Great news for Clarion users. You can now access Figurenotes colours and patterns within the instrument.
“Figurenotes is an incredible resource, and we’re thrilled that it’s now accessible to musicians who play Clarion. We hope this will create new opportunities for many more musicians to make music their way!”
Barry Farrimond-Chuong MBE CEO, Open Up Music
What is Clarion?
The Clarion is an innovative, accessible instrument that can be played expressively with any part of the body, including eye movement. Created by Open Up Music, it has been used within Open Orchestras and other projects for many years. Try it for free on iPad and PC. To unlock more features you can purchase Clarion Education Licences.
A Clarion pattern
BBC Ten Pieces
Excitingly, the patterns for the BBC Ten Pieces open score arrangements are already available in Figurenotes colours within the app. Clarion users can play some ridiculously fun game music in Laura Shigihara’s Grasswalk from Plants vs Zombies, as well as the mystical imaginings of Judith Weir’s Magic from Storm. To find out more about BBC Ten Pieces Figurenotes resources, see our blog explaining what is available.
How to find Figurenotes
To use Figurenotes colours within your Clarion patterns, go to Settings. You’ll find Figurenotes as an option within the Note Colours dropdown menu.
Clarion Settings
BBC Ten Pieces patterns can be found in the Library, which is shown by a folder icon. Selecting this will open options including a BBC Ten Pieces folder. You’ll find multiple patterns, with descriptions, for both pieces.
Clarion menu for BBC Ten Pieces
It is wonderful to be a part of the latest Clarion developments. Let us know if you are using Clarion and Figurenotes in your work.
We are thrilled to continue our relationship with BBC Ten Pieces this year. Figurenotes resources have featured in every list since Ten Pieces’ inception. This year is a corker! Not only are there 10 interesting and varied pieces by 10 incredible composers, but accessibility has become more of a focus.
Open Ensembles
The BBC Ten Pieces initiative has commissioned ‘open scores’ for two of this year’s pieces. We immediately loved Laura Shigihara’s ‘Grasswalk’ from Plants vs Zombies and the enchanting world of Judith Weir’s ‘Magic’ from Storm. Both are now available as open scores for accessible ensembles.
The open scores are more accessible to a wider range of instruments and players. We particularly love the inclusion of parts for digital instruments, including Thumbjam, Clarion, CMPSR, and Soundbeam. All these instruments have a strong relationship with Figurenotes and Drake Music Scotland, so we’re thrilled to be working together on this. There are Figurenotes parts transcribed for all instruments in the score, in different stages, so you can find the part that suits the musicians best. All parts are available on the BBC Ten Pieces website for free.
But we didn’t stop there!
Creative Resources
Laura Shigihara’s ‘Grasswalk’ is chock full of interesting elements to explore musically. We have created lesson plans and additional supporting resources to dive into these areas in a fun, engaging way. The lessons are divided into packs: Articulation, Chromatics, Rhythm, and Register. You can explore the lessons with a pick-n-mix approach, or work your way through more methodically. All packs are available on the BBC Ten Pieces website for free.
As ever, if you have any questions regarding Figurenotes and BBC Ten Pieces resources feel free to get in touch. Email Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org or call 0131 659 4766. Please do share your thoughts and feedback with us, as it is invaluable for future resources.
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 resource I created after inspiration from the Developing Your Practice course, as well as my takeaways from working with Figurenotes over the last few years.
Wednesday mornings have never felt so good. We were sad to come to the end of the latest Developing Your Practice course. Luckily, all participants get an individual follow-up session, so we will see their lovely, enthusiastic faces again.
“Really loved this training and will be recommending it to others. Lovely tutors who really engaged with us well and modelled all the tasks.”
The ideas that came from this cohort were absolutely brilliant. We had minibeasts helping us learn rhythm, fruity Figurenotes for percussion, and atmospheric stormy songs. There were rainy walks, art extravaganzas, and nature exploration. These topics helped us create resources and lessons that develop rhythmic skills, creative play, and composition.
As ever, we brought all the elements together in the final week with a group activity that is always full of fun.
“You’ve just ignited that passion within me to get working with this resource. It is so valuable. I understood its value in special schools, but this also needs to be in mainstream”
“The workshops have been inspirational”
Do you want to improve your practice? We’ll be training the next cohort in November. Get the Early Bird price of £99 by booking before 24th July.
There are funding options available at Scottish Music Centre through the YMI CPD Fund, as well as other funds across the UK and further afield. Full time students can claim a discount by emailing us at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org.
We had an outrageous amount of fun last week delivering training. It was week 2 of our brilliant online course, Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice, which is always a delight. Alongside this, we whizzed down to the Scottish Borders to deliver in-person training to a lovely group, organised by their YMI coordinator.
There was a mix of roles in the room, which always leads to interesting discussion. We also had some very experienced Figurenoters alongside people brand new to this way of working. Some tutors deliver 6-week projects, while others are classroom-based and much more focused on supporting the classroom learning objectives.
