What did you do last week? Anything exciting? We did!

Drake Music Scotland are back from an exciting trip to New York, sharing practice with students and practitioners at NYU and University of Bridgeport. Armed with our new digital products, we flew over the Atlantic for a short knowledge exchange with our US partners. We loved learning how they work with Figurenotes already and sharing our best practice tips and tricks as well.

We explored different methodologies and discussed alternative ways of working alongside disabled musicians to create beautiful pieces of music and creating space and time for people to play instruments and have fun together.

We exchanged knowledge on composition and creative play, free form improvisation using Figurenotes and colours as inspiration, and of course, our infamous Play Together sessions where we make a rock band in five minutes. If you have ever been to one of our training days you will know what we are talking about. You can find more information on our training offers here.

It was great to see the new Figurenotes Software in action on smart boards and iPads. Plus, we could access our scores from anywhere with an internet connection!

Our heads are full of new ideas and reflections on great work happening the other side of the pond.

Big thanks to Dr. Kim McCord of Just Accessible Music (JAM) for hosting us and in general being the best and a sage full of knowledge and advice. Great discussions were had and looking forward to future collaborations!

Special thanks to all the students we met from New York University and University of Bridgeport for putting accessibility first in your practice. You are the future of music making!

Last but not least, big thanks to Creative Scotland. None of this would be possible without the support of the YMI CPD Fund administered by Scottish Music Centre. Thank you to all who helped us get there.

Keep an eye on our socials for more updates on our trip to New York and upcoming events!

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Get in touch if you would like to arrange a knowledge exchange with us:

figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org

Figurenotes HQ

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 November. Live delivery takes place in small groups on Thursdays, November 10th, 17th, and 24th at 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.

Our online training programme consists of three interactive Zoom sessions, plus a 1:1 session with course leaders to focus entirely on you and your work. You can attend from anywhere with an internet connection. You’ll also receive a discount code for our brand new Figurenotes resources!

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

New improved software you can access from any internet enabled device.

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Our Figurenotes software has undergone a much needed makeover. You can now access your Figurenotes tunes from any device with an internet connection! You are no longer tied to one computer, and there is a boat load of cool new features to boot.

Plus, you can access the software on iPads and tablets, meaning less printing, more playing!

You’ll be able to create, access and store your own Figurenotes scores as well as import and use existing tunes, simply by logging in to your account and accessing via any internet-enabled device.

Figurenotes latest features include:

• Compound time signatures
• Change time signature or tempo mid-piece
• Computer keyboard note input
• Fix note-length input to make writing a breeze
• Screen-reader compatibility BETA
• Text boxes and performance directions

Sing up today at notate.figurenotes.org

Add coupon code FNWEB1 at checkout to get £10 off.

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We have lots of online software tutorials and software FAQ’s to help you navigate all these new fancy features.

For more info visit our website or drop us an email at: figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org

Thanks to our funders ScottishPower Foundation who made this possible.

Learning is a journey, and we are here for it! Our new segment Figurenotes Journeys is all about highlighting the fantastic work you Figurenotes Champions are doing, and showing how Figurenotes can help anyone access music.

Our first story comes from a Figurenotes expert and all round wonderful teacher, Jill Henderson.

A Figurenotes Learning Journey

‘That take was the one’

This is a story about a child at Craigmarloch ASN school, Inverclyde who we will call J.  J is a bright little boy with a diagnosis of Autism which is the main barrier to his learning. From his earliest days at the school, he has shown a natural aptitude for music with perfect pitch, a beautiful singing voice and an instinctive sense of rhythm.  When approximately three years ago Figurenotes was introduced into his class music learning, J took to the system immediately.  The concrete nature, simplicity and visual attractiveness of the method make it very accessible for learners with Autism and before long J was sight singing and writing his own music in Figurenotes.

