Touches of Stedman Triples

About Stedman Triples

Stedman Triples is the classical expression of Fabian Stedman's impact on the art and science of Change Ringing.

• It is a principle, all working bells perform the same work.
• It is elegantly simple in concept.
• It is markedly different from hunter class of methods
• It is challenging and absorbing to ring
• It demand a whole new set of techniques

Stedman is hugely popular, at March 2025 Complib had over 1,700 compositions for Stedman Triples.

The purpose of this page is to enable a basic level of understanding of touches of Stedman Triples, along with making the process of choosing an appropriate touch as easy as possible.

Solo practice of the touches can be achieved easily in Ringing Room and Handbell Stadium by linking to Complib. Abel needs the composiitions to be presented in Abel format, and this site also provides that code where necessary.

This site covers compositions mentioned in Stoecklin and Gay, Volume 2, and various other reference documents.

Observation bell(s) and calling positions.

The seventh is most commonly used as the observation bell. With 14 sixes in a Plain Course there are 14 calling points.

Grid:

Diagram: 27985 Stedman Triples, 7th observation, calling positions.

One approach to composing Stedman works on the basis of double calls, and labelling those calls in a manner that relates back to the observation bell's work. These calls are

7th - Observation Bell Positions and Work

Composition Layout

The composition layout is designed to give the conductor sufficient, unambiguous information to call the touch, and as intended by the composer. A good example is this 5 part quarter peal

Diagram: Complib 39790, 1260 Stedman Triples.

Stedman is normally rung starting from rounds as the 4th row of a quick six, hence the first course starts from change-row 2314567.
(1253467) is the change row at the course-end following the part end (which again is row 4 of the quick six).

It will also be evident that bells 6 and 7 finish the part in their starting positions, this produces a rotation of work aamongst bells 1 to 5, and the ringer of 5-6 can treat 6 as a secondary observation bell.

Abel Compositions

Abel is provided with a small number of Stedman compositions on the 7bell.mcf file. This page gives the layout of those compositions plus a specific link to Complib for the analysis of handbell positions for each pair and easy viewing of the blue lines, or for use with Ringing Room and Handbell Stadium

The composition is provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file, and serves as an introduction to making and ringing calls in Stedman Triples. Based on the double calls (represented by X) it minimises the issues associated with entering the frontwork.

This composition is also referenced on p. 241 of Stoecklin and Gay, Advanced Techniques.

The short touch is provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file, and serves as an introduction to ringing singles in Stedman Triples.

The short touch is provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file, and serves as further practice at ringing singles in Stedman Triples.

The short touch is provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file, and serves as further practice at ringing singles in Stedman Triples. Compared with the preceding compositions, this one has more calls, is more musical and can be used as a stepping stone towards a quarter peal.

This Quarter Peal length is provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file.

Stoecklin and Gay Compositions

Stoecklin and Gay provide a number of compositions for Stedman Triples in Volume 2, PP241 - 243. This page gives the layout of those compositions plus a specific link to Complib for the analysis of handbell positions for each pair and easy viewing of the blue lines, or for use with Ringing Room and Handbell Stadium

The composition is also provided as standard with Abel on the 7bell.mcf file, and serves as an introduction to making and ringing calls in Stedman Triples. Based on the double calls (represented by X) it minimises the issues associated with entering the frontwork.

Progressive Lengths Compositions

Building stamina and concentration is important for reaching performance standard, to that end we have provided some "progressive" lengths.

The short touch is fairly short but quite tricky, but with nice music.
Rounds occurs as the first row of the six after 2143657.

1-2 cycle through the three pair patterns, 1-2, 3-4/5-6, and 6-7 whilst 3-4 are unaffected by the calls and 5-6 ring 2 courses in 3-4/5-6 and 1 in 6-7. This goes to 504 (6 courses) by inserting singles, see PL504.2.

The composition has calls each time 2 goes in and out quick.

The composition is a simple transposition of PL336.1, but has calls each time 7 goes in and out quick. 1-2 only ring the two coursing positions, never 3-4 position at all. Be prepared to ring most of the plain course before the first call.

The composition is readily extended by the addition of one course making 420 as follows:.

The composition is readily extended by the addition of one course making a 2-Part 504 as follows:.

The addition of a double call at L in the third course converts this into Thomas Brooks' 5 Part Quarter Peal, see touch 1260.1

1-2 cycle through the three pair patterns, 1-2, 3-4/5-6, and 6-7 and are affectted by the singles, whilst 3-4 are unaffected by the calls and 5-6 ring 4 courses in 3-4/5-6 and 2 in 6-7.