Only 3 places remaining on our Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course. Delivered online in November. CPD for all music educators and practitioners.
Calling all MuseScore users. Are you up-to-date with MuseScore 4? Have you also updated your Figurenotes plugins?
There are 2 plugins for Figurenotes. The first creates coloured noteheads in Figurenotes colours with just one click.
An example of the Figurenotes Colours plugin
The second creates shaped noteheads with Figurenotes colours for a slightly easier transition into reading stage 3.
An example of the Figurenotes Colours and Shapes plugin
Both plugins have been updated to use with MuseScore 4. You can access them via the FAM Hub or the MuseScore plugin library, where they are helpfully bundled into one package.
We’ve made a little video to help you install your plugin, in case this is new to you. Once installed, it will appear within MuseScore, ready for you to apply to your scores.
You can create stage 1 and 2 scores in our Notate programme. The plugins help you to create stage 3 scores. If you need a refresher on the different stages of Figurenotes, take a look at our Progression pages. We have lots of games in the Hub to help you transition from one stage to the next, moving towards reading standard notation, if that is your goal.
Our staff band got a new member last week when MP Tommy Sheppard joined us to workshop some new arrangements for a youth music session we have planned. As the MP representing our local area, we are always keen to connect and share the powerful work that Drake Music Scotland does, as well as the challenges we face.
He was enthusiastic, but a little apprehensive that he couldn’t remember his guitar chords stored at the very back of his childhood mind. Fear not! We designed this band session for people who have never picked up an instrument before.
A quick guitar lesson from Bas
We set him up on a Figurenotes guitar, which is much more accessible. 4 strings are tuned A E A E, resulting in an open tuning. You then bar the 4 strings following Figurenotes stickers for guidance. This meant Tommy could dive straight in and play Shotgun by George Ezra with us. We had it together in no time at all and were sounding great.
To keep everyone on their toes, we all swapped instruments. We were playing everything from iPads using Garageband and Thumbjam, to the classics of keyboards, bass, guitars, percussion, and vocals – even chimes. I introduced our visitor to our little shorty bass and we got a bit more funky in our rhythms. We managed to rattle off Taylor Swift’s Shake it off and it was sounding great. I’m less sure about our rapping skills in the middle 8, but the band did brilliantly.
Tommy Sheppard MP plays bass using Figurenotes
“It was great to revisit the Drake Music Scotland team at their base in Craigmillar and hear about their work with disabled artists and musicians, which stretches from there to all parts of the country. Not to mention my guitar success using Figurenotes, the colour-coded notation system.”
Tommy Sheppard MP – Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East
The band arrangements got all the testing we needed and are ready for a band workshop for young people in our community. We will put these tunes and others up on the FAMHub shortly, so keep an eye out.
Thank you, Tommy Sheppard, for getting stuck in with music-making. We appreciate you visiting and discussing the many highs, and the various challenges, Drake Music Scotland has faced in recent years. It is also nice to have yet more proof of the 5-minute Figurenotes band in action!
We are partnering with Early Years Music Scotland to deliver free Figurenotes training. This is part of their year-long programme of free, high-quality, creative and inspiring continuous professional development for musicians working with children in the early years across Scotland, supported by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative.
Come and join us for a fun, interactive online session on Mon 11th September 2023, 10am-11:30am. Book your place on Eventbrite. If you’re outside Scotland you can still join, but a fee will apply. You can choose a ticket to attend live or to receive a recording of the session.
We’ll be offering unmissable discounts on our First Figurenotes pack to attendees, so you can hit the ground running.
Explore how Figurenotes notation can help support your learners to unleash their creativity, build independence, and increase confidence. Places are limited to book early to avoid disappointment. See you there!
In today’s guest blog we look at why Figurenotes has been so successful in additional needs settings. Iain Macleod works in Kaimes School, a wonderful specialist school in Edinburgh. They have had projects from Drake Music Scotland for many years, alongside their regular music lessons. Iain explains his reasoning for using Figurenotes in the classroom.
A Drake Music Scotland Associate Musician with a pupil and support at Kaimes School
My name is Iain and I’m a music teacher. After starting my career as a peripatetic guitar teacher, I started teaching general music in primary schools in London. I qualified as a secondary music teacher in 2012, but have spent most of the time since working in Additional Needs settings.
I first came across Figurenotes when I was working at a residential school where all the students had experienced significant early years trauma. This meant they had struggled with mainstream school because of challenging behaviour and were now in a more nurture-focused environment. All these kids were amazing as people and had bucket loads of energy and enthusiasm, but they also had very low self-esteem and would quickly give up on something if they felt they would get it wrong. Basically, they hated school and would go to extreme lengths to avoid ‘work’.
I eventually realised that the less time I spent talking and explaining stuff, the better the lessons went! This is why Figurenotes was a huge hit with the students – they didn’t need any explanation as to how it worked. They could straight away just start following the music and playing on the keyboards! All I had to do was figure out easy versions of songs that they liked and print them off. Everyone was happy! Once they could play something they liked and had chosen, they were much more open to trying other activities and/or instruments. Engagement in music lessons was much better across the whole school.
Drake Music Scotland musician, Tenzin, leads a session at Kaimes
I am now teaching in a school for ASD students, and they love Figurenotes too. I think it is the best thing for introducing notation and getting people playing straight away. I think if it was used in all schools (mainstream and specialist) a lot more people would be motivated to learn instruments and get involved with music.
Thanks for sharing, Iain. You can check out Iain’s music on his website.
