Four-in-Hand and other multiple-bell techniques

Four-in-Hand

Variations

Four-in-Hand (hereafter "4iH") is a method of holding four bells "in hand" (hence the name) and having individual control over the ringing of each bell. It is called "four"-in-hand even if you have two bells in one hand and one in the other, because if we start allowing "three-in-hand" and "five-in-hand" things just get a little, well, out of hand.

Jack Kearns says that the term was probably invented by Dick Litterst 'way back in the 60's, whose choirs rang "off the table" (the English style, wherein all bells are left standing on the table until needed, and rung with an upward motion; the American style is ringing "in hand" where the bells are held until needed, and rung with an outward motion). A 4iH cluster would be exceedingly difficult to ring off the table, so the cluster would have been held at all times. The distinction of being "in hand" as opposed to "on (the) table" led to the name, and the number was entirely incidental, except, again, that the early setups were probably exclusively of four bells, so 4iH became a handy designation of the multiple-bells technique. It was only later that variations came into play.

Why do we want to do 4iH at all? It allows fewer people to handle more bells, which is handy for smaller groups. It allows ringers in the 6s, for example, to pick up and play the 7s simultaneously when needed. Having additional ringers on the 7s, if they don't play throughout the entire piece, makes for bored ringers, and bored ringers cause trouble. Finally, always remember the bellhog creed: "More bells, more bells, more bells."

There are several different ways of doing 4iH. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Different people choose different techniques depending on what they've learned and what they like. Some people (like me) even switch back and forth depending on the demands of the music. Learn them all, and choose which you like best.

The two major schools of thought on 4iH could be called the "Campanile" and the "Ring-and-Knock." The former, to the best of my knowledge, was invented by the ringers in Campanile. At the very least, while it may have been independently created by other ringers as well, Campanile has been the most vocal in advancing the technique, so they get the credit.

Ring and Knock As in all 4iHs, there is a "top" bell and a "bottom" bell. To form this 4iH, hold one bell in the standard ringing grip. Rotate the wrist around until the bell is horizontal facing left or right (inward). Open up the index and middle finger and grasp the handle of the second bell as close to the collar as possible. The handles should be facing perpendicular to each other; ie, the "top" bell's handle should be facing front-back and the "bottom" bell's handle should be facing up-down. (see Figure 1; the C is the "top" bell and the E is the "bottom" bell) Pick up the group. The "top" bell is rung with the standard ringing motion. (see Figure 2) To ring the "bottom" bell, rotate the wrist inward again and make a motion as if you were knocking lightly on a door. (see Figure3) Note: Ring and Knock can also be done with locked handles. To do this, stick the "top" bell's handle through the handle of the "bottom" bell with the casting of the "top" bell pointing inward. (see Figure 4; the E is the "bottom" bell) Pick the cluster up in the same way as the unlocked cluster and ring as above. Campanile This 4iH is easiest to compose on the table. Take one bell and set it on the table normally. This is the "top" bell. Take a second bell and slide the handle through the handle of the first bell. This second bell is the "bottom" bell. Again, ensure that the handles are perpendicular; the "top" bell should be facing up-down and the "bottom" bell should be facing front-back. (see figure 5; the E is the "top" bell) To hold the cluster, stick your index and middle fingers between the bells and wrap your ring and little fingers around the locked handles. (see Figure 6) As you pick up the cluster, rotate the hand back into the vertical position (ie thumb towards the ceiling). To ring the "bottom" bell takes a more-or-less standard motion, since that bell is facing forward-backward. (I sometimes find that a slight upward motion of the entire hand, in addition to the forward flick of the wrist, is helpful for ringing the bottom bell.) To ring the top bell, flick the wrist inward and the bell should strike. It is often easier to rotate the wrist outward a little and push the entire assembly forward to ring the top bell. (see Figure 7) This also helps produce louder strikes, because bigger muscles are involved.	(Click on the pictures for a closeup)
	Figure 1: Crossed Handles (RH)	Figure 2: Ringing the top bell
	Figure 3: Ringing the bottom bell	Figure 4: Locked handles (RH)*
	Figure 5: Campanile-style (RH)*	Figure 6: Live Long and Prosper
	Figure 7: Ringing Inward	Figure 8: Damping
(*)The astute reader will notice that the locked Ring and Knock cluster looks just like the Campanile style cluster, but backwards. (In fact, that's exactly what the pictures are: one picture is the mirror image of the other.) A right-hand Ring and Knock is the exact same formation as a LEFT hand Campanile style. Only the grip and the ringing motions are different.

Relative Strengths and Weaknesses

(*)It's even possible to change the 4iH cluster from one hand to the other without setting it on the table, although it is a bit awkward. At the very least, it allows tones to sustain while the cluster is being transferred.

Arrangement of the bells

OK, so now you know how to 4iH. What order should you put your bells in? Again, there are two major possibilities. Assuming for the moment that you have four scalar notes (eg CDEF), you can arrange bells by seconds (ie CD-EF) or by thirds (ie CE-DF). (I suppose you could arrange one hand by a fourth (ie CF-DE), but then the other hand would still have a second so it's really only a variant of the seconds scheme.)

Choice of which scheme you use really depends on the music. If you have a lot of fast scales through your range, it might be best to arrange in thirds so you can alternate hands more. If, on the other hand, you have a lot of arpeggi, arranging in seconds might be better for exactly the same reason.

