Alternative Rope Sight Ideas

In the previous post I commented on the difficulty of teaching rope sight, I thought I would expand on some thoughts and ideas to practice/develop this tool.

Covering

A cover is the name given to the last bell to sound in a method where it never changes, i.e. the 6th during plain hunt on 5.
When covering, it is not necessary to know the order of bells that you follow but by covering you know that the pace of your ringing doesn't need to change so you have your set rhythm and can set about just spotting the last bell.
This then enables the tenor ringer to see the bells coming up to the back and has the advantage that they are only concentrating on which is the last bell and not needing to change pace.

Spot the order

Slightly more of a challenge. While sitting out of the circle, wait for a couple of call changes to be called and see if you can spot the order of the bells.
This has the advantage that once you have spotted one bell, you can disregard it when trying to observe the order.

E.g. if the bells are in tittums 142536.

The learner can spot the treble is leading, so they know when looking for the 2nd place bell they don't need to look at the treble. Then once the 4 has been observed there are then only four other bells to try and spot.

Trebling to a little method

Previous posts have detailed various little methods for doubles (http://ringingtips.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Little) and ringing the treble to some of these helps the ringer develop some rope sight. But only needing to spot up to thirds (so up to two other ropes beneath them).

Bistow is just making 2nds so you only need to spot which bell takes you from the lead.

Stanwell, Clewer, Hampton, Laleham have fairly straight forward rules; so the bell order you pass will be ABAB lead lead BCBC, that is the bell that takes you from the lead you ring over in the 2nd place of thirds, the bell you ring over in your first blow in thirds takes you out of the lead.

Littleton is slightly different with the order being ABBA lead lead CDDC, the bell that takes you out of the lead, you take out of the lead, and the 2 blows in third over the same bell.

Grandsire

Ringing either of the hunt bells for Grandsire are useful, this one is more complicated and requires the ringer to have a feel of hunting all the way to the back, but with sign posts as to what is their first/last bell.

Rope sight

What is Rope Sight?

Rope sight is effectively two things, that are both the same yet slightly different depending on how you view things. Most simplistically, rope sight is the ability to "see" which bell you need to follow. The extension of this is that you can also see which place you are in.
From rounds if you look from treble to tenor each bell pulls off in order. Six is following the five, five the four, four the three and so on.
Now instead of thinking about which bell you are following, consider which place you are in.
If you are on the 3rd bell, you are in 3rds place. That is you are the third bell to ring. So if you look at the ropes, the treble and the two will pull off before you do. If a call is made treble to two, the order becomes 213456, the 3rd stays in the same place, though the bell it follows is different. So using rope sight you can see you follow the treble, but there are still two pulls before you do.

If we were back in rounds and three was called to four making the order 124356, you know from the call that you are following the four, but what has also happened you have moved "up" one place. So looking around there are now three pulls before you do.

Then if it is called three to five, making the order 124536, again you know from the call you are following the 5th but the place is now 5ths place. So four ropes are pulled before you pull off.

How can you teach/learn Rope Sight?

This is the hard question, a lot of ringers when asked this will think and then respond that it "sort of happened", or "something clicked and I could see it". Without it, it makes ringing quite difficult, but generally does come to people in time.
There are things that you can do to try and help "see" it.(http://ringingtips.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/progress-while-not-ringing.html)
(http://ringingtips.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/churchyard-bob-plain-hunt-with.html)

Other things that could be done is to ring plain hunt, but instead of thinking about the bells you follow, consider what place you are in at any given time, so imaging you are on the Treble think, with the number in brackets showing the order of bells in front of you:

2nds place - 1 Rope (2)
3rds place - 2 Ropes (2,4)
4ths place - 3 Ropes (4,2,5)
5ths place - 4 Ropes (4,5,2,3)
5ths place - 4 Ropes (5,4,3,2)
4ths place - 3 Ropes (5,3,4)
3rds place - 2 Ropes (3,5)
2nds place - 1 Rope (3)
Lead - 0 Ropes (-)
Lead - 0 Ropes (-)

The other advantage of ringing plain hunt is that once you have rang over that rope, you will not follow them again until after you have reached the back, so you can effectively ignore that rope when spotting the new one.

