colored handbells

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Home : 2003 : September : 17

colored handbells
By Gene Maxwell

Hi Kim,

Finally I have found someone who is both using colored handbells as well as creating the music. I have been looking for ways to streamline the process I use, it takes an inordinate amount of time to create each
songboard. I can spend up to 10 hours from arranging the music to actually coloring the board(s). When I arranged Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, by the Manheim Steamrollers there were approximately 90 changes. Almost every note is a different chord the way they do it. The arrangement is fantastic but very labor intensive.
Kim, I have a bunch of questions for you.
1- Does each student

have a "songsheet" or do you have one large sheet and cue the children from that one sheet?

2- Where do you get the different colored sticky dots. I originally tried painting them and then sticking them on poster boards but that was a bigger mess than the way I have been doing it. You must have some way of either getting them colored or coloring them yourself.

3- Do you use the complete 20 bell set which includes a chromatic octave and a half or are you using the 8 note set?

Last week I started using the 8 note set with the "Kristal Bell" flip cards (are you familiar with the Kristal Bell Method?) working with 21 Pre K children. What a gas, we had so much fun, they actually got through 3 songs before I lost them.

If possible could you describe what your song sheets look like, how large they are, how you arrange the dots, how do you cue the children to change notes/chords. Also, do you use the bells as tremolo or single note bells, do you use an accompaniment, i.e. tape, keyboard, CD etc.?

I haven't printed the lyrics on the foamboards, not enough room, but we have memorized several songs which they sing while ringing the bells.

The song we have had the most fun with has been from the Michael Flately "Feet of Flames" CD called Dueling violins, a very fast Irish dance song which requires the children to start and stop ringing the bells very rapidly. Sometimes they get to bouncing around and it is so much fun to watch them. That song I did with 4th graders, I tried it with younger children but wasn't very succesful.

Gene