After feedback that our current training clashes with the school run (we see you, jugglers) we need your help to refine our options.

We want to hear from you. What time of year is best? Which days work with your workload? Which times make life easiest for you? Let us know your thoughts and we will build our training around you. The survey below has 4 simple questions, is totally anonymous, and will only take a minute to complete.

Our current Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course runs over 3 weeks. We deliver a 2-hour session once a week on Zoom, with homework activities between sessions. An individual follow-up session with course leaders can be booked at a time to suit you.

The interactive nature of this course means that being present, working in the small groups we deliver to, and sharing ideas are a huge part of the learning process. We feel that access to recordings won’t give the same benefit with this style of course, so we are keen to make sure people can attend live.

If you have any thoughts on other types of training you’d like then please send us an email at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org. We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Pre-recorded videos, modular workbooks, in-person training – whatever you would like to see, let us know.

As a thank you, we’re offering 10% off resources in our online shop, including training! https://figurenotes.org/shop/ Just complete the form below. Thank you.

The Scottish musicians and teachers among you will likely know the Youth Music Initiative well. This music education initiative, funded by the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, has made so many projects possible over the last 20 years. It is a vital source of funding for the work that so many of us deliver. Drake Music Scotland, the charity behind Figurenotes.org, delivers an extensive schools programme supported in part by YMI funding. 

To celebrate 20 years of this programme Creative Scotland hosted a special industry event on 2^nd March, bringing the youth music sector together. The theme for the event was #YMusicMatters – can you see what they did there?

Come and Try

Figurenotes was invited to exhibit at the event as part of ‘Come and Try’, alongside other wonderful organisations doing brilliant work across Scotland. Soundplay Projects had their projections and fun installations bringing the room to life. The Sound Lab were recording in the corner, treating us all to some wonderful sounds. North Edinburgh Arts were showcasing some fantastic tracks made within their workshops. We were there to showcase Figurenotes with a range of instruments, from keyboards to adapted guitars, notation software to Thumbjam on the iPad. It was a buzzing room and great fun to be a part of.  

“I’m gobsmacked to be honest.

I would have been SUCH a pro if I had this when I was trying to learn” 

Excited event attendee on trying Figurenotes notation to play chimes

The common refrain we hear at events is ‘oh no, I’m not musical’. The shock and joy they experience when they realise they can do it without much help at all is so lovely to see. It just shows the immediacy possible in learning music when you break down some of the barriers. Everyone should be able to experience the thrill of making music, the confidence that stems from that, and the desire to try again and again. This form of expression should be available to all. That is #YMusicMatters to us.  

Thank you to artist Katie Forbes who was live-drawing the event. She gifted us a wonderful piece of art as a thank you for giving her the opportunity to play music with us.

Thank you to Creative Scotland, all the YMI staff, and everyone at the event for an interesting, inspiring day.  

Find us on social media to let us know #YMusicMatters to you.  

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube

We’re feeling particularly festive this year. Everyone is in need of a big bucketful of joy after such a tough period and we’re hoping the Christmas break will deliver! Stock up on your mince pies, get out your fluffiest slippers, and enjoy not listening to Jingle Bells being played 30 times a day. Relax and enjoy the break.

But before you do…

Make sure your Figurenotes orders are in by 16th December for UK delivery before Christmas and the start of next term.

Our office will close for Christmas at the end of 17th December; reopening 5th January 2022. Orders for physical resources will not be processed between these dates. Digital resources, such as the Figurenotes software, will continue to be processed automatically.

So if you’re after the Festive Figurenotes pack for your Christmas carol singalong party or some Figurenotes Magnets for a stocking filler (via Santa, obviously) then head to the online shop now.

Royal Mail have warned that delays are likely to happen due to coronavirus, so we can’t guarantee delivery by Christmas. However, we are following their recommended last postage dates, so all should be well. The earlier you order, the better.

Launching in 2022

We’ve got some really exciting stuff coming in the new year. Our little elves have been working away in the background producing some exciting new resources that will be a game-changer for so many Figurenoters. We can’t wait to tell you about them! Watch this space…

If you want to stay in the loop about the launch in early 2022, make sure you’ve subscribed to our mailing list.

“Not only was the training great, it was also really fun, which is so important”

As always, we had an absolute blast delivering the Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course. The interactive elements always have everyone smiling and it really brightens our day to work with such enthusiastic music leaders.

The inspiration was sparking for our fabulous course participants from the very first week! It is so invigorating to set an activity or a homework challenge and see the ideas pouring out of the wonderful teachers before us.

“Online worked a treat! Well planned for the context and plenty of opportunity to share practice. Good space for thoughts to be absorbed too.“

The Group

Last time we had an international crowd, but this crew were all based in Scotland, so we are also building a lovely network of musicians that can support each other in their day-to-day work too. That is why we encourage all our Figurenoters to join the private Facebook group too. It’s a great place to ask questions and share ideas with other Figurenotes teachers and leaders.

