The Story of Merry Bells

My wife and I attended a Christmas party one year. At this party, our friend introduced us to playing Christmas songs together with handmade chimes. They had big posterboards with handwritten letters for the chime notes and we would follow along, playing Christmas songs by dinging our individual chime note with a metal spoon at the appropriate time. It was so fun! When we came home from the party my wife immediately told me she would love a set of chimes and posterboard charts.

My wife was planning to make her own chimes, but discovered a bell set at a local music store. The bells didn't come with music, so I created some charts for her.

We brought our new bells and charts to our next family Christmas party and it was a hit! It became an instant, fun family tradition. Each year we would bring our bells and bell charts and had a lot of fun together.

At the Christmas parties, my wife was usually the one directing the group by pointing to the colored squares with a wooden spoon to help everyone stay together with the right timing. One year she told me she loved playing the bells and wanted to be a bell player instead of always directing the group by pointing to the chart notes.

I thought to myself, “Is there a way we can all play the bells together without needing a human director? Is there a way to automate the posterboards somehow?”

Several months later a thought popped in my mind out of the clear blue one morning: “Instead of following notes on charts, the group could follow along on their TV via some type of video showing the notes.” There you have it, that very day the idea of the Merry Bells Play-Along concept was born!

I knew my brother had video editing experience and could maybe help with the video animation. We worked hard for many months with trial, error, retesting, etc. Finally, we were able to produce an animated video that was simple, fun, and easy to follow!

At our next family Christmas party, we brought a projector and played it on a big screen. The family was amazed. They had so much fun together playing their favorite Christmas songs with several bell sets! With the new Play-Along video we had created, it was easy for everyone to see the notes and follow along.

We introduced the public to Merry Bells at a Christmas Gift Show in Salt Lake City in 2018. We set up a TV in our booth and had visitors play the bells as they were directed by the Play-Along. It was a hit! People of all ages loved it and could play immediately even if they didn't have musical experience. It was so rewarding to see the genuine joy and fun everyone had playing Merry Bells together.

At the show, a lot of people asked us if we had additional songs besides the Christmas songs. We realized we needed to add more! By the following year we had created three additional collections so Merry Bells can be enjoyed year-round: Children's, Patriotic, and Primary songs.

Creating Merry Bells has definitely been a lot of work but it has provided many people, families, and friends the opportunity to “Ring in the Fun!” We love the joy and happiness Merry Bells brings to so many people. Knowing that people are having a great time together in a positive and uplifting way is so satisfying and keeps me motivated to continue to provide Merry Bells to all.

I am happy that my wife can now sit down and play along with the family.

That’s our story. Now it’s your turn to go “Ring In the Fun!”