The Learning Curve

Between 1999 and 2007 the committee provided a series of regular articles on teaching and learning that were published in The Ringing World on the first Friday of each month. Most of these articles were written by John Harrison, then chairman of the committee.

The collected articles are available in book form from Central Council Publications:

The Learning Curve, Volume 1: 1999-2001
The Learning Curve, Volume 2: 2002-2003
The Learning Curve, Volume 3: 2004-2005
The Learning Curve, Volume 4: 2006-2007

You can download the indexes of the four individual volumes in a single PDF

The Learning Curve online

By arrangement with The Ringing World and Central Council Publications, each of the 102 articles is also available as an individual PDF file, listed in the tables below. You are free to use them for training purposes.

Complete on-line index with links direct to the relevant articles.

Volume 1 (1999-2001)

Vol-Chap	Published	Title	Vol-Chap	Published	Title
1-1	Jun 1999	Welcome to The Learning Curve & Raising and lowering in peal – from scratch	1-2	Jul 1999	Good striking and rhythmic ringing
1-3	Aug 1999	It’s all double Dutch	1-4	Sep 1999	Small steps
1-5	Oct 1999	Guided by the Treble	1-6	Nov 1999	Something for everyone
1-7	Dec 1999	Thinking about bellhandling	1-8	Jan 2000	Principles
1-9	Feb 2000	Turning in the Tenor	1-10	Mar 2000	Small is beautiful
1-11	Apr 2000	Over the top	1-12	May 2000	Something a little different
1-13	Jun 2000	Feeling the bell	1-14	Jul 2000	Double handed ringing
1-15	Sep 2000	Learning methods	1-16	Oct 2000	Call changes
1-17	Nov 2000	Back seat drivers	1-18	Dec 2000	Knowing where you are
1-19	Jan 2001	Doing it with style	1-20	Feb 2001	Ringing methods in hand – 1
1-21	Mar 2001	Ringing methods in hand – 2 and 3	1-22	Apr 2001	Ringing methods in hand – 4
1-23	May 2001	Older learners	1-24	Jun 2001	Setting the pace
1-25	Jul 2001	Learning the ropes	1-26	Aug 2001	Old learners or ageless problems?
1-27	Sep 2001	To move or not to move?	1-28	Oct 2001	Ringers and musicians
1-29	Nov 2001	Fighting the bell	1-30	Dec 2001	Collapsing touches

Volume 2 (2002-2003)

Vol-Chap	Published	Title	Vol-Chap	Published	Title
2-1	Jan 2002	Hands and arms	2-2	Feb 2002	Intermediate methods
2-3	Mar 2002	Why learn Grandsire?	2-4	Apr 2002	Observation
2-5	May 2002	Does size matter?	2-6	Jun 2002	Visualising methods
2-7	Jul 2002	Chiming	2-8	Aug 2002	Coils and things
2-9	Sep 2002	More about coils	2-10	Oct 2002	Music to the ears
2-11	Nov 2002	Go …	2-12	Dec 2002	Muscle memory and flying
2-13	Jan 2003	The long and short of it	2-14	Feb 2003	Go … again
2-15	Mar 2003	Leading	2-16	Apr 2003	Mother of invention
2-17	May 2003	Speed	2-18	Jun 2003	From the same hymn sheet
2-19	Jul 2003	Motor learning	2-20	Aug 2003	More hymn sheets
2-21	Sep 2003	Perfection versus holism	2-22	Oct 2003	Simulators
2-23	Nov 2003	More invention	2-24	Dec 2003	It depends how you look at it

Volume 3 (2004-2005)

Vol-Chap	Published	Title	Vol-Chap	Published	Title
3-1	Jan 2004	Conducting and coursing order – 1	3-2	Feb 2004	Conducting and coursing order – 2
3-3	Mar 2004	When things go wrong	3-4	Apr 2004	Place notation
3-5	May 2004	Steady as she goes	3-6	Jun 2004	Minimus is good for you
3-7	Jul 2004	Something original	3-8	Aug 2004	What if …?
3-9	Sep 2004	How fast should we go?	3-10	Oct 2004	Beyond the blue line
3-11	Nov 2004	Know your instrument – 1	3-12	Dec 2004	All roads lead to Rome
3-13	Jan 2005	Know your instrument – 2	3-14	Feb 2005	Ringing and numbers
3-15	Mar 2005	Once more with feeling	3-16	Apr 2005	Knowing and doing
3-17	May 2005	Fitting together	3-18	Jun 2005	Taking the lead
3-19	Jul 2005	Listen to the music	3-20	Aug 2005	Grids
3-21	Sep 2005	Bob Doubles – The Holy Grail?	3-22	Oct 2005	Helpful bits of structure
3-23	Nov 2005	I got rhythm	3-24	Dec 2005	Is there another way?

Volume 4 (2006-2007)

Vol-Chap	Published	Title	Vol-Chap	Published	Title
4-1	Jan 2006	Conduct Grandsire Doubles – 1	4-2	Feb 2006	Conduct Grandsire Doubles – 2
4-3	Mar 2006	Know your instrument – 3	4-4	Apr 2006	Learning all eleven
4-5	May 2006	Quarters are good for you	4-6	Jun 2006	More helpful structure
4-7	Jul 2006	Judging	4-8	Aug 2006	Eyes down for a full house
4-9	Sep 2006	Viewed from the treble	4-10	Oct 2006	Double Oxford
4-11	Nov 2006	Calling quarter peals	4-12	Dec 2006	Learning to hunt
4-13	Jan 2007	Ears to hear	4-14	Feb 2007	Singles in Stedman Doubles
4-15	Mar 2007	Yorkshire on higher numbers	4-16	Apr 2007	Double Norwich
4-17	May 2007	Up and down	4-18	Jun 2007	Pieces of eight?
4-19	Jul 2007	Rope movement	4-20	Aug 2007	Ropesight
4-21	Sep 2007	Knowing your place	4-22	Oct 2007	Getting it together
4-23	Nov 2007	More or less?	4-24	Dec 2007	Keep on learning

The end of an era

With the December 2007 instalment of The Learning Curve (TLC to its habitués) the series came to an end. John, whatever his faults, is not one for blowing his own trumpet, so EdC Webmaster thought that the following note written by Robert Lewis, Editor of The Ringing World, in the issue of 7 December 2007 would be a fitting conclusion to the series.

This issue contains the final instalment of our monthly educational series The Learning Curve, which has been running now for eight and a half years. May I pay tribute to John Harrison for coordinating the series and writing most of the articles. His contributions have always landed on my desk on time and ready for immediate publication.

It is easy to underestimate the time, effort and dedication that has to go into sustaining a regular feature in The Ringing World, especially one as ambitious as The Learning Curve. John has met that challenge in a most impressive way and we owe him a real debt of gratitude. The end of The Learning Curve does not, of course, mean an end to educational articles in The Ringing World . . . education remains a cornerstone of our mission to the Exercise.