Churchyard Bob (Plain Hunt with a Grandsire Start)

Churchyard Bob (aside from a Warwickshire Beer) is a "method" that can be used to teach Plain Hunt and covering.

The premise is simple it is plain hunt but with the bells making a Grandsire start.

Well what does that mean?

Treble Hunts to the back
2nd leads and hunts out
3rd makes a place in 3rd then hunts in
4th Dodges 4/5 down with the 5 and hunts in
5th Dodges 5/4 up with the 4 and lies behind

Then after that everyone continues to plain hunt.

It does also mean that it never comes back into rounds, the order at the backstroke of the trebles lead is 1 2 5 3 4

What does it look like?


Why Ring It?
It has the advantage that the treble passes each bell in order 2, 3, 4, 5 each time. This can help the learner see the order without explicitly being told it. It is easier to look one bell to the right each stroke then to the normal order. It also gives the learner clues when they are at the back or front as they have passed the 5th.
The tenor also covers over the bells in order, after the initial dodge, again this is a good introduction into ropesight.
When preparing to learn grandsire it can be useful to get ringers used to the work being done at the start of the lead rather than at the end as in plain bob.

Disadvantages?
Of course the biggest issue is that in never comes back into rounds, though a clear that's all will hopefully resolve this issue.
Also, the same effect can be achieved by calling the bells into the order 1 2 5 3 4 and going into plain hunt from there. Doing so will have all the advantages/disadvantages as if you ring Churchyard Bob.

Goal Setting

In work and school we are set goals that we must achieve and are assessed on how well we have done so, and yet in ringing this does not seem to happen.

So why set goals?

Simply in order to try and maintain progress. Sometimes it is easy to get to a point, say ringing plain bob doubles and think you have arrived and then not prgress any further.
Why are you ringing what you are ringing now and where do you want to get to? Without a specific goal we can sometimes wander along with a vague momentum pushing us along.

What sort of goals should be set?

Goal setting should be done SMART as George Doran would say. This is a mnemonic for goal settings.

S - Specific
The goal should be defined specifically, so "I will ring better" is not a specific goal, "I will improve my striking" is more specific but still not great, or "I will ring Plain Hunt from the 4th". This is what you are hoping to achieve.
M - Measurable
The specific goal should have some concrete way of determining when you have achieved it, this links to Specific, "I will ring better" is very hard to specifically measure, whereas "I will ring plain hunt" is measurable you can either do it or not.
A - Attainable
This is more specific in terms of ringing, with personal goals, whether or not it is attainable is purely down to you, in ringing though quite often it is the band which provides the limit. Afterall, there is no point in having a goal of ringing suprise if the band you ring with cannot ring it, or of ringing plain hunt 12 in a 5 bell tower. Similiarly, they also need to be within reach, picking that you want to ring plain bob when you are still learning to handle might not be the best of goals.
R - Relevant
This is more common sense, the goal needs to related to what you are doing. A goal of "I will bring cake to every 4th practise" while it will be popular with your commardes probably does have little to do with you improving your ringing.
T - Timed
When is this to be achieved by? Open ended goals tend to get pushed back but with a fixed date for completion. Again this should be tied into how attainable it is, if you have just started ringing a goal to ringing rounds unaccompanied within 6 months is perhaps realistic, a goal to ring splice surprise in that time frame is probably not.

What does a SMART goal look like?

For example a ringer who has mastered plain courses of bob doubles in a strong band might choose:
"I will be able to ring unaffected touches of bob doubles without needing to be put right within 3 months"

Or generally "I will be able to [ Goal ] within [Time]"

Summary

SMART goals help people focus on where they are and what they want to do. These do not need to be formally kept by the tower captain and such structure might not be a welcome addition to all, as for some the idea with the excercise is just to move along at a comfortable pace without feeling pressurised to attain. Also bear in mind some ringers have a niche, they get to where they can ringing what they want and do not see the need to go further.
When reviewing the sucess/failure of the goal remember to provide clear feedback and do not be put off giving the same goal again but with a different time scale or perhaps choose a different goal similiar to the stretch/consolidation excercises.

