And we’re live!
Our new website is live and ready to be explored. All of our Figurenotes resources in one place, with just...
Figurenotes Drop In Sessions
The Figurenotes team will host online drop-in sessions throughout 2026. These will take place every few months over the course...
Training Dates Added
Did you miss out on our online course in November? Secure your spot for the next one and enjoy a discounted...
Happy Holidays
As festive concerts come to an end, we wish all of our Figurenotes community a restful and happy holiday season...
New Plans for the Hub
Exciting plans are in development. To make way for more accessible resources, we are winding down the Figurenotes Accessible Music...
Free Starter Pack Launch
Fancy some free resources? We have updated our free bundle of resources for 2025. Anyone who receives our email newsletter...
Did you miss it?
Did you miss it? Don’t worry, we recorded it just for you. At the start of June, we delivered a...
New Training Dates Released
Did you miss out on our online course in May? Secure your spot for the next one and enjoy a...
BBC Ten Pieces Webinar
Join us for a webinar exploring Figurenotes and BBC Ten Pieces resources. 3rd June 2025, 4-5pm...
Free Early Years Training
We’re delighted to be partnering with Early Years Music Scotland again this year to deliver a free online workshop. We’ll...
Early Bird Training Rate
Sound the trumpets! Booking is now open for ‘Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice’. Our flagship course, delivered online in small groups...
“An amazing amount of inspiration in such a short time”
A very apt Gingerbready tale rounded off our Developing Your Practice course at the end of November, leaving us within...
Christmas Closures
We know that the Christmas build-up requires careful planning, especially for musicians. With this in mind, we want to let...
Figurenotes for Clarion
Great news for Clarion users. You can now access Figurenotes colours and patterns within the instrument. “Figurenotes is an incredible...
BBC Ten Pieces Launch
We are thrilled to continue our relationship with BBC Ten Pieces this year. Figurenotes resources have featured in every list...
Guest Blog: Portable Transition Game
I have been developing my use of Figurenotes for mainstream children of various ages through 1-1 keyboard tuition.
I’d like to share a DIY transition...
“Renewed and Revived My Passion”
Wednesday mornings have never felt so good. We were sad to come to the end of the latest Developing Your...
Tech Army, Assemble!
Tech Army, Assemble! We’ve never responded to an offer of help so quickly. Scottish Tech Army got in touch to...
Bordering on a Party!
“Inspiring, Engaging, Informative, Fun.” “Wonderful training. Thank you!” “I’m feeling so inspired!”...
MuseScore Plugin Update
We have been in contact with some of you recently regarding the Figurenotes plugins for MuseScore 4. There were a...
Seeds of Inspiration
Keep an eye out for the postie if you’ve made an order with us recently. Figurenoters receiving stickers, magnets, and...
Book your Professional Development for 2024 – now with student discount
Booking is now open for our ever-popular course for music educators and facilitators. Read on for more information, including funding...
Christmas Party Games
The festive cheer has well and truly taken over at Figurenotes HQ. We’ve been planning some Christmas Figurenotes activities for...
Music Mark Conference
The end of November saw the Figurenotes team heading down to Southampton to present at the Music Mark Conference 2023...
Christmas Order Dates
Snow is falling, all around me (we are in Scotland, after all). The children have indeed been playing (mostly Jingle...
Down With the Kids
Figurenotes partnered with Early Years Music Scotland to deliver a free workshop in accessible notation...
Only 3 places remaining
Only 3 places remaining on our Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course. Delivered online in November. CPD for all music educators and...
MuseScore 4 Plugins
Calling all MuseScore users. Are you up-to-date with MuseScore 4? Have you also updated your Figurenotes plugins? There are 2...
A VI(M)P member of the band
Our staff band got a new member last week when MP Tommy Sheppard joined us to workshop some new arrangements...
Free Early Years Training
We are partnering with Early Years Music Scotland to deliver free Figurenotes training. This is part of their year-long programme...
Guest Blog: Less Talking, More Success!
In today’s guest blog we look at why Figurenotes has been so successful in additional needs settings. Iain Macleod works...
Guest Blog: Giving Tools to Talent
In today’s guest blog, Fiona Sharp shares the success of a talented pupil she is working with in Scotland. Fiona...
Funding for Training
Would you like to join our online Figurenotes course, but don’t have the budget? We can help with that. The...
