We have our Figurenotes elves until 17th December, when we have to give them back to Santa. Elves don’t get Christmas holiday like the rest of us. Please get your online orders in by 9am on 17th Dec in order to get them processed and posted by 4pm the same day. I’m afraid we cannot guarantee delivery by Christmas. This will be our last posting date before 5th January. For orders by invoice, please get them to us asap, as it takes time for invoices to be processed and paid. We will do our best to get them done before Dec 17th, but we cannot guarantee. Keep an eye on the Figurenotes Facebook page for lots of Christmas fun, free tunes, and silly videos. Merry Christmas!

Through the work of Drake Music Scotland, Figurenotes has been shortlisted for Best SEND Resource at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence. After winning the award in 2014, we are delighted to announce that we are finalists for 2016. It is wonderful to have all our hard work recognised and supported in this way.

We have great connections with a lot of the other finalists:

BBC Ten Pieces has Figurenotes resources as part of their brilliant music education initiative, making it easy to incorporate it into your teaching. Congratulations to the BBC Ten Pieces team for being shortlisted for Best Classical Music Education Initiative.

East Ayrshire Council has been shortlisted for Best Education Council Major Award. Drake Music Scotland have used Figurenotes extensively in their work with East Ayrshire Council in schools. It has been a really rewarding relationship and we are extremely pleased for them. SoundCity: Brighton and Hove are also up for this award, who have had Figurenotes training and continue to push for inclusion in their work.

Well done to everyone who made the shortlist, particularly our fellow finalists:

• Theremini (Moog)
• Skoog (Skoogmusic)
• SoundLab (Heart n Soul/Unthinkable Consulting/Goldsmiths/Public Domain Corporation)
• AlphaSphere

The Favela Brass Project has been using Figurenotes to teach their students with great success! They provide free instrumental music lessons for children in a small favela in Rio de Janeiro. Founder, Tom Ashe, says that Figurenotes “makes students’ first musical steps as simple and enjoyable as possible.” Their students regularly perform on trumpets, trombones, saxophones, glockenspiels, samba instruments and more! One of their most recent performance was at the Queen’s Birthday celebrations put on by the British Consulate-General in Rio de Janeiro. A huge boost for the students, not only for the prestigious performance opportunity, but also in motivation to practise! To find out more about Favela Brass and their Figurenotes journey, take a look at their website and Facebook page. We particularly like how Tom and his colleagues find new applications for Figurenotes all the time. It is such an adaptable tool to have in your teaching toolbox. Take a look at how they teach fingerings using Figurenotes projected on the wall.

Connecting with other Figurenoters is now easier than ever. Come and join in the discussion in our new ‘Figurenotes – Let’s Make Music’ Facebook group.

Share your ideas and inspire others, ask questions and get answers from us and other Figurenoters, and meet more of our worldwide Figurenotes community. Super easy to access from your Facebook page or app.

Music teacher, Andrea Monty, came to visit us at Drake Music Scotland’s base in Edinburgh. She was keen to find out how Figurenotes worked and whether it could help her and her students. We loved her enthusiasm and could see her mind whirring with ideas for her pupils.

Josh, one of her pupils, has loved learning with Figurenotes. He is a rock star in the making! Take a look at how enthusiastic he is. We love his attitude and his joy at playing music.

Andrea has been campaigning for better provision of music tuition for those with additional support needs and an expansion of her programme is being discussed, as well as possible training here in Scotland. Lots of exciting plans for Figurenotes in the future!

Figurenotes is spreading worldwide! We can ship to any country except Japan, so get your order in now!