Progressive Plain Hunt

An alternative way of teaching plain hunt involves the learner ringing from the treble and progressively plain hunting further out.

E.g. they start making 2nds and.back, which is what they do starting on the treble for Mexican wave. (Also, this can be done for various methods where the treble hunts to 2nds and back).

Then thirds and back again this can be rung in a method like cloister.

Then fourths and back again this can be done to methods like penultimus.

Finally to fifths and back.

This has the advantage of teaching places and the feel of hunting to various positions.
Of course the big draw back is that they don't get the feel of hunting out slowly and in quickly until the very end, but does help show ropesight.

It is worth noting that for the kinaesthetic learner this is a great way to learn plain hunt, but for the more traditional oral/visual learner they will probably prefer to learn the traditional way.

Traditional Plain Hunt

Plain hunt is the first "method" that a ringer is taught and is the hardest thing that they have yet come across. It is the building block of everything else that they will learn.

Firstly, what skill set does the learner need?

Lead competently
Speed up
Slow down

All of these should have been developed while teaching rounds and call changes. The change of speed is identical to that which they need to do when holding up to go back a place or speed up to go down a place.
It is worth noting that for the first time they can be changing places at backstroke as well. Perhaps try doing changes where the change is made on backstroke so that this does not feel too strange.

Terminology

Across the ringing community, the same action is described in a number of different ways just because you know what the terms are don't assume your learner does and try to be consistent with how you use them.

Leading - two blows (one whole pull) in first place. I don't think that there are too many variations on this
Hunting Out - each stroke (hand and back) move one place higher 1,2,3,4,5. Sometimes "Go out", "Out to the back", "Up to the back"
Hunting In - each stroke (hand and back) move one place lower, 5,4,3,2,1. Sometimes "Go in", "In to the front", "Down to the front"
Lie Behind - two blows in the highest place the last out stroke and first in stroke.

How to do it

Depending on the confidence of your learner there are a number of ways to teach this, explain what it is that they are going to be doing, from the lead change place each pull until they are in 5ths place and then ringing quicker each blow down until you are leading again.
Many people will argue against telling the learner the order of bells that they are following, I would not do this. The learner will be struggling trying to change pace of their bell, try and see who they are following, instead give them both pieces "2nds place over the two, thirds place over the four etc.".
I have tried teaching people as an intermediary stage to only change at handstroke, this then instills the order of the bells that they are following but the pace is "unnatural", my personal experience does not show this to be of any benefit, though that could just be my learners.
What will tend to happen is that the learner doesn't get high enough or doesn't come back down. Let the rounds settle down each time before trying again, and don't try a continue until the learner is getting back to the lead reasonably well.
Other than that it is just hard work and lots of practise.

Progress while not ringing

There are times when you wish that your learners would just “get it” or make quicker progress than they do. There are certain activities that they can do to improve their skills when not ringing.

Improving rope sight

Rope sight is a difficult thing to teach, some people just see it, others struggle and never quite get it. There are several exercises that the learner can do to try and help them improve their rope sight while sat watching ringing.

·         Whilst ringing with a covering tenor, get the learner to try and spot who the tenor is following

·         Try and spot what order the bells lead in

·         Try and spot whom the treble is following

These are best attempted while ringing plain methods like Bob Doubles.

Improving listening skills

Being able to hear your bell in the change is an art and with more and more bells is even more difficult, but if you can hear it then you can correct any crashes around yourself, so what the learner can do is while they are sitting and waiting try and get them to hear the treble or the tenor in the change, and where it is and if it moves. Picking the treble or the tenor is easiest as they are the highest or lowest notes in the change, once they can do that move on to the 2^nd (or 2^nd to last) bell and they can repeat until they are able to hear where the middle bells are without difficulty.

Homework

At the handling stage there is very little that can be done away from the tower, however, once the learner is confident at called changes you can start giving them things to think about during the week in between practices. Simple things could include getting them to think about how they would call changes from Rounds to Queens and back, the blue line (or circle of work) for doubles methods. It seems to me that the more experienced ringers become the more “homework” they do learning new compositions/methods indeed my desk is usually strewn with blue lines that I have drawn out.