We spent a portion of the day creating Figurenotes compositions and it was fascinating to see the different ways that the tasks were approached depending on the setting people were working in. We always feel very privileged to have these conversations and understand the ways in which people are working. It helps us to create resources and training that will be useful.
The Ever-Popular Sound Stories
By far the most popular aspect of the day was our sound story, working to build skills in composition, turn-taking, listening, and performance. We explored leitmotif using the Gingerbread Man as our inspiration. We ended up with a lovely twinkly gingerbread man motif, full of energy and speed. The old couple at the start of the story couldn’t have been more different – they do say opposites attract. The reaction to these activities is always so good! I’m sure the students in the Scottish Borders will be having a great time in their upcoming lessons with these newly-inspired staff members.
We’ll be sure to create some more sound story resources and pop them up on the Hub. If you have your own successful resources, then do remember that you can share these with your fellow Figurenoters on the Hub’s community library. People working in the music education sector can often feel a little isolated, so a big part of the Hub is community, sharing, and supporting each other.
Thank you to everyone at the training day. We had an absolute blast!
We have been in contact with some of you recently regarding the Figurenotes plugins for MuseScore 4. There were a few problems arising from changes within the MuseScore programme. We are delighted to announce that these issues have been fixed and an updated version of the plugin is now available.
We have created a wee video with some troubleshooting tips, as there are a few quirks due to the latest MuseScore design. You can use the menu below or scroll down for written instructions too.
You can change a complete score by simply going to the plugin menu along the top of your screen and selecting the plugin you want. Doing this will apply the plugin to the entire score. If already applied, you can remove the colours or shapes by doing the same action. It toggles on and off. We recommend keeping your score all black until you have completely finished your piece.
How to change a bar or phrase
If you have a score that you’ve applied the colours or shapes to, but you want to add or edit something, you’ll notice that the colours don’t apply to your edits. We recommend doing all editing with a completely plain score and applying the plugin at the end. However, it is possible to select just the bar or notes that you want to change.
Click on the blank space in a bar to select the whole bar.
To select a passage, click on the first note/bar of the passage, then hold shift while clicking the last note/bar of the passage. A blue box will appear around your selection.
Once selected, you can toggle the plugin on or off to match the rest of the score.
How to change a single note
A quirk of MuseScore means you can click on a note without properly selecting that note for editing using the plugin. Your note must have a blue box surrounding it before the plugin will apply to just that note. To do this is a little faffy, which is why we suggest keeping the plugin off until you’ve finished editing.
Click on the note you want to change
Hold down shift while you select a note or rest next to it. You can also use the shortcut shift + a sideways arrow (whichever side the note/rest is)
Then use shift and a sideways arrow to shrink the selection box down to just one note.
It doesn’t matter which side the other note you select is. We are just trying to make MuseScore select a passage before shrinking the selection down to just the note we want. Look for the blue box surrounding the note to be sure.
Tips for Editing or Correcting
So you’ve made an entire piece, applied the plugin, and turned it Figurenotey. Then you see a C that should have been a D. When you edit that note, the colour will stay as a red C regardless of what you change it to. This then needs correcting. You could make sure you toggle off the plugins before changing anything, but we often forget about that until we’ve changed the note.
You will need to follow the advice above on how to change a single note. The only difference is, if the note is already coloured, you will need to turn off the plugin for that note and then click again to reapply. This way you’ll end up with the correct colour on your selected note.
The same applies if you add a note to a previously coloured score. All added notes will be in black and white. You will need to select the new note and apply the plugin to change it to the correct colour.
Booking is now open for our ever-popular course for music educators and facilitators. Read on for more information, including funding pots and new discount for full-time students.
Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice
Come and join us for award-winning CPD for music practitioners and educators. Do you want your pupils to learn to play and read music quickly and to their full potential? Develop your teaching practice with Figurenotes, a form of notation that uses colour and shape to aid the first steps of learning music, progressing to standard notation in 3 simple steps.
Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice takes place over 3 interactive group sessions via Zoom, building your skills in Figurenotes and accessible music practices. Consolidate your work with homework activities between sessions. Follow up with a 1:1 session with course leaders to answer any further questions you have, get advice on specific aspects of your work, or for more general queries.
You’ll be guided through Figurenotes, from how it works, to its many applications. We will focus each session on one of the fundamentals of music-making:
Rhythm
All musicians need to develop a solid sense of pulse. Through rhythm games and challenges, learn how to make learning rhythm fun and engaging. Figurenotes notation shows rhythm in a very logical way, which then transitions easily to standard notation.
Creative Composition
We’ll explore a range of composition tools you can use in different settings. You’ll learn how to build and adapt an idea in an accessible way, enabling success across a range of abilities and additional support needs.
Ensembles and Differentiation
Learn how to use Figurenotes on almost any instrument in a variety of settings. From one to one learning, full class activities, and varying ensembles, you’ll be able to get your pupils playing together quickly and easily.