Getting to know our small groups and working together over the weeks really helps us to deliver practical advice relevant to each person and their working environment. With such broad portfolio careers in music and music education, we love hearing about the incredible professional experience each attendee brings to their work. Instrumental and classroom teachers, mainstream and specialist schools, composers and community musicians – we had a wealth of knowledge and experience within this group. Music education in Scotland is very lucky to have such an inspirational bunch of musicians teaching the next generation.

“Excellent, fun, interactive, and curious sessions that were active and engaging.“

“I’ve already started using it and the kids just get it straight away. It’s definitely here to stay. It’s been life-changing!”

1:1 Follow-ups

Every participant can book a follow-up session with course leaders to ask whatever questions and queries that weren’t covered in the training or to dive deeper into certain aspects of their practice. This could be anything from reviewing and discussing resources created during the course, refining and developing them, or a walk-through of the software. These sessions are a wonderful way to tie up the learning from the previous 3 weeks to set our participants up with the skills and confidence to dive into using Figurenotes in their practice.

What Next?

Our next course will run in March 2022. Book your place here and join us for more Figurenotes fun and games, learning skills for delivering accessible music sessions, whatever your work setting.

“Loved all of the compositional games gifted and the resources of materials – an amazing package of tools to get going in a lot of contexts.“

It was a long wait, but our first in-person training since the pandemic started took place last week. It was an absolute joy.

We delivered training to new Associate Musicians of Drake Music Scotland who are working with the Sound Explorers projects. They spent two days in the company of Drake Music Scotland staff, with in-depth sessions learning about technology and Figurenotes.

Lauren and Rebecca took our new musicians through a fun play-together on instruments they do not usually play, forming a makeshift band. As always, the shorty bass proved very popular, especially with Figurenotes making it easy to play!

Our wee band was grooving away to tunes by Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Nancy Sinatra, and Ben E. King – all while learning about ensemble skills, leading a group, reading Figurenotes notation, catering for mixed-abilities, and choosing accessible repertoire.

For the second day, we took on a scheme of work based around a story, The Gingerbread Man, with a whole host of extension activities. This activity includes composition, turn-taking, performance, and much more! We’ll be featuring this in our online training course in September too, so make sure to bag your place before they all get snapped up. You can find out more through our training pages.

There were giggles galore when performing our story, complete with musical motifs composed by the group. The dramatic narration and turn-taking kept everyone on their toes, and Saint-Saëns would have been impressed with our animal inspired tunes and sounds.

So much fun was had, all through learning-by-doing, which we love!

We may have been socially distanced and masked, but that allowed us to feel safe, explore music together, and have some great discussions. Thank you to everyone involved in this training.

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for a brilliant two days of training. It was so good to meet everyone and the training was just excellent. I feel like I am going into this term so full of inspiration and motivation because of last week and all the tools you gave us on the training course. You are an incredibly inspirational organisation.”

Trainee

Want to join in?

If you’d like to join us for some more Figurenotes fun and games, book your place on our ‘Figurenotes – Developing Your Practice’ course. Running online over 4 sessions, we dive into the fundamentals of music-making with Figurenotes for all music leaders and teachers. Come and join in the fun!

Transcript of video lyrics:

9 to 5. For service and devotion, you would think that I would deserve a big promotion. Want to move ahead, but the boss won’t seem to let me. I swear sometimes that man is out to get me.

Did you miss out on our online course back in April? Well, we have great news!

Figurenotes training is BACK 🎉 for all teachers, tutors, music practitioners, and music therapists.

Join us for Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice, running online in September. Live delivery takes place in small groups on Thursdays, September 16th, 23rd, and 30th. We’ve adapted the time for this course, so that those who couldn’t make last time will get the chance to come; 1pm – 3pm (UK time)

Not in the UK? Check what time the training is in your timezone here. Everyone is welcome, but please be aware that the course is delivered in English.

We specifically wanted to highlight funding opportunities for this course, so keep an eye on our Facebook group where we will share these opportunities with you. For people working in Scotland this fund is brilliant: https://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/ymi-cpd. There is a fairly quick turnaround, so get your application in as soon as you can.

We can’t wait to meet you, whether you’ve attended previous training or are brand new to Figurenotes. With more interactive activities, opportunities for 1:1 sessions, peer feedback, and a whole load of practical advice and guidance, this is not one to be missed!

Our highly sophisticated random selection tool has chosen a winner for our Figurenotes Champion competition. Congratulations, Lifesize! You have won a bundle of Figurenotes goodies, including a stickers value pack, your choice of tune book, a year’s subscription to the Resource Base, and the new Figurenotes Software (which you’ll receive as soon as it is released!)

Lifesize is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Hastings and St. Leonards-on-Sea, UK. Providing music and arts engagement with young people and adults. 

This fantastic organisation was founded in 2019 and delivers work in a variety of settings using both traditional instruments and technology. Lifesize works with all ages, including people with learning disabilities and people experiencing mental and physical health challenges. They aim to support artistic and musical ambitions, while working in a responsive and person-centred way, promoting overall wellbeing and self-esteem.

Figurenotes has helped Lifesize to “enable a creative environment where workshop participants of all abilities are supported to collaborate effectively.”

