Chrismas Eve Traditions - Part 2 - Handbells

I'm not really sure where the handbell tradition started, but I love it. At first encounter, it might seem a little juvenile to sit around ringing rainbow-coloured toy bells, but it is always the highlight of the evening for me. Sure, everyone enjoys the mini talent show and trombones and stuff, but with handbells, everyone is a star.

So, before you can play the bells, you have to warm up with some carols.










After a thorough dose of carols, it time for the bells!
My favourite bell is probably the yellow one, because it sees lots of action. For example, Jingle Bells is almost a yellow-bell solo. Of course, you usually get two bells, so it's nice to get a yellow and an orange, or maybe a nice yellow/blue combo.


This year, I picked nearly last and ended up with only one bell -- a red one. Red is a great-looking colour and it appears in plenty of songs. However, I found out as we started to play a song that I didn't have the regular red (Low C), I had the DARK red one (High C). Some songs don't have a single note for the dark red bell (usually I would only play on the final chord), and I didn't have a second bell, so I felt a bit cheated. I know I shouldn't feel that way on Christmas Eve, so I consoled myself by taking extra pictures until it was time to hit a high chord.


(Uncle Terry had a dark red bell too -- that's why he's staring at the ceiling.)

With my free time, I was also able to capture some video of Santa Claus is Coming To Town. This partially captures that inevitable moment following each song when everybody rings their bells willy-nilly and creates a truly deafening cacophony. I pretend to plug my ears, but secretly I love it.