October 29, 2020

Handbell Music for Halloween – the 8-Bell Funeral Tango

From time to time, people ask us if we have any handbell music for Halloween. It’s that spooky time of year again, so here’s something new. It’s our 8-bell arrangement of Funeral Tango.

This piece originally began life as one of the Low Ding Zone arrangements for bass handbell ensemble. A short while ago, we decided we wanted to be able to play it as an 8-bell duet. We have absolutely no idea if it will ever be a performance piece – and 2020 is clearly not going to be an appropriate year for that. Still, it’s fun to play, and Halloween is probably the only suitable time for us to introduce this arrangement. Ready? Here it is!

Feeling spooky enough to play this piece?

If you’d like to play Funeral Tango, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell ensemble – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

For more Halloween music, we also have an arrangement of The Spider Song (Incy Wincy Spider or Itsy Bitsy Spider, depending on your preference). Sheet music is available to download free of charge, from Choraegus.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs, so you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

Any questions for us?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, and we’ll do what we can to help!

Handbell music for Halloween - Funeral Tango

October 26, 2020

Handbell Duets at South Haven First United Methodist Church

December 27 at 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EST

Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing handbell duets as part of this Christmas worship service. Please note that this service will take place ONLINE ONLY.

First United Methodist Church

429 Michigan Ave
South Haven, Michigan 49090 United States + Google Map

October 22, 2020

Now the Green Blade Riseth / Sing We Now of Christmas – for 6 Handbells and Piano

Now the Green Blade Riseth is our latest 6-bell arrangement. We’ve been arranging and publishing small-group music since 2012 – i.e. before it was cool! One of our goals has always been to write music that’s challenging and interesting enough for skilled handbell musicians to want to play, even when only a very limited range of bells is used. When Larry had shoulder surgery and we started arranging music for just six bells, we wanted to continue this goal. Our latest 6-bell arrangement turned out to be one of the more-challenging pieces in that range. If you’re looking for something different and fun for Christmas or Easter, this piece might work for your group! After all, who doesn’t appreciate a 7/8 time signature? Wait. Don’t answer that.

A versatile arrangement – for Easter and Christmas!

The arrangement was originally written as Now the Green Blade Riseth, but we recorded it with a batch of Christmas music, with a red poinsettia on the music stand. Thus, it became Sing We Now of Christmas as well. One arrangement for two occasions!

As with all our 6-, 8-, 12- and 16-bell arrangements, there are no bell changes and no shared bells. There are no techniques that require tables or foam pads, so any of these arrangements could work for a socially-distant handbell ensemble. They’re also useful for performances where space is limited. Four-in-hand technique is not required; this 6-bell arrangement could also be played as a trio, with each ringer holding two bells.

If you’d like to play this piece, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately, for anyone who doesn’t have a pianist available, or wants to practise at home.

If you’d looking for an arrangement of this carol that doesn’t need piano accompaniment, we also have standard and “surprisingly easy” 8-bell arrangements available from Choraegus, and a 3-5 octave, level 3- arrangement for full handbell choir.

More information about Choraegus handbell music

Please note that sheet music from Choraegus is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchase of a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score), and also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

October 19, 2020

New Music for 8 Handbells and Piano – For All the Saints

“For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!”

By special request, here’s an accompanied 8-bell arrangement of For All the Saints. With the much-loved hymn tune Sine Nomine, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906, this is a popular choice for All Saints’ Day on November 1st. Our demonstration video was recorded at our Victorian summer cottage at Bay View, Petoskey, on a chilly October Sunday, with rain pelting down outside.

As with all our 8-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals, and no shared bells. There’s no need for tables, making it suitable for a socially-distanced handbell group, playing from music stands.

Information about downloadable music from Choraegus

If you’d like to play For All the Saints, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. We also have an mp3 file available to purchase separately; useful if you don’t have an available accompanist, or for rehearsal purposes.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials such as church service bulletins.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answer you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

The Bay View Memorial Garden, near Petoskey, Michigan

October 14, 2020

New 8-Bell Music for Thanksgiving – Now Thank We All Our God

We have to admit it; we’re at the time of year when we’re already starting to think about Christmas music. First, though… we need to stay focused on fall/autumn, and all the lovely hymns for this time of year.

Our latest hymn arrangement is an eight-bell arrangement of Now Thank We All Our God. We’ve had this arrangement since 2014, but, for some unknown reason, we never managed to record a demo video or make the music available on the website. The sheet music came to light just recently, and we thought it would be a good idea to put it onto the website without any further delay! We recorded the video at our summer cottage near Petoskey.

Would you like to play this piece?

If you’d like to play Now Thank We All Our God, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs, so you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

October 12, 2020

New 6-Bell Christmas Music – Sussex Carol

“On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring.
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King’s birth.”

Our latest handbell arrangement needs just six bells and a piano. It’s the popular English Sussex Carol, sometimes known by its first line “On Christmas Night All Christians Sing”. As with all our 6- and 8-bell arrangements, there are no bell changes and no shared bells. There are no techniques that require tables or foam pads, so any of these arrangements could work for a socially-distant handbell ensemble, or in places where space is limited.

We started writing and playing 6-bell music after Larry had shoulder surgery, but the sling is not a requirement (obviously!), and neither is 4-in-hand ringing. Three people could play this arrangement, holding only two bells each.