J also really likes to draw and taking himself to a quiet room with a glockenspiel, paper and crayons is an effective and enjoyable way for him to regulate his emotions and calm down if he is becomes stressed or overwhelmed. One morning during lockdown I gave him a booklet of familiar children’s songs written in Figurenotes. He quickly played through them all then asked why Mary had a little lamb was not included.  I replied that I would write it for him for the next day.  Imagine my surprise and delight when a few minutes later he came out from his quiet room having written the music out for himself!  I had not explicitly taught him about lengths of notes but he had visually absorbed this information for himself and was able to write his own music using the system.  This example reinforced my belief that Figurenotes was an accessible and meaningful system which enabled beginners and those with learning difficulties to learn to read, play and compose their own music.

This year, now in P6, J is learning to read and play 2 hands together on his favourite instrument, the piano. Again, the Figurenotes software allows teachers to write several parts together and clearly label them as desired-in this case RH and LH.  Basing the learning on his favourite song Whole World in His Hands we began by mastering each part separately (easy bass line first) then playing the music together, a line each.  After 8 weeks of positive little steps, he was able to play the song all the way through, 2 hands together.  This video shows his delight in his success and J tells me he hopes everyone in Scotland will enjoy watching him play his music.  In his word’s “That take was the one!”.

Jill Henderson 11.03.22

Well done J and big thanks for sharing Jill!

If you have any learning journeys you would like to share with us, email Figurenotes at: figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org

We are looking for companies with experience in developing music software to help us take Figurenotes to the next level.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to help us modernise our Figurenotes software as part of our programme: Figurenotes – Everyone Can Play!

Drake Music Scotland welcomes bids from qualified organisations and individuals to transform our existing downloadable Figurenotes application into a web-based application that fully delivers the existing functions and provides required and suggested improvements.

Figurenotes© Software promotes inclusion across the spectrum of music-making opportunities and differentiation within them.  By moving to a web-based system we are opening up accessibility to more devices and more learners, increasing accessible music education worldwide.

The required web-based application will allow a worldwide user-group to create, compose, playback, print, and share scores. The ability to access Figurenotes© Software and files anywhere via an internet connection will allow a diverse range of people to access music and encourage collaboration.

Closing date is 9am on 31/05/2021 

You can view the full software brief here.

The successful contractor will preferably have:  

• Experience of developing user-friendly, online applications  
• Knowledge and experience of music software  
• Understanding of the context faced by charity and social agencies  
• C++ Experience (original code is written in C++)
• Experience of programming languages/frameworks compatible with browser-based software
• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in software development  

Submission Requirements  

• A demonstration of your understanding of the brief.  
• Explanation of programming language/framework choices
• A detailed methodology indicating the number of days proposed for each task by  each member of the team.  
• An outline project plan, including review points  
• Details of approach to quality assurance (including adherence to timescales and the  quality of key outputs) and any relevant procedures/accreditation and how these will be applied to this project.  
• Details of personnel who will undertake the work, giving particulars of experience and  skills, including any sub-contractors you intend to use.  
• At least two examples of previous work that you feel display the skills you would  bring to this project. These should not include examples of work previously done for Drake Music Scotland.  
• How you will deal with data protection, accessibility, information governance, and security systems  
• Risk assessment and mitigation that includes those risks associated with most  application development projects, as well as those particularly relevant to this piece of work  
• An accurate breakdown of all costs including daily rates and expenses and any  VAT applicable, including VAT relating to subcontractors  
• Ongoing costs to run application, including any technical support costs.  

If you think this could be the role for you, please get in touch with the team at figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org. Help us make the best software we can by sharing this post with your networks.

Please contact us for various accessible formats of the brief, stating your preferred format – larger font or word document. The PDF below is an accessible PDF containing alt text. If you have any other access needs or questions, please email us at figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org.

Thanks to ScottishPower Foundation for supporting Figurenotes – Everyone Can Play.

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Ten years ago today, Drake Music Scotland unveiled the prototype Figurenotes software at their ‘I Can Play Music’ conference at Glasgow City Halls.  Drake Music Scotland look back at some of the highlights of this momentous day…

The I Can Play Music Conference on 26 November 2010 at Glasgow City Halls was the biggest and most ambitious event Drake Music Scotland had planned up to then – a full day’s programme of keynote plenaries and specialist break out sessions catering for 200 delegates, presenters and performers from across the UK and beyond.  

