Lockdown has brought different challenges to different people. You may have discovered that you’ve got tonnes of time to practise. Maybe you’re juggling multiple responsibilities and need to make your practice time as efficient as possible. Or you might find that having lots on your mind means you can’t concentrate very well at the moment.

We are here to help! We have loads of tips to help you increase motivation to practise and make your practice time more effective. Do you have any more tips to share? Let us know by email or social media.

Let’s get motivated

Make like Mr Motivator and get yourself pumped for practice! Getting started is the hardest part, so set a regular schedule for yourself. It will soon become as easy to fit in as brushing your teeth.

Try setting an alarm for starting your practice – the same time each day, if you can, or work out a time for each day of the week. Put this in your calendar and set up reminders.

Ever heard the term ‘eat the frog’? If you’re finding your practice hard, start doing it first thing in the morning. Getting it done early means you can relax for the rest of the day without worrying when you’ll fit it around your other commitments (those TV shows won’t binge themselves).

Try a practice challenge. We have charts available all the way up to 100 days on our Resource Base. Set your goal and give yourself a prize at the end of it. There is a special covid-19 day practice chart in our free resources bundle.

Making it count

Now we’ve got going, how can we keep our focus and make our practice really effective in the time available?

Make your practice goal-focused. Be specific. Instead of thinking ‘I’m going to practise this piece’, think ‘I’m going to improve my dynamics in this middle section’. Write down a short list of goals for each practice. This is best done at the end of the previous practice session, as it means you can open your book and get cracking without having to plan and think too much.

Don’t always start from the beginning. If you start in the same place each time, you’ll get really good at that initial bit. Your brain will soon become tired and you will stop in the same difficult places each time. Start with the hardest/least familiar section.

Practice makes permanent! In order to improve, you need to work on playing things more times ‘right’ than ‘wrong’ (‘right’ being the way you want it to sound, rather than the way you’re unhappy with). Find your small tricky section – really reduce it down to the specific bit you need to work on. Repeat this until you can play it 3 times in a row exactly how you want it. Made a mistake? Go back to zero. Once you’ve managed 3 in a row, can you do 5 in a row? 10? Go wild!

Slow down. Your brain and body need time to process. Practise slowly and you’ll reap the rewards!

If you practise something slowly, you forget it slowly. If you practise something fast, you forget it fast.

Itzhak Perlman – violinist

Rewarding yourself

Life is hard enough at the moment. Be kind to yourself and take stock of what you’ve achieved, rather than focusing on the things you’d like to improve. Managed to improve your bow hold? Great! Is your intonation much better than 6 months ago? Look at you go! Is your ear so good that you notice when your tone isn’t AMAZING? Well, look who is one step closer to their virtuoso career!

Put on a concert for friends and family – this might be over the internet, phone, or even through the window. There aren’t many concerts happening at the moment, so you’ll really brighten someone’s day. It is a great practice goal to aim for too.

Give yourself a treat for all your hard work by playing something really fun at the end of your practice session. It makes all the technical work worth it.

Send us your videos and we’ll share our favourites on social media. Tag us @figurenotes or use #FigurenotesAtHome. We’d love to hear more of your practice tips too!

Figurenotes projects have led to nominations in FOUR categories of the Scottish Awards for New Music 2020.

Diversions, written by Ben Lunn, was performed by Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra and Hebrides Ensemble. The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh was the setting for this accessible concert of new works.

Figurenotes was used by some members of the Digital Orchestra alongside their colleagues using standard notation. These fantastic musicians created some phenomenal new music that has been duly recognised in four categories:

• The RCS Award for Contribution to New Music in Scotland

• The ISM prize for Collaboration

• The RCS Award for Making it Happen

• The SMIA Award for Creative Programming

We wish Ben Lunn, Hebrides Ensemble, Drake Music Scotland, and the Digital Orchestra all the luck in the world for the award ceremony. We have everything crossed for you!

Please note that, while our online shop is still open, there is likely to be a delay in processing orders due to the coronavirus. The situation is changing quickly and we will be following governmental advice on how we handle it.