If you’d like to play Sussex Carol, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately, for anyone who doesn’t have a pianist available, or wants to practise at home.

If you’d looking for an arrangement of this carol that doesn’t need piano accompaniment, we also have standard and “surprisingly easy” 8-bell arrangements available from Choraegus, and a 3-5 octave, level 4 arrangement for full handbell choir.

More information about downloadable handbell music from Choraegus

Please note that sheet music from Choraegus is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchase of a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score), and also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials such as church service bulletins.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the information you’re looking for, and we’ll do what we can to help!

October 5, 2020

New 8-Bell Music – Come, Ye Thankful People, Come – for Handbells and Piano

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come… to Michigan! We love this time of year, when the leaves turn to all shades of red, orange, yellow and brown, and the weather starts to feel colder. Pumpkin spice is in the air (well, all over Facebook, anyway). Our thoughts turn to harvest festivals and Halloween, and Thanksgiving is fast approaching.

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come is our latest arrangement for eight bells and piano. We recorded the video at our Victorian summer cottage at Bay View, Petoskey, where we’ve been spending a lot of time in recent months. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the sound of cars going past on US-31 – and that’s why we don’t usually record our demo videos while we’re there!

As with all our 8-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals mid-piece, and no shared bells. It can be played from just music stands, which makes it suitable even for socially-distanced handbell groups.

If you’d like to play Come, Ye Thankful People, Come, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our m usic site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately. This is useful if you don’t have a willing accompanist, or if you want to rehearse at home.

More information about Choraegus handbell music

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on when sharing online, and in any printed materials.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll be happy to help!

September 30, 2020

New Handbell Music – 8-Bell Chopsticks!

After a long summer with no scheduled handbell performances, we finally had a long-awaited opportunity to share some handbell duets with an audience! We enjoyed playing some 8-bell duets for the Holland Area branch of the American Guild of Organists. Since we didn’t know when our next performance would be, we’d tried out some new and unpublished arrangements. One of these was an 8-bell arrangement of Chopsticks. We’d only had this piece for a couple of days beforehand, but it turned out to be a lot of fun to play!

Would you like to play Chopsticks?

If you’d like to play Chopsticks, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Useful information about Choraegus handbell scores

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

If you’d like to play Larry’s 3-5 octave arrangement of Chopsticks, it’s available from From the Top Music!

Any questions?

September 27, 2020

Our First Handbell Duet Performance Since the Michigan Lockdown!

Michigan lockdown, live music performance

The Michigan lockdown has had a huge effect on live music performances. It was a very necessary process, but people have been missing the usual round of concerts and music-sharing events. Yesterday was an exciting day for us, because we had a long-awaited opportunity to get back to giving a real-life handbell duet performance – in front of an actual audience!

Today’s handbell program

Our handbell duet program was for the American Guild of Organists, Holland Area Chapter. The group had originally scheduled our performance to take place in May. However, the unhappy combination of Larry’s shoulder surgery and the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to that! The AGO’s spring schedule was cut short, and our performance couldn’t happen. We were thankful to have an opportunity to present our handbell program today instead!

We appreciated the careful preparation for our performance. It took place outdoors, at First Reformed Church here in Holland, Michigan. The audience observed careful social distancing, and masks were worn. The sound system was there to make sure everyone could hear us. We were also far enough away from the audience to be able to take our masks off during our performance.

Social distancing and music performances

This summer, with the lack of performance opportunities, we focused our energy on writing and publishing new music. Today gave us the chance to perform some of the new pieces for the first time. These pieces included our not-yet-published 8-bell Chopsticks, and our recent arrangements of Beach Spring and I Stand Amazed.

One of the things we enjoy most is answering questions about handbells. We were happy to talk about the four-in-hand techniques we use, and about the music we play and where to find it. We also talked about the challenges for handbell choirs in this time of social distancing. There were several handbell musicians/directors in the audience, and we enjoyed hearing about how their choirs are sharing music. It was also fun to talk about the music available from Choraegus that’s suitable for socially-distanced handbell choirs to play!

Thanks to all involved!

Our thanks go to the Holland Area AGO for inviting us to present this handbell program. We’re also thankful to First Reformed Church of Holland for hosting the event and making us so welcome. Thanks to everyone who put on their mask and came along to support and encourage us!

September 14, 2020

New Handbell Music for Christmas – It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – for 6 Bells and Piano

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is our latest carol arrangement. Since Larry had his shoulder surgery in May, we’ve been enjoying the challenge of working on some handbell arrangements that can be played using only six bells, with piano accompaniment. Larry doesn’t need to wear his sling any more. However, he’s been putting it on for the last few 6-bell demonstration videos, because why waste a perfectly good sling?

Larry’s arrangement of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear has no bell changes, no shared bells, and needs no tables, so it would work perfectly for a small ensemble to play.

Would this piece work for your small handbell ensemble?

If you’d like to play It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately, for anyone who doesn’t have a pianist available or wants to practise at home.

And look! There are more!

We have several other arrangements of this hymn, all available from Choraegus, and all suitable for socially-distanced handbell groups:

An 8-bell (unaccompanied) arrangement

A 12-bell arrangement

An 8-bell arrangement of the traditional English melody NOEL, also used for this carol

Please note that sheet music from Choraegus is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchase of a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, as well as in any printed materials.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!