Notate – Computer keyboard as MIDI keyboard
Did you know you can use your computer keyboard to input notes into your Figurenotes notation programme? We’ve got a...
Prestonfield Pop Stars
What better way to spend the last few weeks of term than get a whole class band going! In the...
Screen Reader Access for Notation Software
We have been working closely with our software developer, Tayfusion, and Drake Music Scotland Associate Musician Sorcha Pringle on accessibility...
What suits you?
After feedback that our current training clashes with the school run (we see you, jugglers) we need your help to...
YMI asks #YMusicMatters
The Scottish musicians and teachers among you will likely know the Youth Music Initiative well. This music education initiative, funded...
Figurenotes Online Training Returns
Come and join us for award-winning CPD for music practitioners and educators. Do you want your pupils to learn to...
Christmas Orders
Tis the season to play jingle bells more times than you care to mention! Yup, that’s right, the festive season...
“Loved it, really inspiring and lots of new ideas, thanks!”
That’s a wrap on the latest Figurenotes training course Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice with a fabulous group of musicians and...
Creative Edinburgh Awards
Summerhall opened its doors to a whole load of local legends on Friday night when it hosted the 10th Annual...
Figurenotes Hits the Big Apple
What did you do last week? Anything exciting? We did! Drake Music Scotland are back from an exciting trip to...
Training returns for November
We have great news! Figurenotes training is BACK 🎉 for all teachers, tutors, music practitioners, and music therapists. Join us...
Figurenotes on the Web – Exclusive Discount!
New improved software you can access from any internet enabled device. Our Figurenotes software has undergone a much needed makeover...
Figurenotes Journeys: J’s Story
Learning is a journey, and we are here for it! Our new segment Figurenotes Journeys is all about highlighting the...
Christmas Orders
We’re feeling particularly festive this year. Everyone is in need of a big bucketful of joy after such a tough...
“The best CPD I’ve ever done!”
“Not only was the training great, it was also really fun, which is so important” As always, we had an...
Making Music Together IRL!
It was a long wait, but our first in-person training since the pandemic started took place last week. It was...
Training returns for September
Did you miss out on our online course back in April? Well, we have great news! Figurenotes training is BACK...
And the winner is…
Our highly sophisticated random selection tool has chosen a winner for our Figurenotes Champion competition. Congratulations, Lifesize! You have won...
Inspiring. Encouraging. Loved it!
“Really great to see everyone’s ideas and the range of different minds from all over the world – great for...
Could You Develop Our New Figurenotes Software?
We are looking for companies with experience in developing music software to help us take Figurenotes to the next level...
I just had to share!
“I thought you’d like to hear this story” is always an intriguing start to an email. We LOVE hearing your anecdotes...
The Challenge Is On!
We are thrilled to be part of Drake Music Scotland‘s Challenge Project with Creative Informatics. Could you help us find...
Are you a Figurenotes Champion?
Feature your organisation on this site and across our social media channels – join our Figurenotes Champions Showcase! We know...
Top Tips for Online Teaching
After a year of lockdowns, school closures, and U-turns, many of you will be total pros at remote, hybrid, synchronous...
Teaching Figurenotes Online part 2 – Hear My Music
Emily Carr-Martin from Hear My Music has continued to provide high quality music provision during lockdown. Here she gives us...
Teaching Figurenotes Online part 1 – F Sharp Music Practice
Fiona Sharp of F Sharp Music Practice has had great success with her online music sessions during 2020 and into...
New Musescore Plugin for Transition Between Stages
We’ve got a special Christmas treat for members of our Resource Base – a new Musescore plugin! Subscribers to our...
Figurenotes Online – Developing Your Practice
The world’s first online Figurenotes training programme has launched! Figurenotes Online: Developing Your Practice This new interactive course...
Happy 10th Birthday Figurenotes Software
Ten years ago today, Drake Music Scotland unveiled the prototype Figurenotes software at their ‘I Can Play Music’ conference at...
Emmeline McCracken – ELM Music Therapy
In our latest guest blog, Emmeline McCracken shows us how she uses Figurenotes in her work as a music therapist...
Updated Sticker Design
If you’ve ordered Figurenotes Stickers recently, you might have noticed a slight change in their design. The same shapes and...
