Covenant
“Covenant” is bold and uplifting, perfect for worship, concert or school programs. Level 1 for 3 octaves, it involves every ringer throughout and is fun to ring with its not-so-usual ABC form in Eb major. (Your AB5 ringer will be happy to ring more than usual – AND on the final chord!) Subtitled “The Road Home,” this is also a great teaching piece: beginning ringers experience simple syncopation, ties, question/answer format, musical form, augmented rhythm, triads in closed and open positions, repeated motifs, parallel motion, dynamic contrast, scales and embellishment. Clever and engaging, simple and straightforward, the performance time is 1:45. The few well-placed marts are optional, so “Covenant” may be played on bells or hand chimes. An optional C instrument or 10-bell Bell Tree part is included for an even stronger impact. Kath Wissinger’s 5th/6th grade class composition project for 2020-21, this piece was started during class sessions January 2020, continued online through the Spring during the initial Covid lockdown, and finished up in Fall 2020 when outdoor, distanced in-person classes resumed. The demo recording is from their virtual Christmas program, recorded outdoors in freezing, windy weather using chimes. Yes, bell ringers are flexible!! To accommodate the challenging outdoor class setting, “Covenant” had no page turns and no shared bells and is diatonic (no bell changes), so it can be played without tables or pads with ringers socially distanced if necessary. It also coordinates with the method book “Square One” (RE3013R) – Section J. See other composition projects in the Class ring series – “Failing Light” (L1, 3/5 oct. RE3020) and “In the Beginning” (L2, 3/5 oct. RE3010). Look for an upcoming series from ringTrue featuring Kath’s workshop and class notes called “Building Blocks.” One edition will focus on organizing composition projects such as this.
All ringTrue scores are available as hard copies – as well as digital downloads.
“Covenant” is part of the Class ring series – music worthy of both classroom time and concert/worship - written with a specific pedagogical focus. More pieces in the “Class ring” series are listed in the back of the score and can be found at www.handbellworld.com by searching under the “Series” category in the Music Selection Assistant. Find all ringTrue pieces by entering “RE” in the Stock # Search box and all pieces by Kathleen Wissinger by entering “Wissinger” in the composer box. Check out ringTrue’s Facebook page for updates and new releases, and Handbell Educators FB page for ideas for ringing in the classroom. Let’s Ring!