Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Welcome!!


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!!

16 comments:

  1. I am really really imprsesed! I have a chart full of songs I've created, and they aren't nearly as nice looking as these! I can't imagine how long it took you! Thank you so much for sharing, I am going to share with a few family members who have these bells as well. How kind of you!!! Merry Christmas!

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  2. Thank you so much for all your hard work! I am excited to pull out my bells and let me girls ring them! Also, HL sells 2 sets of bells, small and large. I own the large set, I was wondering if you knew if they were continuous or if they skip an octave? Thank you Thank you Thank you!!

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  3. Jeanette- I did not know that HL has 2 sets of bells. I don't have a HL here in New Jersey so I had to order mine online and I only saw one set. I would LOVE it if it was a higher octave because some of these songs gets tricky without those extra notes. If you ever find out, will you let me know? I will try to look when I go to Ohio next time. Thanks!!

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  5. I would love to contribute to this site! Would it be best to post on my site and then give you the link, or would you rather me send you the files in an email? I'm currently working on the descant to "I Am a Child of God" and will likely to more in the future since I just got this calling :)

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    1. I would love a copy of the descant. I would also like to do The Priesthood Is Restored with bells and wonder if anyone has done it. I wish I was as talented as you ladies and could do it myself but I'm not. I have the hobby lobby set of bells.

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  6. Thanks for all your work creating this music. It's been so helpful for me and the kids LOVE it!

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  7. I just ordered a set of bells online that will be arriving Monday. I am so relieved to have found your site. I have a musical background but have never done anything like this. My daughter has been wanting to do this for some time. She will be so excite to see all of the church music! I have a 25 piece set coming, but we will start small. I hope it works with your music. Thank you for all your wonderful work. I don't know how you find the time to do this!

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  8. Nice to see you posting again...I just did a handbell chart (chords, not melody) for CS 41 "Once Within A Lowly Stable" and I came to see if I might share it here. Are you interested in it?

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  9. Here's a link to it on my Google drive...very different format than yours that I tried out with this song...should be fairly self-explanatory, though. Let me know if you have any questions or can't access it.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h6IKYmJiEIUB39ywGOwVHT30bU1IVYMr/view?usp=sharing

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    1. PS- I printed it out on 2 landscape pages (top half and bottom half each had a page) to put in page protectors in a binder

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  10. Another song to add to the collection: I did Jesus Once Was a Little Child in the same chord format. It has 1 accidental that can be easily dropped if not using the Chromatic add-on set. Link here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Yw046vqX3myIRazo7bujzZ6ry2ECZinj

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  11. Thank you so much for all your hard work and willingness to share! I am so excited to use these with my family and my primary children!

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