Chiming In
As you may have noticed, we are offering more and more for you to do online all the time. If you haven’t done so yet, log in to our Member Center at HandbellMembers.org, or just click the login button at the top of our main site to be directed there, and you’ll find a wealth [...]
From the President's Pen
Last summer I focused my article around the question of why handbells? My answer was centered around church handbell choirs. But I’ve had a concern about the need for music in our schools for quite some time now, and handbells are the perfect medium. It’s not an easy task, considering the state of our schools...
Executive Notes
Over the past several months, the national office has gone through some transition impacting staff and the programs we offer. Most of these have been announced to you, our members, through various communication methods: E-Notes, targeted email messages, Facebook posts, and here in Overtones.
Membership Matters
The military life has allowed me to experience cultures in many different corners of this great country. Thanks to a very good friend I realized that no matter where you are or what you are doing, you can always grow where you are planted.
Handbells in Education
Syncopation Safari
Helping Your Ringers Tackle Syncopated Rhythms
Picture this: You’re playing a cakewalk piece (cue birds chirping happily) with regular rhythms, nice even quarter and half notes and rests at predictable spots. Turn the page; (cue the “Mordor” theme) the B section looks like a dark, dank jungle of tangled ties draped from note to note, single eighth notes flitting here and [...]
Handbells in Worship
Your Church Choirs
To Festival or Not to Festival
At handbell festivals, most choirs represent a church, unless the festival is specifically targeted to another type of group. Attendance at festivals offers many benefits to the choir and to the church in which they ring. What are those benefits?
Feature
History of AGEHR Publishing
John Behnke Takes a Look at Music Publishing from its Beginnings in Overtones Until Now
Some easy puzzles have just 100 pieces. Some which are much more difficult have 1000 or more. I’m not sure how many puzzle pieces there are in the history of AGEHR Publishing, because I don’t think they have all been discovered, but I do know that AGEHR Publishing currently has exactly 700 published pieces in [...]
Handbell Musicians Roundtable
Building Closer Bonds Part 2
How Handbell Ensembles Become Stronger Teams
Anyone who has rung bells for any length of time knows that it’s a team sport. Obviously this is true in the making of music as an ensemble, but it goes deeper than that.
Tips & Tools
As you will have read in John Behnke’s article on the history of AGEHR Music Publishing, some of the first pieces written for handbells was included in the pages of Overtones.
Online Exclusive
Two Perspectives on Choosing Repertoire
This article is only found in the online edition.
What's Happening
Accepting Nominations for Honorary Life Award
The Guild’s first Honorary Life Membership Award was given to Frederick Sharpe in 1963 at the eighth National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Sharpe was the honored guest at the convention and was considered the foremost English authority on tower bells, having done much to further the art of handbell ringing during his lifetime.