We will be available via email on figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org, but our phone lines will be closed until further notice.

Please keep an eye on our social media channels and our Figurenews blog for further updates.

Our Music Teacher’s Toolbox has been postponed until Oct 10th, 2020. All attendees have been refunded and booking is now open for this date.

We are very excited to see that the BBC Young Composer competition is accepting alternative notation. This means you can enter with your Figurenotes scores!

This would make a great project for a school class, as the deadline isn’t until 11th June 2020. Plenty of time to learn how to create your own original music, write it up in Figurenotes, and send it in. If you’re aged 12-18 and are a budding composer, take a look at the entry requirements and have a go. The prize looks fantastic!

You could use some of our creative composition resources from the Resource Base to give you a boost. Figurenotes works brilliantly for creative composition. You can take inspiration from abstract art that uses colour and shape; maybe use our composing dice made up of rhythms and pitches; or perhaps you want to map out your ideas using coloured sweets or other foods. The possibilities are endless!

Let us know if you’re planning on entering, as we’d love to know how many Figurenotes entries they get.

Good luck!

Our ever-popular training for music teachers and practitioners returns on Saturday 21st March, 2020.

Come and develop your knowledge of creating a more inclusive music classroom. Whether you work in a mainstream setting, as a private teacher, in a specialist environment, or any other music-making context, you’ll learn how to realise your pupil’s potential.

You’ll be using ideas from BBC Ten Pieces to create some mind-bending compositions. Figurenotes is SQA approved, so you can use ideas like this in your composition modules.

We’ll get your blood pumping with some group rhythm work. Learn how to develop a sense of pulse and use Figurenotes to build rhythmic complexity quickly and confidently.

The most fun session of every MTT is our big play-together. We get you playing an array of instruments, including some accessible tech (such as iPads), using Figurenotes. You’ll get tips and tricks on how to introduce Figurenotes on different instruments and how to build an ensemble in no time! We’ve got some cracking new tunes for this session and can’t wait to play them with you.

This is just the start of what you can learn from one of our training days. We tailor each day to our participants, so the earlier you book, the more we can cater to what you want to learn.

Edinburgh, EH16 4NT

10am – 4pm

£69.99 – Resource Base members can use RB2020 at checkout for 10% off

Find out more on our ‘Current Training’ page

December is upon us and the festive season seems to be in full swing here in Scotland! You’ve probably been preparing for concerts and end of term performances before a well-earned break. Before you get cracking with the Christmas cheer, we thought we’d better give you a few bits of housekeeping news.

In order to get your parcels in time for Christmas or the new school term, you must get your UK orders to us by Monday 17th December, 2018. It isn’t too late to grab your Festive Figurenotes pack, or magnets as a stocking filler. We use Royal Mail to post orders, so we cannot guarantee delivery by Christmas, but this is in line with their recommendations.

Our office will be closed over the Christmas break, from Friday 21st December to Monday 7th January. No orders will be processed during this time. However, Software and Resource Base subscriptions ordered through the online shop will be sent by email, so you’ll get immediate access when you pay online.

As you may have seen when we advertised the role, a new face will be starting at Figurenotes HQ after Christmas. Please use the email address figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org for all queries and contact.

Have a lovely Christmas and a very happy New Year, from all of us at Figurenotes HQ and Drake Music Scotland

“Today’s training has been a fantastic experience. Fantastic course and people! Thank you very much!”

“Music Teacher’s Toolbox has given me a new way to approach teaching, making music easier to understand and play. Everything was fantastic! I got a very comprehensive understanding of Figurenotes. I’ll be back for the next one!”

“Really brilliant! I learned a lot and had a good time. Keep it up!”

You can see why we love running our Figurenotes training days. We consistently get this feedback and it is brilliant to see people ending the day brimming with enthusiasm and inspiration.

Our next Music Teacher’s Toolbox will be announced after Christmas, when our new Figurenotes Officer starts their role. Make sure you sign up to the mailing list for updates. In the meantime, join our Facebook group, ‘Figurenotes – Let’s Make Music’, to network with other teachers and musicians. Let us know what you’d like to see at the next training day by posting within the group.

