The bells must be in easy reach of the ringer, and the company just formed will do well to chalk lines upon the cloth to divide their positions from that occupied by the neighbor’s bells.
Tenor and alto players should occupy the center of the table. Their work, compared with that of bass and treble, is light and subordinate, and this is why those parts may be undertaken by ladies. The second treble stands at the right end, next to the alto, and the first treble and bass occupy the head and bottom of the table, as shown in [Fig. 1].
Immediately after the bell is used the player must be careful to replace it in its former position in the chalked space, or confusion and discord will be the result, as it is almost impossible to remember the position of the bells unless this plan is strictly adhered to. To pick up the wrong bell will lead to disaster.
| Audience. | |||||
| Player ○ | Bass bells. | The Table. Bells not in use. | First treble bells. | Player ○ | |
| Tenor bells. | Alto bells. | Second treble bells. | |||
| Player ○ | Player ○ | Player ○ | |||
Fig. 1.
Many plans have been tried in which to place the bells so that each player may identify the different bells to be used. Perhaps the simplest and most usually adopted is to arrange them in rows upon the table. Supposing the number of bells required to be fifteen, place them in three lines of five. For the first row employ the letters of the alphabet; for the second, even rows of figures; for the last, single odd figures, thus:—
| A | B | C | D | E |
| ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
Fig. 2.
This plan should be learnt, and the position of the bells be as fixed and relative to each other as the notes of the keyboard of the pianoforte. At first the players stand with the left side turned slightly to the table, but frequently they will be obliged to change their positions, sometimes turning to the right and sometimes facing the table. The bell should never be placed with the flat side of its handle towards the manipulator, for in this position it cannot be struck, however much waved.
In holding the bell, the thumb must be pressed on the rivet, the fingers gripping the flat side of the handle. When lifting the bell, the handle should slope towards the body, thus forcing the weight of the clapper to swing to the side opposite to that upon which the strike sounds. The bell, being lifted in this position, is not struck, the hand changing its inclination from left to right. In so doing, the bell is turned to an opposite angle, the clapper falls, and the strike is achieved by a slight impetus of the arm or wrist.