Listen & Strike - 25 Aug 2018

The first workshop of the newly formed Round the Wrekin Teaching Hub (an ART initiative) has been held at Edgmond. The workshop was led by Matt Lawrence and Paul Lewis and seven students took part.

The day started with refreshments followed by an introduction and discussion of the workshop’s objectives, and then some theory relating to listening and striking. The students learnt that good ringing requires rhythm, looking and listening.

Following the theory session, the action moved to the bells. Students rang the tenor to rounds on 6 listening all the time and placing the bell the best they could. The software being used with the simulator calculated a score for each ringer. The exercise was repeated and most of the ringers improved their score. The last exercise before lunch involved listening to some ringing on a CD and deciding what the errors were. For example, was the treble leading a little quickly (too close to the tenor); or was an inside bell ringing too slowly (causing the following bell to clash with it); was the error happening at hand stroke or back stroke?

After lunch much laughter was generated with the clapping exercises, which are intended to help develop rhythm. This was followed by more ringing, this time rounds facing out of the circle, whole pull and stand and moving round the circle ringing a different bell after each stand.

Tea and cakes were followed by the Mexican Wave and other Kaleidoscope ringing, before the final round up and discussion about the workshop, which all the students found useful.

Madeline Harris (Market Drayton)