The group of trainees were brilliantly enthusiastic and got stuck in with all the activities. We worked on building pulse, rhythm, matching skills (inspired by UNO!), and ensemble skills. With Thumbjam solos on the iPad within our Figurenotes band, everyone got stuck into some Blondie at the end of the day.

Thank you to everyone that came for such a fun-filled day. We can’t wait for the next one!

Sign up to the mailing list here to be the first to know about the next Music Teacher’s Toolbox.

Are you our Figurenotes Officer Maternity Cover?

We have an exciting opportunity to work with Drake Music Scotland, the nation’s leading organisation providing music education possibilities to disabled musicians of all ages. Based in Edinburgh, we have been working for over 20 years to enable people to learn, play, compose, and perform music. You can learn more about our fantastic disabled musicians on the Drake Music Scotland website.

• Do you have an excellent knowledge of music education?
• Are you passionate about accessibility in all aspects of music-making?
• Are you comfortable in a varied role that includes marketing and customer support?
• Are you an accomplished musician with a good knowledge of music notation and theory?

Find out more at: https://drakemusicscotland.org/get-involved/vacancies/

If you are keen to learn more about Figurenotes, book a place on our Figurenotes training day. Our Music Teacher’s Toolbox event takes place on Saturday 24th November, which is 2 days before the closing date of Monday 26th November.

This November, Music Teacher’s Toolbox will have a reinvigorated structure. Although we always vary the activities, this training day will look a little different than usual.

This Music Teacher’s Toolbox will lead you through building up a rounded musician, focusing on the core skills a musician should have. Get new ideas for each stage of learning, from initial ideas of pulse, through to building an ensemble. All the topics covered are transferable to any musical setting and we always approach our music making in an accessible way, so you can tailor it to your pupils’ needs.

Figurenotes Fundamentals

Focus: Pulse and Rhythm

Focus: Introducing Pitch

Focus: Instrumentation, Chords, and Ensembles

New Figurenotes Helpdesk

New Networking Session

After a lot of brilliant feedback from people attending our training days, we know how valuable these days are for networking and discussion. This is especially true of our Music Teacher’s Toolbox days, as we attract so many freelancers and teachers who feel alone in their schools. We would love to help you connect more, so we are incorporating a networking session into the extended lunch period. We will also be running a dedicated Figurenotes Helpdesk, where you can ask any specific questions you don’t feel are relevant in the group settings, or you’d rather ask one on one.

Take a look at the programme at www.figurenotes.org/currenttraining and let us know what you think.

As always, members of the Resource Base get 10% off the cost of their place. Just use the code RB2018 at the checkout.

Don’t want to pay online? Get your school/organisation to send a purchase order and we can invoice you instead. Make sure to complete your booking form, so we know where to send all the details for the day.

Places are extremely limited, due to the available space, so book early to avoid disappointment. Places are already getting snapped up!

“I feel sorry for those people that couldn’t make the training today, as I think they’ve missed out on something great!”

It is always wonderful to get a glowing review from our training sessions. Over two days, this one combined both Figurenotes and demonstrations of the technology that Drake Music Scotland use in their work. If you are interested in booking a bespoke training session or workshop, you can find more details and contact information on our website. 

Last week, we packed up our kit bags and headed off to the University of Aberdeen to train students and recent graduates. The group was wonderfully enthusiastic and full of questions, which we love! We did tonnes of rhythm games, from body percussion to vocal work. Some really interesting pieces were created from modern artworks, all with audience participation! There were brilliant improvisations using the technology, but the sound effect switches were a particular hit. Squealing pigs, anyone?

Working with people who are totally new to Figurenotes is particularly rewarding, especially current students and new teachers. The enthusiasm and imagination that the group brought to the sessions gives a lot of hope for the future of music education.

If you’d like to receive some training in Figurenotes, you can either book a training day for your organisation, or come to one of our Music Teacher’s Toolbox days. The next Music Teacher’s Toolbox takes place on Saturday 24th November, 2018. As usual, it will take place at our space in Edinburgh.