Progression vs. Perfection

There is a fine balance between progression and perfection. I have seen both extremes a ringer who claims to ring surprise minor who couldn’t strike in rounds and a learner whose rounds were practically perfect but didn’t learn plain hunt because the striking wasn’t quite up to scratch.

Progression is important as it allows a new challenge and gets the learner up to speed with the rest of the band, the temptation can be if you are one short for a particular method to bring the learner up to speed quickly to get them to ring what you want, while this is all well and good it should not be done at the detriment of learning all the steps properly in the meantime.

Perfection is, of course, what we all strive for. People say that method ringing is supreme however I have had just as much enjoyment in ringing some very good rounds and called changes in Devon as I have ring surprise in Liverpool. Certainly, the called changes were the better struck ones in that case.

The balance can be very hard to achieve. In inexperienced bands striking perfection is not always such a requirement as if the learner is striking as good as the rest of the band that is good enough. In an experienced band the learner could be striking just as well but because the rest of them around the learner are that much better they aren’t moved on. Continual progression is important in keeping ringers interested.

Using feedback you can balance the need for progression with perfection so let them know that they are ringing well but need to strike better before moving along. Perhaps consider practising the skill in another way using consolidation or stretch exercises.

Feedback

It is important to give feedback to learners soon after each activity. Positive feedback is just as important as negative feedback. However, giving feedback itself is a tricky subject. You need to know the learner well enough to give feedback at a level that they understand. I have heard some brilliant feedback in my time but the person it was given to had no idea what had just been said to them. The other thing to bear in mind is the experience of the learner, if it is their first time ringing plain hunt then being super critical on their striking probably isn’t appropriate, if it is their umpteenth course of bob doubles then criticising the dodges that had been crashed through would be wholly appropriate. The key thing though is for it to be constructive, criticising dropped backstrokes at the leads is one thing, explaining what they have done and how to correct it and why they should is something else, the first just criticises, the second is constructive feedback.

Feedback can also be given during a piece of ringing. However, remember that your band is made up of individuals who will respond to feedback given in different ways. Shouting at someone that they are crashing their handstrokes in may in the short term improve them, but may undermine the confidence of the ringer, some may have no issue with faults being announced across the circle. Others would prefer this information to be given whispered in the ear by someone standing behind them.

Feedback can also be very useful in helping you plan the practice and for the individual. While talking to the learner about the feedback you can explain what you are trying to get them to do, how to do it and why they are trying to do so. It would also be important at that time to discuss with them about what they feel they are doing, how they think it is coming along and what they think they are heading towards. Hopefully, these will be in line with each other and if they are not this can then be aligned. It can also be used to identify any requirement for consolidation exercises.

Consolidation and Stretch Exercises

I tend to classify the work for my learners into three types:

1.       Revision of previous works

2.       Current Work

3.       Additional Work

The revision is either the same work that the learner did last week, or the step before. This should be a good solid piece of ringing which does not need to be prime, but should put the learner into the mind-set that they are here and ready to ring, this should be the first thing that a learner does. A good piece should give the learner confidence in doing something “easy” well. This then helps to build them up so they can do the next work.

For example:

A learner is currently putting both strokes together, not their first time of doing so. The first time they ring this practice night get them to do some backstrokes and handstrokes singularly so they relax.

Current work is what you have planned for them to ring this evening. This would usually be the prime ring and should make up the majority of the time on the end of the rope.

Additional work is either Consolidation or Stretch.

Stretch is for when the current work has been rung well and consistently throughout and gives the learner an opportunity to ring the skill that they have just learnt but in a different context. This could well form the basis for what will be current work next practice.

For example:

A learner has rang Bob Doubles without problems striking well and then as a stretch ring an unaffected touch. This way they continue to ring their plain course but with the bells around them in different positions.

Consolidation is for when the current work is not good enough to progress but it has not improved over a period, or there is a specific aspect which needs addressing,  these pieces of work either re-visit a skill that has been learnt previously or apply it in a different sense.