A second question related to arrangement is what bell to put on top and what bell to put on bottom. When I do Campanile-style 4iH, I like the lower-pitched bell to be on the bottom, so low rings forward and high rings inward for both hands. Other people like the opposite. When I do Ring-and-Knock, I prefer to put the lower pitch on top, so low rings and high knocks. Again, some prefer the opposite. Probably the best idea is to put the bells that ring the most often in the position which rings normally (top for Ring-and-Knock, bottom for Campanile-style) and leave the lesser-used bells in the other position.

Variations

There are an assortment of variations on the basic 4iHs described above. Some are more standard than others.

Shelley

This is probably the most used variation on 4iH, if it even should be regarded as a variant and not a technique in its own right. To do this, compose a 4iH cluster as above, but make sure the clappers are facing the same direction (eg both up-and-down). Accordingly, both bells will strike simultaneously when rung. This technique doesn't really work well with Campanile-style locked handles, although it works fine with the Ring-and-Knock style.

If you have to switch back and forth between striking your notes independently as in 4iH and simultaneously as in Shelley there are a couple ways to achieve this without decomposing a 4iH cluster and recomposing it as a Shelley. The most basic is to simply flick the wrist both directions at once. The strike will not be perfectly simultaneous, but so close that no one will be able to tell the difference.

A woman in my choir has this really, really cool way to switch from 4iH to Shelley on the fly. She drops the bottom bell and allows it to roll along the table for one-quarter rotation, so the clapper goes from side-to-side to up-and-down. She then picks it up in the same hand as she dropped it from and plays the cluster as a Shelley. It works in reverse, too. The only thing I don't like about it, is that the bottom bell is necessarily damped during the switch, which may not always be the desired result. (She also starts with a different kind of 4iH setup than the ones described here (essentially, an unlocked cluster rung with the Campanile-style motions) so this might not be possible with other 4iH techniques.)

The "Shelley-plus" is a useful variant also. In this technique, the two bells start out in separate hands and are put into a cluster after being rung. The bells could be put into a Shelley formation or a 4iH formation, naturally, but I don't know if the latter has a name.

The "Shelley-minus" is the natural opposite of the above. Two bells start out in one hand (either as a Shelley or a 4iH) and then the cluster is taken apart so the bells are in separate hands.

Six-in-Hand

Start with a locked Shelley. These should be two bells which play together much of the time. Put a third bell in between the two others, with the clapper to the third bell perpendicular to the clappers of the other two. (See Figure 9). Jam the handle in the very center of the locked handles. Grasp the cluster. You will notice you have one more finger than you need. You can place it either between bells 1 and 2, or between bells 2 and 3. In other words, either group your index and middle fingers, or middle and ring fingers. (see Figure 10, for the latter option) To ring the middle bell, use the standard motion, more or less. To ring the bell closest to you (the top bell), use the same "inward" or "pushing" motion as you use for the Campanile style top bell (see Figure 11). To ring the bottom bell (the one farthest from you), use the "knock" motion (see Figure 12). To ring the top and bottom bell at the same time, rotate your hand out a little bit (palm away from you) and push, much like ringing both bells of a Shelley. To ring all three bells at once, use basically the same motion as that used to get a 4iH cluster to ring simultaneously. Other combinations are possible; the trick is to use the clapper of the unrung bell as the axis of rotation.
Figure 9: The Set-Up (RH)	Figure 10: The Grip	Figure 11: Ringing the top bell	Figure 12: Ringing the bottom bell
(click on the pictures for a closeup)

Eight-in-Hand

Yeah, really. Four bells in each hand.

So far I have heard only apocryphal stories of this technique. Supposedly it allows for independent control of all four bells in each hand, but until I see it with my own eyes (and, preferably, try my hand at it) I'll refrain from including anything further about it here. If anyone out there has experience with 8iH, especially with independent control, please let me know!

The Claw

This is a technique to temporarily add a third bell to a 4iH or Shelley cluster. The third bell will strike along with at least one of the other bells in the hand, so it is distinct from the 6iH technique.

Hold the cluster as usual. Now open up the pinky finger and grab the third bell off the table. Its clapper will be parallel to that of one of the other bells in hand; which one depends on how you grab the bell (or both (or neither) if the cluster was a Shelley to start with). The third bell can now be rung simultaneously with whichever bell it is parallel with. Ringing all three bells can be done by flicking the 4iH-cluster-plus-hooked-bell in the same way as described above in the six-in-hand section, although the motion might have to be exaggerated a little depending on the bells. Take care not to clink bells together.

The Hook

Weare now straying further away from 4iH variants, but the Hook is still a technique with multiple bells in one hand, so we'll stick it in here anyway.

Let's say you're cruising along just peachy with bells in each hand, and suddenly you realize you need to get one hand empty to grab an accidental. What are you going to do? The wrong answer is to drop one bell before its note value is fully discharged. A better solution is the hook. After the bells ring, hook the handle of one bell on the pinky finger of the other hand. To damp, either press both bells into the body (a very inelegant damping style, to be sure, but sometimes necessary) or if the bells are too big, damp the top bell into the body and the bottom bell into the table, mouth down. This takes some coördination, especially if you're ringing with the other hand.

One of the nice things about this technique is that it is possible entirely independent of the number of bells already in the destination hand. You can do it with one bell plus the hooked bell, two (in a 4iH or Shelley formation) plus the hooked bell, or even 3 bells plus the hook, if you know 6iH.

The inverse is not true, unfortunately. I know of no way to hook a 4iH or Shelley formation onto the other hand. You could decompose the cluster first, of course, then hook one or the other, but that's the best you're going to do.

Sherry Graham, erstwhile Raleigh Ringer, also points out that the finger you hook the extra bell onto doesn't need to belong to yourself. In a pinch, borrow a neighbor's finger!

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