8 Bells for Christmas
Celebrate! This collection of 3 popular Christmas carols ("Infant Holy", "I Saw Three Ships" and "Deck the Halls") gives you the flexibility of 4 different settings - select the 8 bells that fit your ringers’ needs at the time: A. C5-C6 for 1 octave and a richer, deeper sound B. D5-D6 for easier reading in 2 oct. (keeping space notes in the left hand)
C. F5-F6 for 2 octaves (still keeping space notes in left hand) and easier “Four-in-Hand” (4iH) D. C6-C7 (3 oct.) for lighter, smaller bells and with ease. Each piece is diatonic (no accidentals) and without a page turn, so playing on music stands is easy at a Salvation Army kettle, on a Holiday float in a parade, in a traveling troupe in a nursing home, or for a shopping mall “flash mob”!!
These three “progressive” pieces encourage confidence in your ringers at each step: “I Saw Three Ships” introduces ¾ time (with quarter notes as the smallest unit) and melody in both bass and treble, “Infant Holy” adds easy 8th note patterns at a slower tempo, and “Deck the Halls” includes dotted quarter note-8th note patterns at a quicker tempo. Using either hand bells or hand chimes, these cleverly arranged pieces for fewer ringers are appropriate for worship, church, concert, school use and outreach performances. Part of the “Celebrations” series from ringTrue: small collections of interesting pieces with flexible scores.