Monday, March 24, 2008

The Sound of Easter

I spent Saturday morning at bell practice. We needed a little more rehearsal before playing on Easter morning. The music was hard with complex rhythms and lots of accidental notes. Bell ringers count constantly. “One-and-two-and- dah- three-and-four and.” Counting is the only way to not get lost. . Getting lost causes some of us to finish the piece a couple of measures before the director quits directing. It is a bit embarrassing. “Uh-oh, I didn’t see the key change and forgot to change bells. That sounded really bad.” Fortunately we have a wonderful, patient director and friendly, forgiving ringers so practice is a happy time. We do it again and again. At the end of practice we are tired. Ringing the sounds of Easter can be hard work.
Easter morning comes and we are all in place. Bells up. One-and two-and-three-and-four-and. The joyous sounds of Easter ring out and fill the sanctuary. The music is glorious. Hallelujah!

5 comments:

AM Kingsfield said...

It sounded beautiful. I never hear mistakes.

MarkEC said...

I agree with AM, it sounded wonderful. Thanks for making it a lovely Easter service.

Sandy said...

That must have been beautiful! And what pressure - a mistake would really stand out. Are there many bell ringers in your group?

Sling said...

How cool is that!
I love the sound of bell ringers.It's no easy task,and I'll bet it sounded just beautiful. :)

Mom said...

There are eleven of us who play regularly, plus we have a couple of ringer ringers who are able to sub easily.