Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Carol of the (Hand)Bells.

A while back, before my knee and back problems made standing for long periods of time too excruciating to bear, I was a member of my church handbell choir. It was a lot of fun and at times, quite challenging. It's rather like being one (or, really, two, since you usually play at least two bells at a time) of the keys on a piano keyboard, and for music to happen, every key has to do their job just right or it all falls apart.

Anyway, when it works well, it can be beautiful to listen to and also fun to watch. So, here are a few handbell performances of Christmas music that I enjoyed listening to on You Tube.

Sleigh Ride



Carol of the Bells



Nutcracker Suite on handbells



God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen



And this one has nothing to do with Christmas, but dude. It's Stairway to Heaven on handbells. I couldn't leave it out in all good conscience.



How about you? Have you ever played in a handbell choir? Any fun You Tube handbell links you want to share? Comment and you could win a copy of Rita Herron's HIS SECRET CHRISTMAS BABY.

Also, I'm blogging today over at the Intrigue Author's Blog at eHarlequin. Please drop by--it's all about the kisses.

3 comments:

Jemi Fraser said...

Absolutely lovely! I've never been lucky enough to hear the hand bells in person, but these videos are awesome :)

Kea said...

I can't recall hearing hand bells in person, either -- not solely hand bells, at any rate.

I am SO not musically inclined. Never learned to play an instrument, am close to being tone deaf, I think. LOL. I'm great at singing off-key, though. :-)

Linda Henderson said...

The church I attend has a handbell choir and it is wonderful. Every now and again they have the kids groups do a number with the bells too. My grandson loves it.