1:1 Follow-up Session
This is an opportunity for you to work 1:1 with course leaders after the main sessions have been completed. The content of these sessions is entirely up to you. We can work with you on resources, help develop ideas, troubleshoot, or help with specific questions you may have.
We can tailor the day to those coming, so the earlier you book, the more we can accommodate your questions. Use your booking form to give us a heads up of what you’d like to learn.
Here’s what some of our recent trainees had to say.
Funding and Discounts
To improve access to our courses, we are offering £50 off for full-time students. Please email us at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org with your institution and course-name. We’ll authorise the discount and send you a code to use at checkout.
The festive cheer has well and truly taken over at Figurenotes HQ. We’ve been planning some Christmas Figurenotes activities for Drake Music Scotland musicians and thought we’d share the joy with you all. If you’re planning Christmas parties and events at your school or music setting then read on for some festive Figurenotes fun.
Bauble Composition
Christmas Cake Composition
3-chord Christmas songs
Christmas Rhythm Game
Christmas Corners
Bauble Composition
String up a garland, tree, or just some festive hooks (candy canes repurposed?)
Download this template for Figurenotes baubles or make your own. Inspired by Sorcha Pringle, we made some tactile ones using different textures for different notes. These work brilliantly for musicians with visual impairment.
Get a traybake cake with icing that you can stick things to.
Source a selection of sweets or icing in Figurenotes colours (and shapes, if you’re feeling clever). Smarties, Skittles, Quality Streets – the list is endless.
Cut the traybake into bars. Stick your sweets to the top to create a tune.
Perform it before you eat it.
4-chord Christmas Songs
Take a look on the Figurenotes Accessible Music Hub for some Christmas bangers. Use Figurenotes guitars for the simplest way to play the chords. You can create a Figurenotes band in no time! Our suggestions are:
Our rhythm canon is back with a festive twist. These rhythms are set over two bars and can be mixed up to create a fun game. A great introduction to syncopation.
Christmas Corners
I’m sure many of you played a version of this at school. There are lots of ways to make this musical and accessible.
Set out 4 corners/areas of the room and assign them to something. For example, a Christmas tune, a rhythm, a colour.
People must listen for the game leader to play a tune, a rhythm, a note, or whatever you’ve chosen. They then must get to the assigned corner/area as quickly as they can. This develops listening skills and focuses the ear so well.
To make this more accessible for people with limited movement or classrooms with limited space, you can use torches shone on a wall, for example. Call and response also works well, be it playing, clapping, or singing. Let your imagination run wild.
The end of November saw the Figurenotes team heading down to Southampton to present at the Music Mark Conference 2023. After the complimentary tea and caramel wafer on the tiny plane, we were set up nicely for a day of inspiring talks. The day started with a key note on Learning to Thrive in a Generative AI world, which was fascinating and started some lively debate. The conference was themed around ‘Dynamism’ and there was a particular focus on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. This was a fantastically forward-thinking conference and we were thrilled to be a part of it.
Photo Credit: Rachel Cherry. Provided by Music Mark.
As Music Mark was celebrating their 10 year anniversary, the inaugural Music Mark Awards took place in the evening. Some brilliant projects and people were highlighted in the shortlists, with emotional judges speeches that really brought the meaning of our work home. Congratulations to all the worthy winners.
Our session was titled ‘Building Rhythm Confidence with Figurenotes’ and highlighted the ease with which this accessible notation shows rhythm. We had everyone stomping, clapping, tapping, and clicking. By bringing out the iPads with Garageband and Thumbjam (our favourite app!) we had chords and solos. Adding chimes and vocals into the mix gave us a full band.
We had settled on Don’t Worry, Be Happy as our featured tune, because it always brings a lot of joy into the room. It felt good to bring some movement and energy at the end of a long day of sessions, and we were rewarded with lots of keen teachers hoping to use Figurenotes in their projects. We can’t wait to see what people do with Figurenotes as a result of this session. We’ll be putting the Don’t Worry, Be Happy parts up on the Hub soon, so keep an eye out for them there.
It was also lovely to meet up with our friends at Charanga, ABRSM, Open Up Music, DIGIT, MiSST, and many more organisations. What a lovely community there is in the music education world. We hope to be back at this invigorating event next year.
Photo Credit: Rachel Cherry. Provided by Music Mark.
Snow is falling, all around me (we are in Scotland, after all). The children have indeed been playing (mostly Jingle Bells) and having fun.
As we get the school Christmas concerts done and before the frostbite from carol singing starts to set in, we thought we’d better let you know the last order dates for Figurenotes Christmas delivery.
Our last order date will be Friday 15th December. Please get your order in by noon, so we have time to process and post your items before Royal Mail’s last recommended posting dates. If you order after this date then your parcel may not be processed until January.
Figurenotes HQ is part of Drake Music Scotland, Scotland’s leading arts organisation working to enable disabled musicians at every level from education to industry. We all take a well-deserved break over the Christmas period and our office closes to allow staff time to recharge. We will be closed from Wed 20th, reopening in the new year.
