From Ringing to Conducting

OK, it's finally happened. You've been ringing for quite a while, and the director of your group is stepping down. Or maybe you've found an old set of bells in a closet somewhere. Or maybe your church has decided to start another group and the current director can't or won't take on any additional responsibilities. For whatever reason, the powers that be have asked you to direct a handbell choir. But you've never directed anything before! Before you panic, here are some tips, gathered from my personal experience and from the advice of many fine folk on the handbell-L.

First, relax. Directing a handbell choir is not brain surgery. There is nothing you can do that will trigger the end of Western Civilization.

OK, now that that's out of the way, take a good look at your group. What kind of a group is it? Is it an established group or something brand-new? Is it a group you've been playing with, or are you a stranger to the group? Are the ringers experienced or relative newbies? Is the group part of a school, a church, or is it a community group? As director, will you be expected to do all the work for the group (eg, finding gigs, recruiting ringers, playing politics with the powers-that-be) or are you solely responsible for the music?

This document will not help you with all of the issues above. In particular, it will not even try to help with politicking, fundraising, and recruiting. You'll have to look elsewhere for that. (Someday I'll have good ideas for those topics, but not now.)

If you are directing an established group, especially one you used to ring in, one of the first things you have to do is create an identity separate from the prior director and establish yourself as the new authority. There are good ways and bad ways to do this. Bad ways include arbitrarily changing rehearsal times, assignments, or repertoire. These may establish you as a new authority, but they'll probably also earn you the enmity of the ringers. Not a good way to make first impressions. Instead, try having a sit-down discussion with the ringers about the things you and they would like to change. Maybe they're tired of a certain kind of repertoire, or would like to shift rehearsal to a different night. Explain your position to them as well. Maybe you'd like to explore more possibilities for performance, or work on music that requires other instruments as well as bells. Don't be afraid to say that this is a learning experience for you. Just because you're the director doesn't mean you're infallible. Do say, though, that you won't accept any comments along the lines of "But that's (not) the way [the former director] did it!"

As director, you have many responsibilities. The most noticeable of them is standing in front of the choir and waving your arms at them, but this is far from the end of it. Conducting is much more than just waving your arms, but at the very least make sure you know how to do that well. Learn the basic patterns (4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 2/4, 2/2) and practice them until you can do them without thinking about it. (Some people will insist that you beat patterns with your right hand; this is nonsense. If you're more comfortable doing patterns with your left hand do so.) Make sure your patterns are clear, especially the downbeat ("ictus"). If you do nothing else as director, provide a clear downbeat. Without that your ringers will never have a chance.

Practice your directing without the choir. Practice in front of a mirror. Practice with the radio on, trying to anticipate how the music will go (thanks to Kathy Leonard for this tip). Find another director who will coach you, either from another musical group in your area or from a local college. Take a seminar or two. Read a good book on conducting technique. Some which have been recommended include: the AGEHR's Developing Conducting Skills (suggested by Marcy Hontz), Conducting Technique by Brock McElheran (suggested by Nancy Hascall), and Upbeat Downbeat by Sandra Willetts (suggested by Mark Keeney). And never get satisfied with how you're doing--there's always room for improvement. Learning is a life-long journey.

Once you're comfortable with patterns, start working on the other hand. Don't just mirror your patterns. Use the free hand to cue entrances and convey dynamics. Try using the free hand to show the "style" of the music (rhythmic, flowing, etc.) while maintaining a clear pattern with the other hand.

These could be called the "mechanics" of directing. A director also needs to do a lot of homework on the music itself. Even more than ringers, directors have to study scores closely, to find all the phrasing and melodic lines so you can convey that to your ringers. Additional background research on the music itself might be called for as well. If the music is sacred, what is the hymn or text it is based on? How does that fit into the way you play the music? For other music, what is the story behind it? Was it commissioned for some special reason? Can that story color your performance?

If your group is composed mostly of experienced ringers, you can concentrate on these musical aspects of directing. If you'll be directing less experienced ringers, you'll also need to be able to teach them. Make sure you know all the various techniques of ringing. This includes not only the various notations and articulations found in handbell literature, but also all the little tips and tricks that come with ringing experience. If you don't think you have all of these (and no one does, no matter how long they've been ringing) continue your networking. Find a more experience choir you can watch or ring with, or invite them to run a workshop for your group.

Does this sound like a lot of work? You bet. It's one reason why I'm perfectly happy to stay behind the table, even though I do assist my director in many respects. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to one thing, stated succinctly by Paul W. Allen: "Know more than your ringers." That's the whole reason you're on the other side of the table, after all: you know something that the rest of the group doesn't. Your job is to do everything you can to convey that knowledge in a usable form to your ringers.

Go back to: Bells Main

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