We’ve been excited that our handbell musician friends have liked our “Surprisingly Easy”™ music, especially the collections. We’ve heard lots of stories of how our arrangements have found a home with duets, trios, and quartets. We’ve also seen some really nice videos too! The news this week is that we’ve added a second “Surprisingly Easy”™ …
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.
Jun 20
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Difficult times provide opportunities for all-too-rare people to show incredible character. I’ve been following the news a bit in the wake of the church shootings in Charleston – a horrific crime and tremendous injustice – and have been amazed at how the folks at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church are willing to offer forgiveness …
Jun 14
New Music – Greensleeves!
Today we’re releasing our eight-bell arrangement of the English tune “Greensleeves” (aka “What Child is This?” for the Christmas-minded)! The video we’ve posted, of course, is a complete play-through of the piece, and has a squirrel as a bonus (just after the one-minute mark, if you’re watching for it). We really think you’ll like this …
Feb 20
Here’s some new music!
We’ve just released our newest “Surprisingly Easy”™ collection of eight-bell pieces. This time it’s a set of hymn arrangements that you’ll find suitable when you need to prepare something for church but have only a few people to ring. Or you might have been thinking about getting into playing eight-handbell duets – these are a …
Nov 05
Christmas Roses
We’re heading into Christmas season (well, after “Thanksgiving season” if you live in the USA), and so we’re continuing to refresh and expand our holiday repertoire. Our ringing friend Maria suggested that we might create an eight-bell arrangement of the lovely carol “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”, and we’ve taken some time to put …
Oct 29
It’s time for another “Surprisingly Easy” collection!
We’ve been getting some hopeful messages asking about when we’ll be creating another one of our “Surprisingly Easy” collections. One friend even said that she’s found them to be very useful for teaching her ringers “four in hand” ringing, while others have said they’re having fun. So… we’ve just released our third (!) “Surprisingly Easy” …
Oct 18
The Most-Requested Handbell Piece of All?
We’ve finally created an arrangement of Mykola Leontovych’s “Ukrainian Bell Carol”, probably better-known as “Carol of the Bells”. We speculate that it’s the most-requested handbell piece of all time, if only because of the title (and Christmas advertisements!). So if you’re a four-in-hand duet, you can have this in your repertoire and not disappoint those …
Oct 14
Advent is soon… and here’s another piece to play!
As you may know, plainchant was one of the great expressions of church music. It’s been that way for hundreds of years – and some of the songs from those times are still with us. We’ve set Divinum Mysterium (aka “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”) for eight handbells, and think it will go well with …
Oct 04
But while you look forward to Christmas… another collection!
We’re gearing up for Christmas (because we have to practice our music now to be ready in time…)! It’s an exciting time of year because we love the holidays so much. We really, really love sharing new music with all of you, because it means you can get something to add to your repertoire as …
Sep 14
Christmas is on the Way!
Yes, it’s pretty early to be thinking about Christmas shopping – but not about rehearsing for the holiday season! Most of the handbell directors (and choral directors, too) we know, start choosing their season’s music in August or September so they can focus on the music when everyone’s together. We’ve posted our first new Christmas …