Music in Primary
How can Figurenotes help music sessions happen as Primary School returns? Educators all over the world are either in preparations...
Resume the Routine
How can Figurenotes help as schools plan to return next week? Teachers, pupil support assistants and practitioners do incredible work...
Early Years Music Returns
How can Figurenotes help as we plan to return to our settings? Today the Scottish Government released guidance on returning...
Guest Blog: Don’t Lockdown your Creativity – 3. Hope
As a strange summer stretches before us, musician Francis Moore-Colyer looks ahead to the joy of what is to come...
Guest Blog: Don’t Lockdown Your Creativity – 2. Technology
Musician Francis Moore-Colyer talks about some of the ways technology has helped us through lockdown. “I find that making music...
Guest Blog: Don’t Lockdown Your Creativity – 1
Musician Francis Moore-Colyer shares some ideas for unlocking your creative side during lockdown. “If you have to stay at home...
Power Up Your Practice
Lockdown has brought different challenges to different people. You may have discovered that you’ve got tonnes of time to practise...
Got Rhythm? #FigurenotesChallenge
Rhythm is so intuitive with Figurenotes – the note is as long as it looks! So how does it all...
Figurenotes Challenge Champions!
Figurenotes HQ would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who took part in our first #FigurenotesChallenge. It...
Somewhere Over The Rainbow Project #FigurenotesChallenge
On Thursday 30th April at 8pm, musicians all over Scotland are going to pick up their instruments and show their...
Learn to Play Music at Home with Figurenotes! #StaySafe
Staying home comes with some challenges, but one HUGE positive is we can still make music. You might even have...
New Music Scotland Awards
Figurenotes projects have led to nominations in FOUR categories of the Scottish Awards for New Music 2020. Diversions, written by...
Coronavirus Delays
Please note that, while our online shop is still open, there is likely to be a delay in processing orders...
BBC Young Composer
We are very excited to see that the BBC Young Composer competition is accepting alternative notation. This means you can...
ThumbJam & Figurenotes
ThumbJam is undoubtedly one of the greatest apps of all time! This much has always been known amongst music botherers...
Music Teacher’s Toolbox Returns!
Our ever-popular training for music teachers and practitioners returns on Saturday 21st March, 2020. Come and develop your knowledge of...
Really relaxed and informative day! Lovely environment to create, think and share.
As we wrap up our final Music Teachers Toolbox Training Day of 2019, one of our favourite things to do...
SAME Conference 2019
“I’ve been using Figurenotes with ASN pupil since earlier this year & love it. Was great to hear a bit...
Ten Pieces Trailblazers!
The 2019 Ten Pieces are here! Looking for some inspiration for the new school year? Well, look no further. The...
Figurenotes Collect @ Craigmarloch
Figurenotes Collect @ Craigmarloch School The final leg of Figurenotes Collect is over! This collecting exercise culminated in visiting Craigmarloch...
Figurenotes Collect @ Parklands
Another leg of #figurenotescollect done! And what a day it was! This time around Rebecca visited the lovely Parklands School...
Figurenotes Collect @ Teens+
As some of you may already know, we are in the process of applying to update the current Figurenotes Software...
“Could we have more please!!!”
“Great course, thank you! So many ideas for new functional musical activities.” “Could we have more please!!!” What a day! Big...
Music Teachers Toolbox
Hello Figurenoters! We are thrilled to announce the programme for our upcoming Music Teachers Toolbox on Saturday 23rd March 2019...
Introducing Our New Figurenotes Officer Rebecca Di Rollo
Welcome back Figurenoters! We hope you had a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Here at Figurenotes...
Important Christmas Dates
December is upon us and the festive season seems to be in full swing here in Scotland! You’ve probably been...
“I’d love for it to be on again this weekend!”
“Today’s training has been a fantastic experience. Fantastic course and people! Thank you very much!” “Music Teacher’s...
Work with us!
Are you our Figurenotes Officer Maternity Cover? We have an exciting opportunity to work with Drake Music Scotland, the nation’s...
New Format for Music Teacher’s Toolbox
This November, Music Teacher’s Toolbox will have a reinvigorated structure. Although we always vary the activities, this training day will...
Training at Aberdeen University
“I feel sorry for those people that couldn’t make the training today, as I think they’ve missed out on something great!”...
