I have started this blog in order to help those that would like to teach hand bells to children throughout the world! Most of the music that I will post is music for the Primary children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Children's Songbook since that is where I get the opportunity to teach children music.
As an introduction, there are several abbreviations on my songs as listed below:
CSB- Children's Songbook- the songbook that is used to teach the Primary children (ages 3-12) in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
HB- Hymns- the hymnbook that is used for the congregation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
HL- Hobby Lobby bells- any music with this noted means that the colors of the bells are specific to the bells sold at Hobby Lobby. Keep in mind that the songs can be played on either set of bells- just know that the colors will be different. A,B,F,G, are the main ones that will be different colors. The letters should be consistent with any bells.
KP- KidsPlay bells. These songs are color-coded for the KidsPlay brand of bells.
There is also a new set of bells available that has a high C that is white. You should be able to use the KidsPlay music for this set- but you will have to play the white bell for the red high C (HC) on the music.
Key of C- In order to make the music to fit 8 bells, most songs had to be changed to the key of C in order to make it playable. Please note that these songs are not in the same key as originally published in the songbooks. Since most bells sets only have 8 bells, some of the notes are now written an octave higher or lower which may make the song sound different. If you have the extension bells for KidsPlay, you can have the option of playing the correct octave. Simply change the note to the higher/lower octave by adding an indicator that it is a higher/lower bell (like an "H" before the note indicating "high")- the color of the bells stay the same.
On the bottom left hand corner, there is a list of what bells are used for the song. This will help identify what bells you need for each song.
If you find any problems with any of the songs, please let me know!! I try to get through as many songs as possible and I don't always get the chance to completely check my work.
I would love to post any other music that you have made also! I realize that it takes a lot of time and energy to create this music, so it is my hope that all of my readers can enjoy the time of effort that it took to create this music! Please let me know if you would like to donate to this consortium of work! There are many songs out there and I would love to share them so that we don't all have to repeat each others' work.
I am open to suggestions, comments and requests! Please let me know what I can do to make this blog better and to help you along your journey!!
Happy Playing!!
