(Plain) Bob Minor

I started learning Plain Bob Minor, or more simply Bob Minor, early in 2009 after having learned a touch of Plain Bob Doubles. Perhaps foolishly I began learning it at the same time as Grandsire Doubles. This description starts with the assumption that the reader is already comfortable with ringing a touch of either Plain Bob Doubles or Grandsire Doubles.

The Extent of a Minor method is six times that of a Doubles method. With 6 bells there are 720 possible ways in which to sequence the bells ( 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 720 [or 6!]). Both Bobs and Singles are required to cover all 720 changes. Many Touches shorter than the full Extent are possible.

When I first looked at this method I figured that it should be a fairly straighforward extension of what I already know from Plain Bob Doubles. While this is true, there are more challenges than I expected.

How to ring a Touch of (Plain) Bob Minor

A Plain Course

Unlike the Doubles methods there are now 6 bells to worry about. The Treble performs a sequence of Plain Hunts. The other five bells perform the method and there are five different pieces of work which appear in the cycle: 2nds, 3-4 down, 5-6 down, 5-6 up, 3-4 up.

In this fragment of a Plain Course the Treble is leading and the working bells are each doing one of the five pieces of work:
bell #2 makes 2nds,
bell #4 performs 3-4 down,
bell #6 performs 5-6 down,
bell #5 performs 5-6 up,
bell #3 performs 3-4 up.

Dodges

In Bob Minor you dodge 4 times, once with each of the other working bells. The dodges at the back are with your course and after bells. The 3-4 dodges are with the other two working bells.

Passing the Treble

Passing the treble in Bob Minor has similarities to Bob Doubles and also to Plain Bob on even more bells..

passing the treble in:	next piece of work	comment
2nd place	2nds	same as Bob Doubles, and for yet more bells
3rd place	dodge 3-4 up	same as Bob Doubles, and for yet more bells
4th place	dodge 5-6 up
5th place	dodge 5-6 down
6th place	3-4 down	if you think of this as passing the treble in last place, then it is the same as Bob Doubles, and for yet more bells

A Touch

Reminder: the Treble is about to lead when a Bob or a Single is called.

		What to do at a Bob		What to do at a Single
about to do	place at call	new work to do	next piece of work	new work to do	next piece of work
2nds	lead	run out2	2nds	2nds (unaffected)	dodge 3-4 down
3-4 down	4th	run in1	3-4 down	reverse 3rds4	2nds
5-6 down	5th	unaffected
5-6 up	6th	unaffected
3-4 up	3rd	make the bob3	5-6 down	make the bob3	5-6 down

The response to a bob in Bob Minor is the same as for Bob Doubles and also for Plain Bob on any number of bells. No matter how many bells are ringing Plain Bob only those that are in places 2, 3 and 4 when the bob is called are affected and then run in, run out or make the bob.

¹ run in

to run in continue plain hunting down to the front and then out to the back and perform the dodge 3-4 down when back in 4^th place on the way down.

² run out

to run out plain hunt until you return to the lead and then make 2nds.

³ make the bob

to make the bob hunt to 4^th place and then back to the lead.

The response to a single in Bob Minor is the same as for Plain Bob on any number of bells greater than 6. No matter how many bells are ringing Plain Bob only those that are in places 3 and 4 when the single is called are affected with one performing reverse 3rds and the other make the bob.

⁴ reverse 3rds

to reverse 3rds continue hunting to 3^rd place, made two blows (over the bell making 2nds) and then hunt out to the back.

The following illustrates how the working bells are affected by when a Bob or a Single is called at a particular point.