I’d like to learn to ring. What do I need to know?
Change ringing is similar to learning a musical instrument and playing in a band. It’s a team effort that is richly rewarding. And just like learning a musical instrument, learning to ring takes commitment, perseverance and practice. Change ringing is not like anything else you will have attempted before.
However, you do not need to know anything about music, but it does help if you have a sense of rhythm and a sense of pitch. Rhythm helps you ring in time with the other ringers. A sense of pitch helps you to pick out the note of your bell from the others. You also need to be able to count!
The first step is handling, or bell control, in which you will learn to ring the bell, adjust its speed and start and stop it when required. Once bell control has been achieved, change ringing comes next, with its intriguing mix of quick-thinking, listening, vision (ropesight) and fine-tuning of the physical skills.
How rapidly and how far you advance depends mainly on opportunity and enthusiasm, but the feeling of achievement starts from the beginning.
Many people find ringing quite addictive. It is common to find older ringers who started ringing when they were in their teens and have never grown tired of it. When you ring bells, like playing an instrument, you never stop learning.