For example:

A learner has rang Bob Doubles but keeps making mistakes while making 2nds. There are many opportunities to practise this but based on the learner’s confidence as to whether to do Mexican waves with them on the treble or two so they lead make 2nds lead or a method where the treble just hunts to 2nds like Bastow Little Bob Doubles.
 

In a lot of ways the consolidation and stretch excercises may very well be the same thing but used in different contexts. 

Confidence and Diffidence

Each of us is different and display different levels of confidence and diffidence and how confident we are affects our learning in different ways.

A very confident person will progress in leaps, generally, and will relish each challenge afresh. For them going from plain hunt to bob doubles in one step is a simple matter, in their minds at least. This on the one hand is very good as it enables them to learn in the traditional leaps and bounds style. They require the minimum of coaxing to get them to try something new. The downside of course is that they will often try to run before they can walk. This can mean that they want to progress onto the next challenge before the current one is completed to a good enough quality. The difficulty is trying to manage their expectation. Initially, this is not a problem, as the learning curve from first lesson to rounds and called changes is usually very rapid, it is from that point on where it starts to slow down. This sort of learner would do well to do “stretch exercises”   these are exercises which are practising the same skill that they have been doing, but might need some improvement, but in a different setting. This gives them the practise at the skill you are teaching them, but the feeling that they are doing something new and different. An example would be if they are trebling to bob doubles, getting them to treble to a different plain method like grandsire, that way they practise the skill (hunting) but it feels different as the bells are in a different order.

A very diffident person will progress at a more stately fashion, generally, and will have to be encouraged to try new challenges. For them going from plain hunt to bob doubles is a series of little steps with every minor setback a major event for them. For this style of learner progress is slowly gained because of a reluctance to try new activities. This can lead to the frustration of a teacher as they might be able to ring plain hunt perfectly on the treble with the bells in any order then not be able to ring a plain course from the third. The traditional approach of teaching makes it hard work for these types of learner as the initial steps are larger than they would like to make. This sort of learner may require “consolidation exercises” these are exercises which practise a small particular aspect of a larger part. For instance, continuous dodging to practise the dodges in plain bob doubles, or continually ringing one particular lead. This gives them a focused practise on the small aspect that they are trying to achieve without having to worry about it being completely new.

Of course no learner is completely one or the other and can be a different mixture based on what else is happening in their lives at that time. The trick is to try and balance them out and ensuring that the confident ringer gets the skill good enough before moving and with the diffident it is pushing them on so they do continue to make progress without overwhelming them.

Learning Styles

Each learner has their own style of learning. As a teacher it is up to us to adapt to the learners learning style to teach them in a meaningful way. Traditionally, things have been taught in one style and if that does not correspond to your way of learning then you are disadvantaged.

The most commonly used model is based on Neil Fleming’s VAK model:

·         Visual

·         Auditory

·         Kinaesthetic

Visual learners learn through seeing things written down, or similarly organised. These people need to see what you are talking about, our exercise traditionally helps such learners by the way we show our information, blue lines and circles of work are perfect examples  of how they take information that is best for them. For such ringers once they are method learning they are in the best place. So for instance they will best learn a 3-4 down dodge through seeing it written down and how the two bells doing the dodge interact.

Auditory learners learn through hearing and speaking things to understand. These will hear and often repeat information given them in order to organise it. So talking to the learner about what they do is the best way for them. For instance they will learn best a 3-4 down dodge through explaining that they are hunting down and need to hold all the way up into 4ths and then quickly back down to 3rds and to the lead.

Kinaesthetic learners are ones who learn through doing. These will feel what needs to be done, though without a visual or auditory element it is often difficult to get them to feel it, though we all use this to some extent, like learning where the balance point on the bell is, we can’t be told where it is, we can’t hear or see when it is there but we can feel it. For these learning the 3-4 down dodge will be done by feeling what the different pulls are like to understand what the dodge is like.

While the model itself has many opponents, it is certainly easier if you are able to teach using all three techniques then they will get information from each source.