Chime Excitement

Several of the chimers approached me to ask if they could explore ringing something a little more challenging! I was thrilled to finally be able to suggest using the 5 by 5 books I had purchased earlier. Basically, these arrangements divide 3 octaves of chimes among 5 ringers, and each ringer has certain chimes that they always ring, and other chimes that they share with their neighbor.

They selected Carol of the Bells to ring for Easter or sometime thereafter, even though that song is usually for Christmas. We started out marking the chimes that each person always is responsible for. Then we discussed each measure to see who needed to handle the shared chimes. Sometimes it makes sense for one person to ring a chime, but sometimes that person is already ringing two chimes and can't handle a third.

Sometimes a person needs a hand free to pick up a chime for the next measure, or time to set a chime down. Sometimes a person is executing a complicated over under weave of picking up and setting down chimes in a challenging pattern and can't even think about adding in another chime.

It took quite some time for us to figure out who should shoulder the shared chimes in every single measure. Even after we thought we had it right, we found our idea didn't work and we had to redesign. Changing one measure sometimes affect a number of measures! It was a slow and meticulous process, but we were determined to figure out the entire score before calling it a day.

The next step is to practice what we know we have designed. We rang through the entire song several times, but the smoothness and predictability are not there yet. It will take some time to understand the physical movements well enough to ring the song correctly. We will get there.

I couldn't help but think how like life the whole process is. If we were willing to cooperate with others, we would understand so much better that there are certain things that we are good at and always responsible for. Then there are things that we should be sharing with our neighbors - both admitting that sometimes we are preoccupied and need help, and realizing that sometimes they are overwhelmed and need a hand.

And we would also see that even when we think we have it all worked out, sometimes you have to go back to the drawing board and try a better approach. And any change may have far reaching effects. A tag team approach if you will. I wonder if the boys are up to a discussion about chores? Now there's an area that still isn't working smoothly in our house.