The Jefferies Chime • 1899: What is a chime?

Chimes

A chime is a musical instrument consisting of from eight to twenty-two bells usually placed in a tower. Eight bells ( a diatonic scale or one octave) is considered the minimum necessary to be able to play tunes. Additional bells may extend the range or add chromatics (half tones). The Jefferies Chime has ten bells: eight are the diatonic scale, one extends the range to a tone above the scale, and one is a chromatic equivalent to a B-flat if you think of the diatonic scale as a C-scale. The B-flat adds a great deal of versatility as it allows playing tunes in the key of F. There is another hand-rung chime nearby (across the Wissahickon creek) at Saint Timothy's, Roxborough (fourteen bells). Cornell University in New York state has a chime of twenty-two bells.

Carillons

Twenty-three or more bells (a range of two octaves and fully chromatic except possibly for the lowest two or three notes) make a carillon. There are two carillons in Germantown: The 50-bell Shelmerdine Memorial Carillon of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown at 6001 Germantown Avenue and the 47-bell carillon of the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal at 500 East Chelten Avenue. (The original 26-bell carillon at the Shrine, installed in 1901, is the fourth oldest carillon in North America. Coincidentally, the Shrine's tower was completed in 1899, the same year that the Jefferies Chime was constructed, installed, and dedicated.)

Rings

A ring of change-ringing bells usually consists of at least four bells that rotate and are rung in mathematical sequences by a band of ringers, one ringer per bell. There are two sets of change-ringing bells currently operational in Philadelphia: Saint Mark's at 1625 Locust Street in center city and Saint Martin's-in-the-Fields at 8000 Saint Martin's Lane in Chestnut Hill.