We had another good practice this morning, working mostly on ringing up and down. I think everybody had a much better grasp of what was required by the end of the session, even if they weren't quite achieving it yet. I sympathise. When I was learning to ring down I used to practically lasso the person next to me with the miles of tail end I had through my hand, all the while thinking to myself 'I must take a coil, I must take a coil, I MUST take a coil', and practically hyperventilating. I don't remember deciding that I could now ring down and relaxing about it, but it must have happened somewhere along the line.
While we were having a breather one of the learners was telling us about staying with friends last week and listening to the local band practicing. I was about to ask why he hadn't gone along and said hello, when the story continued with 'the ringing was terrible, it made me feel so much better!' My reaction was 'Great' because listening to and being (privately) critical of any ringing is an excellent step in improving your striking, and to have a comparative novice say 'they rang the same thing over and over and it never got any better' was wonderful. However, what happened when I left after practice was better. One of the people who lives next to the Church was just coming out, so I stopped to check if the sound control was working. After assuring me that she hadn't heard a thing in the last hour despite having the windows open she continued "I think the ringing is getting much better. I'm no expert but it seems much more orderly to me." What more could a tower captain want to hear! Well done to everybody, you know who you are and give yourselves a pat on the back. Let's all keep up the good work and Brazier Trophy here we come!
While we were having a breather one of the learners was telling us about staying with friends last week and listening to the local band practicing. I was about to ask why he hadn't gone along and said hello, when the story continued with 'the ringing was terrible, it made me feel so much better!' My reaction was 'Great' because listening to and being (privately) critical of any ringing is an excellent step in improving your striking, and to have a comparative novice say 'they rang the same thing over and over and it never got any better' was wonderful. However, what happened when I left after practice was better. One of the people who lives next to the Church was just coming out, so I stopped to check if the sound control was working. After assuring me that she hadn't heard a thing in the last hour despite having the windows open she continued "I think the ringing is getting much better. I'm no expert but it seems much more orderly to me." What more could a tower captain want to hear! Well done to everybody, you know who you are and give yourselves a pat on the back. Let's all keep up the good work and Brazier Trophy here we come!
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