In today’s guest blog, Fiona Sharp shares the success of a talented pupil she is working with in Scotland. Fiona is an Associate Musician with Drake Music Scotland, who arranged this project. She is also the founder of F Sharp Music, recently celebrating their 10 year anniversary.
Fiona and Arnas
Natural Talent
From a very young age Arnas has shown a great talent for music, especially listening to a song and then working out how to play it on an instrument. This first became evident when he was in primary 1-2 and one day his teacher noticed Arnas playing ‘Wheels On The Bus’ on a musical toy, which had buttons on it. Arnas worked out the melody using the sound buttons on the toy.
Development
I have been working with Arnas to further develop his musical skills and interest by using Figurenotes notation. Arnas has a keen interest in playing the piano, and over the past couple of years with support from Elaine, his teaching support assistant at school, Arnas has progressed to playing the piano with both hands, and learning to play chords in the left hand as an accompaniment for the melody in the right.
Last summer Arnas and Elaine played piano together for a school event. The school are now looking at ways to further develop Arnas’s interest in music and supporting him with his developments in Figurenotes. He has his own keyboard at school and at home along with music folders full of ‘Figurenotes Songs for Arnas’.
Some clips from Arnas’s sessions with Fiona
Although Arnas tends to play music by ear, Figurenotes has allowed him to play and access a wide range of songs and will continue to do so hopefully for many years to come.
Huge thanks to the staff at Rosslyn School for their continued support and encouragement with Arnas’s piano playing.
If you’d like to share a recent project, Figurenotes journey, or your top tips, get in touch via email at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org. We love hearing from you!
Would you like to join our online Figurenotes course, but don’t have the budget? We can help with that.
The wonderful YMI CPDfundis open for 2023! This is one of our favourite funding pots, as it applies to so many of our Figurenoters.
Funding is available for training and continued professional development. Aimed at both individuals and organisations, you can apply for money to attend training such as our Figurenotes: Developing Your Practicecourse.
To qualify, all or part of your work must be outwith schools and benefit the youth music sector in Scotland. So if you work in Scotland with youth groups, as an instrumental teacher, or a music facilitator, get applying before it runs out.
In the past there has been about an 8 week turnaround on decisions, but please bear in mind that it is a continuous fund and the money may run out before the final deadline date. We recommend applying as soon as possible.
You can book your place on the course using the booking form below. Just let us know that you’ve applied for funding and we will hold your spot while a decision is made. The Scottish Music Centre is very supportive of our training and has informed us that this course is just what they’re looking to fund.
Let us know if there is anything we can do to support your application and we wish you the best of luck. Find out more about Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice by visiting the training section of our website. You can find the booking form using the button below.
Did you know you can use your computer keyboard to input notes into your Figurenotes notation programme?
We’ve got a lot of different ways to input notes into your Figurenotes score, so you are spoilt for choice. This one may not be as obvious as others, so we thought it needed a blog post. We hope this helps you find your ideal way to create music.
Once you’ve logged in to Notate.Figurenotes.org and have your score open, untick the ‘Lock Piano Keys’ box at the top of the page. This will allow you to use your computer keyboard to enter notes.
Each note entered will be one crotchet beat, unless you change the note duration settings on the right hand side of the page.
This should make it easier and quicker to enter notes into your score. If you want to use your keyboard shortcuts again, just make sure you tick the ‘lock keys’ box again.
We’ve made this handy diagram to help you understand your computer keyboard as a MIDI keyboard. You can find this in our Notate FAQs (scroll down to ‘Inputting Notes’) or download it in png or PDF form below.
We have been working closely with our software developer, Tayfusion, and Drake Music Scotland Associate Musician Sorcha Pringle on accessibility within our software. This work has focused on using the Figurenotes notation software with screen readers.
Access to music software is extremely limited for people that use screen readers. This isn’t right, so we set out to change it. After some final testing, more musicians than ever will be able to compose, arrange, transcribe, import, export, edit, and hear playback within our Figurenotes software.
Sorcha has been working hard with Doug Mackay from Tayfusion to guide the process, thoroughly test any changes, and lend her invaluable knowledge to the development. We are very grateful for all her hard work. Sorcha is the founder of Springboard Creative Arts and we’re very proud to have her as a member of the team.
“It’s been a thoroughly fascinating process consulting on screen reader accessibility for the software. It has been great to see the software getting closer to being screen reader accessible, as well as challenging me to learn lots about software development.”
Sorcha Pringle
We are currently fundraising to help make our FAMHub just as accessible as our software. As a non-profit, this takes time, so please bear with us while we work to make this happen.
How else is it accessible?
We aim for limited text, with symbols to help understanding. There is a standard way of using the software, with further advanced features in a separate menu for teachers or more advanced musicians. This means our software can be used by a huge range of people with different skill sets, support needs, and ways of working.
Image of Figurenotes Notation Software in use
The Figurenotes notation software is available via subscription. You can access it on your web-browser (we recommend Chrome) and your work is stored in your personal library, so you can access your work anywhere there is an internet connection. Gone are the days when you’d be tied to one machine; and no more updates required, as your subscription automatically gives you access to the latest version. Need tunes offline? Just download them to your device.
You can create parts in stage 1 and 2, use a whole range of instruments including percussion, write chord or melody parts, include lyrics and text boxes – you can even upload images to help with understanding. You can now work in even more time signatures, change them mid-piece, and display more musical symbols and elements of conventional notation than ever before.
Our Figurenotes team is here to support you with anything you need. There are video tutorials available online, FAQs, and a shortcut cheat sheet. If there is anything missing that you think would help support you to access the software then please get in touch with Lauren and Rebecca at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org or on 0131 659 4766.
