Bell tones are sounds produced by instruments that are not bells but imitate the sound of bells by adjusting the volume. This usually means that a sound is hit hard, like a bell, and then sustained with a gradual decrescendo, like a struck bell slowly sounding out. It’s a common technique in a variety of musical genres, especially orchestral and jazz music. In addition to notation on paper instructing a musician to play bell tones, a musical group’s conductor usually uses hand signals to direct the musicians in producing the bell tone sound.
Bell tones are usually written with an accent above the initial note and a decrescendo that lasts the duration of the note in notation. Though a vertical accent mark is the technical term for the accent used to indicate a hard attack on a note, musicians sometimes refer to the accent as a carrot. If the bell tones are longer than a single measure, they are indicated by a tie that connects multiple notes indicating the length of the note. A tie is a curved line that connects one note to the next, indicating that they should be played together without pausing. Over the notes, it looks like a half-parentheses.
The decrescendo is also an important part of creating a bell-like tone. A decrescendo is a symbol that looks like a stretched-out greater-than symbol that begins open at one end and gradually narrows to a point on paper. The decrescendo narrows as the note progresses, indicating a decrease in the intensity or volume of the bell tones. It usually lasts the entire length of the note. A crescendo, on the other hand, resembles a stretched out less than symbol and instructs the musician to gradually increase the sound intensity at the specified rate. The decrescendos and accents that make up bell tones are usually performed by a musical group using hand signals.
Bell tones are used in music to guide instruments that are playing the same melody as bells, as well as to simulate the sound of bells. This ensures a consistent sound that conveys the intended sound, which is meant to resemble bell striking and reverberation. This technique is frequently used in Christmas-themed instrumental pieces by composers to simulate church or holiday bells.