Photo Rick Franusiak - Members of the hand bell choir at St. Christopher Parish hold a practice session in the church.

Who would have thought that being part of a hand bell choir would not be as easy as ringing a bell? For nine years, the Celebration Bells of St. Christopher Parish in Tonawanda have used an underhanded swing to ring out traditional Christian songs and holiday favorites.

“Our music director has always wanted to do a hand bell ensemble,” said Nancy Shaw, one of the original Celebration ringers. “Not too many Catholic churches have them because they are expensive. The equipment – tables, pads. You need all kinds of equipment for it. They got a committee to see if we could get this together.”

After the bells, the most important element is the people. It takes a large commitment of time for practices and performances. St. Christopher’s currently has 15 ringers, a strong number. The bell choir uses four octaves necessitating some people to ring as many as four bells, which may weigh as much as 18 pounds.

“When (ringers) start out they just start with one bell to break them in. They truly don’t have to know music; they do have to know how to count,” said Missy Yacono, another original member. “It does take time and energy, but it is fun because even when our groups are practicing, we enjoy each other’s laughter and laugh with each other instead of at each other.”

Each bell is tuned to a different note and must be rung with a very specific swing to produce the right tone. An interesting note is the clapper only moves in one direction, so it doesn’t strike the bell as the arm is coming down. 

The bells themselves must be handled carefully. Oils from the hands of the players can damage the brass, causing them to go out of tune. All ringers must wear gloves.

Shaw and Yacono, who direct the choir as well as play, search for music that is liturgically correct and musically challenging. “The Prayer,” made famous by Celine Dion and Josh Groban is one of the hardest they perform. Christmas songs are fairly easy. Different arrangements add or subtract from the difficulty by using more or fewer bells.

“It takes a lot of work and a lot of listening,” said Shaw. “I get periodicals that have music and CDs with them, so you can hear the songs. All summer long you will hear from my front porch, me playing Christmas music.”

Effects can be added like trills (by ringing the bells constantly), plucking, using mallets, and dampening using a thumb, table or body. “Anything that’s available,” said Yacono. There is also a relatively new technique called the singing bell, where a wooden dowel is stroked along the edge of the bell to create a vibration that builds, much like a finger on a wineglass.

Due to the large set up (playing requires several tables) the Celebration Bells usually play before Mass, and dismantle their gear before the celebrant takes the altar. 

“I’ll never forget the first time we ever played in front of the congregation,” said Shaw. “We had been practicing two months. It was our very first time. There were 11 of us at the time. It was like deer in the headlights. We were all so scared. We did OK, but we were really, really nervous.”

“We play for something and people come up, ‘We loved the bells we heard last week.’ It’s very gratifying to hear that,” added Yacono. “It sort of sets the mood. If we’re going to be praying the rosary, we’ll play a lot of Blessed Mother songs. It sort of sets the mood for the evening, and takes them from the busy life they’ve been leading to settling down before they go into the rosary.”

They usually play solo, but sometimes have some organ accompaniment. Once, they had a parishioner add some saxophone to their bells. 

“The first time I happened to be conducting and I was so amazed at the sound coming from the saxophone that I forgot to direct. Everybody was just looking at him like, oops,” recalled Yacono.

Shaw and Yacono hope the Celebration Bells will continue to grow. They are specifically looking for young people to join the group, and men to handle the large bells.

“I always call it the ultimate team sport, because if someone is missing, those notes are not getting played,” said Shaw.