Summer Orders
You know it is a good summer when even up in Scotland we get a heatwave! Our staff will be...
Top Tips in New Tutorials
If you follow our Facebook page, you may have noticed our new series of video tutorials. Commissioned by The Space...
“Thank you for such a fun training day!”
“I loved my day. Thank you very much. You have inspired me and made me very excited to get back...
Celebrating 20 years
As Drake Music Scotland celebrates 20 years of pioneering work, we hear from Chief Executive, Thursa Sanderson, on the role...
Aiding Recovery with Figurenotes
This wonderful project, which uses Figurenotes to help in the recovery from eating disorders, was brought to our attention recently...
Busting into Boston
Not a sentence that many people in the UK have uttered in the last week, but we have been extremely...
Daring to Drum
Rhythm is the heart of Figurenotes. From banging out beats on the drum kit, to beautiful marimba solos, you can...
Prioritising the Piano
Figurenotes is perfectly suited to the piano. By placing stickers on the white notes, we make it much easier to see...
Where Does Your Money Go?
Proceeds from Figurenotes resources go to Drake Music Scotland. This wonderful charity enables people with disabilities to learn, compose, and...
When did you last get CPD?
When did you last invest in yourself? Twice a year, we run a full day of training for music educators and...
Christmas Updates
Well, we are nearly there. You’ve heard your pupils play Jingle Bells approximately a bazillion times and you are ready...
New in Dorico!
We have a new, easy way for people to access stage 3 of Figurenotes. Figurenotes progresses through 3 stages towards...
“Always something new to learn”
A vibrant group of people attended last week’s Music Teacher’s Toolbox. We had a mix of mainstream teachers, music specialists, music...
“I can’t wait to get going!” – ABRSM Conference 2017
“I am so excited about this!” “I’m so glad I came to talk to you. This is great!” “Ooh, this...
Getting to Grips with Guitars
So you want to be a rock star? Start a Figurenotes band! Beginners can start playing together very quickly. This...
Blowing the Trumpet for Brass
This mini-series started with strings, worked with woodwind, and now we are blowing the trumpet for brass! There are Figurenoters...
Working with Woodwind
For the second instalment of our mini-series on how to use Figurenotes with different instruments, we will focus on woodwind. In the...
Starting with Strings
This series of blogs will focus on using Figurenotes with different instrument families. Let’s get started with strings. There was...
New BBC Ten Pieces Resources
Once again, the BBC have asked us to create accessible resources for their Ten Pieces initiative. The BBC are launching...
Pick-a-Brick (and other tips)
I know you teachers are a committed bunch and spend much of your holiday time thinking about next term and...
Guest Blog: Creating a Figurenotes Curriculum
Mark Browne and Jill Reeves have been using Figurenotes to great effect at Craigmarloch School, so we asked them to...
Thumbjamming with Figurenotes
At Drake Music Scotland, the charity behind Figurenotes, we love using Thumbjam. Obviously, we love using Figurenotes too, so we...
Music Teacher’s Toolbox – book your place now
You can now book your place on our award-winning training: Music Teacher’s Toolbox – Saturday 18th November, 2017, 10:00 –...
Exclusively for Resource Base Members
Our award-winning training is back! Due to a flurry of recent training enquiries, we thought we should open booking for November’s...
Snarky Puppy Workshop
It’s not every day you get to workshop with a Grammy award winning musician. Michael League from Snarky Puppy kindly...
Get Creative
Creativity needs nurturing. Parents and teachers often put the focus on technique and ‘getting it right’. I admit that I...
These Boots Were Made for Progressing
“It has been so awesome! Having fun just reminded me to be using Figurenotes more. Loved it all!” “Renewed enthusiasm with...
Guest Blog: Focus on Composing 3 – Composing at Hampden
In part 3 of her series of guest blogs, Matilda Brown lets us peek behind the scenes at her work...
Guest blog: Focus on Composing 1 – Introducing Figurenotes
In a new series of guest blogs, Matilda Brown, composer and community musician, gives us an insight into how she...
What’s in your Toolbox? More places!
You booked it – we made it bigger! Due to a rush of bookings, we have decided to release more...
New Resources with that Friday Feeling
We are delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with Snape Maltings (formerly Aldeburgh Music). Their Friday Afternoons project encourages...
