Figurenotes

How can Figurenotes help as we plan to return to our settings?

Today the Scottish Government released guidance on returning to early years settings. Many practitioners in Scotland and all over the world will be wondering how music is going to fit in to the “new normal”.

Here at Figurenotes HQ, we want to help all of our customers continue to provide their vital contributions to the development of young people. We have teamed up with Drake Music Scotland‘s Associate Musician Fi Sharp to provide some useful resources which enable practitioners to carry out music sessions for their young people.

Fi has made these super handy videos which help to plan activities from our First Figurenotes pack. You can find these handy resources and supporting videos under the Lesson Plan tab on our Resource Base. There is something for everyone including emotion stories, movement activities, Figurenotes parts and fun-filled cross curricular activities like this one.

Whether you are new to Figurenotes or a distinguished #FigurenotesChampion, we have something for everyone on our Resource Base. Subscription is £23.99 a year (less than £2 per month) and is full of useful resources, tunes, lesson plans and much much more.

Brand new customer? You can get everything you need to get started with our Early Years Value Bundle!

Visit our online shop and grab your First Figurenotes pack today.

Happy Figurenoting!

As a strange summer stretches before us, musician Francis Moore-Colyer looks ahead to the joy of what is to come.

“After a long time at home, we can start to get excited about the future.

When you feel ill, the very best bit is how good you feel when you’re better again.

When you miss something, the very best bit is how you feel when you get it back.

I miss making music with other people, face to face, in real time. And now I can’t wait to get back to it. There is no better feeling.

It’s going to be amazing to see other people beside me smiling along to the music.

It’s going to be wonderful to feel the energy of other people helping to drive the music onwards.

It’s going to be incredible to react to what other people do when they make music and to see where the music will go.

And it’s going to feel SO GOOD to look people in the eye at the end of a bit of music; to see that moment when we all realise that we’ve just created some magic!

I want to laugh and smile in that moment again – to feel the excitement that comes when we can go back to the start of the music and enjoy it once again!

I want that conversation where we say ‘let’s just go for it, let’s talk with music’ or ‘let’s use our imaginations and just see what happens’

I’m excited to get back to making music with others, in real time, in the future. I hope you are too. For now though, let’s be happy to wait a little while longer, if we have to. Because, after all, it’s this waiting, this missing, this wanting, that will make the moment feel even sweeter.”

What a wonderful ode to music-making and togetherness. This time has been hard on everyone. What have you done to share a musical experience during lockdown?

Musician Francis Moore-Colyer talks about some of the ways technology has helped us through lockdown.

“I find that making music can be light relief from ‘work’ – household chores, schoolwork, shopping for groceries, etc.

Taking part in music can be a release from these mundane or stressful things, because it sets off lots of sparks in our brain — a very different combination of sparks to normal. Musical activity, or even just listening to a song, can refresh our mind and centre us for whatever’s next — it can be like a ‘detox’ for the mind.

Technology has stepped up to make lots of musical activity possible during lockdown; it has been a really useful tool!

Streaming services and concerts have given us access to music from home. Listening to music can help us to work through our emotions, unleash our imagination, and even escape to a dream world for a bit. You may find you need this even more during this time.

Remember, your friends and family are sharing this forced ‘home time’ experience, so send them videos of you playing music and get them to send you theirs. You could always call them to discuss your favourite music or host a listening party. Or, if you are desperate to play together, get together on Zoom and have one of you muted.

Not only have we been able to see each other on video calls and laugh together (often about how our long hair has become), but we’ve also been able to share ideas. I’ve particularly enjoyed sharing ideas with other teachers about how to help young people with music activities.

One of the many websites I’ve been using is Chrome Music Lab.

The Chrome Music Lab helps us to learn how we can build music from the inside, out. It shows us the ingredients of music and helps us build it up from there – a great way to approach learning anything! Best of all, you have the chance to put some music together yourself. I love it when games give you the space and time to explore independently. Music is all about creating something of your own and this site shows us a way to do that.

We’ve had to get creative over Zoom and other apps, as they make us play separately (the internet doesn’t let us play together as we normally might). This means we are learning great lessons in turn-taking. We play ‘your turn, my turn’, or ‘you say, I say’. This exercise highlights the communication element in music. Music is, after all, a language.

Phew! So much to do. So much to create. I am very thankful that we live in a technological age that makes all this possible.

Whatever you do, enjoy.”

You can find lots of videos helping you to use apps and music technology over on the Drake Music Scotland website: https://drakemusicscotland.org/resources/ Take a look at the ‘Tutorial’ and ‘Training’ pages in particular.

Musician Francis Moore-Colyer shares some ideas for unlocking your creative side during lockdown.

“If you have to stay at home, you might have more time to get creative. Everyone has a creative side, so let yours out!

Thankfully, most of us have access to the internet or recorded music, which means we can play along to our favourite tunes at home. Here is a lovely video from one of my fellow musicians at Drake Music Scotland — enjoy this great Scottish tune!

Firstly, get to know the song or piece of music, inside-out. Listen to it lots. Each piece of music is made up of lots of different individual sounds — the ‘ingredients’ of the music, if you like.

Now, you can find your own ingredients and add these to the mix! Use your imagination, your ears, and any instrument you have and just go for it! What sounds can you find to fit the music? I hope you find this fun 

But what’s all this about instruments? Some of us have them at home, some don’t. BUT…we can all make our own instruments out of things we find around the house. I’ve had fun watching videos on how to make household percussion. Why not have a go yourselves? Try this site for some ideas, or watch the videos below.

There will be more from Francis in his ‘Don’t lockdown your creativity’ series.

Share your videos and pictures with us via social media and let us know what you’ve been up to.