Check out their profile on our Champions page and add your own!

Our Figurenotes Champions map and profiles page are filling up nicely. We’d love to feature more of the wonderful organisations, schools, and institutions that are using Figurenotes in their work. Take a look at the profiles already on the site and complete the form to feature. This is a great way to reach new pupils, connect with local networks, and make global connections and collaborations. We’ll be highlighting as many as we can through our social media channels and newsletter too.

To find out more, visit the ‘Impact’ section of our site.

“Really great to see everyone’s ideas and the range of different minds from all over the world – great for inspiration!”

We had a fantastic time delivering our new online course designed to help people explore Figurenotes within their own teaching settings. Running 2 small groups across 3 weeks of training, we’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about the people involved and how they work.

Thank you to all our participants for engaging so well with this course. The activities and ideas created by your homework tasks were phenomenal and have such potential. We can’t wait to hear what you achieve in your lessons.

I have learnt how to use the Figurenotes system itself, but also some great ideas about planning, differentiation and different ways into composing.

Trainee 2021

Each week had a different focus, which was consolidated in the homework activity. Week 1 was an introduction to Figurenotes with particular emphasis on rhythm. Week 2 explored the world of creative play and composition. Week 3 focused on groups, ensembles, and differentiation.

As always, the creative composition task had the most wide-ranging results. The opportunities are endless when working with colour and shape. We have had everything from Kandinsky to puppets, train journeys to braille Bananagrams, Moomins to holiday snaps – and everything inbetween! What a creative bunch.

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Our in-person training nearly always has a visitor to Scotland from another country, but with online delivery we can reach so many more people who could benefit from this training. With participants from Hong Kong, Greece, USA, and the UK this time around, we hope to reach even more countries with our next course date.

If you are interested in attending this course in the future, please get in touch, as we are currently working out dates and timings for the next run. With so many timezones to consider, it is helpful to know what works best for you.

The information was presented really well and you are both super knowledgable about teaching to diverse groups. It was great to get your insight.

Trainee 2021

“I thought you’d like to hear this story” is always an intriguing start to an email.

We LOVE hearing your anecdotes and this is such a lovely one. Jill Henderson, at Craigmarloch School in Inverclyde, Scotland, sent us this wonderful story from her lessons and kindly let us share it with you all. Both Jill and Criagmarloch have been using Figurenotes for a long time now and their work is fantastic.

“During Lockdown I am working at the Craigmarloch Hub with a group of P5 children. One wee boy is very musical and has really taken to Figurenotes. He has got perfect pitch and can sing familiar songs (his favourite is Mary Had a Little Lamb) by colour and letter name. We always begin the day playing tunes on the glockenspiel.

Yesterday, I brought a selection of ‘name that tune’ for him to try, in second stage Figurenotes.  Within 5 mins he had played and identified them all then asked me why Mary had a little lamb was not there.  I said I’d write it for him for next week then got on with the morning routine.  

Next thing I knew, he had written out the song himself (first stage Fgn)!  As you can see, the note names, colours and even note lengths are accurate.  I had not explicitly taught this, he had clearly absorbed the knowledge by himself.

This is why Figurenotes is so great – it is clear and makes sense to beginners and those like this pupil, who are bright but like to learn in ways that are accessible and appealing. Figurenotes helps him do what he wants to do, which is play and sing music! Much of the time he refuses to engage in learning and shuts himself away in a quiet room to pursue his own interests, often to draw. 

I just had to share that with someone who would understand and appreciate how wonderful this is.”

Thank you for brightening our day, Jill. We’ve shared it in the hope that it brightens all of yours too.

Do you have similar stories? We would love to hear from you! Drop us an email at figurenotes@drakemusicscitland.org or join our Facebook group Figurenotes – Let’s Make Music!

We are thrilled to be part of Drake Music Scotland‘s Challenge Project with Creative Informatics. Could you help us find our Challenge Responder?

“Drake Music Scotland’s challenge is to create a new online platform that will transform their Figurenotes resource base into the world’s first and most comprehensive inclusive music hub. They would like to work with a Challenge Respondent to develop a platform that allows users to download resources, constructively rate and critique learning materials, and upload their own creations, creating a unique crowdsourced database of accessible music resources. 

A successful solution to this challenge will provide Figurenotes customers with a space to share best practice in accessible music-making and support each other through their vast and varied personal experience.

Developing a new platform specifically for inclusive music-making resources will provide music educators around the world with a unique set of tools to make the benefits of learning and playing music accessible to all.

For the Challenge Respondent this is an opportunity to work on the development of an innovative, inclusive, and accessible new platform that could have wider applications across creative and wellbeing settings.

Applications for Challenge Respondents are open now and close at 5pm on Friday 16th April 2021. If you are interested in applying to answer this Challenge Project, join us on Thursday 18th March for our online Challenge Holder Q&A session. If you have any questions, please contact creativeinformatics@ed.ac.uk.“

Visit the Creative Informatics website for more details. Text quoted from https://creativeinformatics.org/challenge/drake-music-scotland/