A Special Launch in London
Are you visiting the Music Education Expo this Friday? Make sure you’re at stand M1 at 3pm. We are launching...
Guest Blog: Figurenotes Collaborations
Sam Dook from ‘Carousel’, a disability led arts organisation in Brighton, tells us of the joys of collaboration and composition, along...
Guest Blog: Figurenotes in Uganda (via Canada!)
We wanted to start 2017 with some positivity, so when Bern MacLeod emailed to tell us how they’ve been using...
Christmas Break
Figurenotes HQ will be closed from lunchtime on 15th December until 4th January 2017. I can’t say whether Santa and the...
Advent Calendar
We asked Santa and he can’t find your names on the naughty list, so you must have been very good...
“As always, inspirational! A great day!”
One of my favourite jobs on a weary Monday morning after a weekend of training is reading the feedback forms...
ABRSM Conference
“I just love it. It has worked so well!” “Wow! Figurenotes really transformed my lessons. I love it!” “The way...
CPD: 2 extra places released
“You’re going to need a bigger boat” – Music Teacher’s Toolbox is proving so popular that we’ve booked a bigger...
Guest Blog: A Short Flight to Standard Notation
Fiona Sharp uses BBC Ten Pieces and Figurenotes in perfect harmony, leading her groups to stage 3 Figurenotes. Learning the coloured...
Curiosity Award (and no cats)
Drake Music Scotland, the charity behind this site, recently won a Curiosity Award. This has allowed us to make a demo...
Guest Blog: But they’re the wrong colours!
Emily MacQuarrie tells us how she easily overcame the fact that the colours of tuned percussion don’t always match up...
“No stickers on the Steinway, please”
Ok, so your school may not have a Steinway, but I’m sure we have all run into this issue when...
BBC Get Playing!
Have you ever wanted to be part of an orchestra? The BBC have launched their Get Playing initiative, which includes...
BBC Ten Pieces
We now have a dedicated space on our Resource Base for BBC Ten Pieces. So, if you’ve been wanting to...
SQA Approved
Did you know that Figurenotes is SQA approved? You can use Figurenotes for both performance and composition in SQA exams...
Special Music Educators of the World, Unite!
We are super excited about presenting with the Finnish creators of Figurenotes at the ISME pre-conference seminar on Special Music Education...
Guest Blog – The Magic of Figurenotes
Adam Featherstone, a teacher from Middlesbrough, tells us how he used music from Harry Potter to inspire a creative project...
Video Killed the Radio Star
Most teachers and Figurenoters tell us that tutorial videos are the best thing for them to learn from (apart from our...
EPTA
This Sunday, we will be setting off bright and early to the EPTA conference in Edinburgh. To those not in...
That moment when…
We love watching the end of this video. People often start off scared, thinking they are ‘unmusical’ or that they...
A great way to spend a Saturday
Our Music Teacher’s Toolbox was a huge success last Saturday! Not only did we explore how to make the most...
Sharing the Knowledge
The nicest part of our job here at Figurenotes HQ is when we go out into the big, wide world...
Apologies
Apologies to any customers experiencing problems with Figurenotes software v3. Some issues have been reported, which can’t be fixed immediately...
Music Teacher’s Toolbox Returns
We cannot wait for April 23rd. Why? Because Music Teacher’s Toolbox is back! Come and join us for some seriously...
Ooooh, new software!
To stay up to date on v3, please join our mailing list Improvements to the new software will include: Triplets...
London Adventures
We recently sent three of our Figurenotes gurus down to London to spread the word at the Music Education Expo...
Wish us luck!
We are off to London for the Music Education Expo, 2016! Figurenotes has been shortlisted for the Best SEND Resource...
Christmas Order Dates
We have our Figurenotes elves until 17th December, when we have to give them back to Santa. Elves don’t get...
Exciting Awards News!
Through the work of Drake Music Scotland, Figurenotes has been shortlisted for Best SEND Resource at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence. After...
Figurenotes in Rio!
The Favela Brass Project has been using Figurenotes to teach their students with great success! They provide free instrumental music...
Facebook Group
Connecting with other Figurenoters is now easier than ever. Come and join in the discussion in our new ‘Figurenotes –...
Figurenotes in the USA
Music teacher, Andrea Monty, came to visit us at Drake Music Scotland’s base in Edinburgh. She was keen to find...
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