrangement. Sometimes it happens in the other order, too – it often just depends on which one came together properly first. Take the Name of …
Apr 26
Finlandia
There seems to be no end to the repertoire that can be put into eight handbells. That’s good – we wouldn’t want to run out of possibilities! This time, we have a classical piece to share. Jean Sibelius wrote his Finlandia as a protest against the Russian Empire that wanted to take over Finland in …
Apr 08
Flow Gently, Sweet Afton
Larry and Carla are part of Inspiration International, a UK handbell ensemble whose purpose is to take handbell music into the lives of people who sometimes feel forgotten by society. Since two of the members are in the USA, it’s a challenge for the three to get together to play. So when Larry and Carla …
Apr 03
Two Titles for One Score!
As you know, many (hymn) tunes are used for more than one set of lyrics. HYFRYDOL, for instance, shows up many times, and often several times in the same hymnal! We have a new eight-handbell score based on the hymn tune DIX, which doubles as the music for For the Beauty of the Earth and …
Mar 26
Sweet Hour of Prayer
Here’s a new eight-handbell arrangement of the famous hymn Sweet Hour of Prayer. The hymn tune was composed by William Bradbury (who gave us many other wonderful tunes as well – can you name one or two?). This arrangement can easily be transposed to work with choir as a thoughtful, meditative piece for your service.
Mar 14
Faith of Our Fathers – New Eight-Bell Music!
As spring rapidly approaches, we’re back to recording more eight-bell music. Our latest release is Faith of Our Fathers, one of the famous hymns of the nineteenth century. This arrangement is easy enough that you should be able to prepare it for Father’s Day!
Jan 25
Sing Praise to God (Who Reigns Above)
Sometimes we end up writing a “standard” and a “surprisingly easy”™ version of a particular piece. The reason for this, of course, is that sometimes the standard versions can be quite challenging. So we don’t want to prevent anyone from being able to enjoy playing a tune because they’re still on the learning curve. In …
Jan 20
One Day!
Well, that’s not a really-I’ll-eventually-get-to-it promise… it’s the title of our just-released eight-handbell hymn arrangement. One Day is one of the hymns that tells of what Jesus Christ did with no uncertainty – He’s our Example, and Redeemer, and Hope. Our arrangement shares the excitement of knowing that! We hope you’ll take a look, and …