Call Changes

Call changes is one way to start calling and conducting...
(Another way is to call some plain courses.)

Choose to ring any bell.
Once the band has started ringing wait for the rounds to settle. How long this is will depend on the convention in your tower.
Then swop the bells, one pair at a time:
Say you want to start by swopping the 2 and 3 over.
If your tower calls "up" then you need to say "2 to 3" or "2 over 3".
If your tower calls "down" then you need to say " 3 to 1" or "3 over 1".
Some places call "2 and 3 swop", just "2 and 3" or the whole of the new change "1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6".

up down

123456 "2 to 3" or "2 over 3" "3 to 1" or "3 over 1"

132456
Make your calls at handstroke and then the bells change over at the following handstroke. More exactly, the calls come when the treble pulls off at handstroke, so if you are ringing a back bell then you either need to watch the treble or call just that bit before you pull off.
Wait a little between each swop. Long enough that the band is ringing the new change as evenly as they can but short enough that you do not all get bored!
Generally you should get back to rounds at the end
After a few more rounds at the end call "Stand" at a handstroke.

So far I have always rung at places where you call up so from here on I am only going to describe that way of calling call changes for simplicity. I think you will be able to work out what to do from what I will explain below if your tower calls them differently. A piece of advice I found helpful when first trying to call call changes is to actually write out every change you are going to call to make it easier to see what is happening. I have done this here for the simple example (which is absolutely fine for you to call if you want) of calling the bells to Queens and straight back to rounds:

12345678		- wait for the rounds to be even
		"2 to 3"
13245678		- ring this change a few times
		"4 to 5"
13254678		- ring this change a few times
		"2 to 5"
13524678
		"6 to 7"
13524768
		"4 to 7"
13527468
		"2 to 7"
13572468		- this is Queens and sounds particularly good, so ring this more times
		"7 to 2"
13527468
		"7 to 4"
13524768
		"7 to 6"
13524678
		"5 to 2"
13254678
		"5 to 4"
13245678
		"3 to 2"
12345678		- back to rounds again

In this example we have got back to rounds from Queens in exact reverse to how we got there, so we have repeated each change. Once you get used to calling call changes you will be able to call something more complicated, ideally you won't repeat any changes and you will listen to try and include a good number of musical changes. Often people swop the bells over fairly swiftly until they get to a musical change and then they stay on that change for a bit longer.

Queens – 135246 (on 6), 13572468 (on 8) - odd bells, then even bells
Tittums – 142536 (on 6), 15263748 (on 8)
Whittingtons – 12753468 - 1, 2, up the odds, down the evens
Kings - 531246 - Whittingtons on 6

Michael Williams' Call Change Collection has some less common changes that you might like to try too.

It is not however compulsory to call the bells into named positions such as those above. You can mix them up as you like and then get them back to rounds if you prefer. You can also try and find your own musical changes.

Details...
These are also on the Plain Courses page. They are important so I include them here too in case you have not read them on that page!

Make sure that your calls are loud enough, clear and polite.

If the ringing becomes too choppy, with too many people lost and if there is no-one to put them right, then it is your responsibility to call "Rounds please" or something similar and then either "Stand" or call some more call changes depending on what the person running the ringing indicates to you.

If at all possible you should try and have rounds before you stand the bells, unless there is an emergency such as a stay or rope breaking or a learner losing control of their bell. Not to do this is bad manners and also it does not sound good to anybody who might be listening outside.

Tip: There is no shame at all, particularly when you are learning, in calling something very easy -- even if it seems too easy to you. Nobody will mind, and it is much better to have a successful, short and simple burst of call changes than one where you get yourself muddled up in the middle. The band will have more confidence in you and you will have more confidence in yourself next time you are asked to call something!

On to Plain Bob Doubles.

Go to Plain Courses.

Back to Index Page.

Is there something you think I may not have explained as well as I could?
Do you have a suggestion for additions to these pages?
Have you found something that needs correcting?

Then please . Thank you.

	up	down
123456	"2 to 3" or "2 over 3"	"3 to 1" or "3 over 1"
132456