Our key presenters were the inventors of Figurenotes themselves, Markku Kaikkonen and Kaarlo Uusitalo, who had travelled direct from Resonaari music school in Helsinki to be our guests of honour. They set the tone for the day early with their opening presentation Making music should be a basic human right – Figurenotes is helping to place the joy and delight of making music in reach of all.

Markku and Kaarlo, ably assisted by Drake Music Scotland’s Artistic Director Pete Sparkes, followed this with an audience participation session which got everyone on their feet and highlighted how physical, and above all fun, making music can be!

The accompanying music was provided by the children’s orchestra from Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise Project in Raploch, Stirling who used Figurenotes to learn to play their string instruments.  Sistema Scotland was one of our first project partners and their performance showcased how Figurenotes can support children with additional support needs to join their ensembles and ensure that no child is excluded.

Our afternoon session led by Chief Executive Thursa Sanderson and Artistic Director Pete Sparkes unveiled the first software version of Figurenotes, which we created with support from Scottish Arts Council’s (now Creative Scotland) Inspire Fund.  The beauty of a software version is that it allows teachers and learners easy access to preparing sheet music and individual instrument parts.  The digital version also means it can be shared instantly and with anyone, anywhere in the world. This has long been available for standard notation, but was revolutionary for an accessible notation.

The various breakout sessions during the day gave us an opportunity to showcase the work of our wonderful Figurenotes ambassadors – teachers and academics who have been inspired by the system to explore its teaching potential and benefits to all types of learners. These included:

• Inverclyde music teacher Annona Thornton who outlined the benefits of Figurenotes for special schools with her experience using it with pupils with additional support needs in Lillybank School.

• Jill Henderson who highlighted how and why Figurenotes is particularly successful with learners with autism

• Chris Gray who showcased Figurenotes’ success in mainstream music teaching with his ‘whole class teaching’ string project at Greenmills School.

 “Really inspiring – really interesting – really well organised – Bravo.”

Anthony George, City of Edinburgh Council

“Excellent conference which has given me lots of inspirational ideas and enthusiasm to try out in my classroom.”

Alison Strachan, Arbroath Academy

Ten years on, our work with Figurenotes has gone from strength to strength, reaching over 20 countries across the globe and supporting over 10,000 learners to play music for the first time.

And, although the Covid-19 pandemic scuppered our plans to hold a tenth anniversary conference this year, we are not resting on our laurels. Our latest Figurenotes software development is currently taking place after a delay earlier in the year due to the pandemic, and we are busy with plans for further development to all our Figurenotes resources, so that it remains a key inclusive tool for at least the next ten years and beyond.

Find out more about what Figurenotes can do for you

In our latest guest blog, Emmeline McCracken shows us how she uses Figurenotes in her work as a music therapist.

Hello everyone,

My name is Emmeline and I am a music therapist. I work for my own company, ELM Music Therapy, primarily with children who have profound and multiple learning difficulties and those with terminal illnesses.

Although music therapy is very different from teaching someone to play an instrument, this can sometimes play a part in my therapeutic sessions. Often children will be keen to learn to play the piano with me as this is the instrument I use most frequently. Sometimes through learning some tunes together this can give a client confidence and also relax them into more therapeutic work. Often learning something can seem less daunting than the therapeutic process itself and can open many doors for the therapeutic work to take place. A few examples of this may be;

• Composing our own words to a learnt song.
• Moving into free improvisation.
• Relaxing a child enough for them to open up or share emotions.

As I work primarily with children with profound and multiple learning disabilities the use of Figurenotes has been invaluable in this teaching process. It has really allowed the children to quickly learn to play simple/familiar songs at the piano and allowed us to progress into other therapeutic processes. The matching of colours and symbols seems to be particularly appealing to many of the pupils on the autistic spectrum with whom I work and is quick and easy for them to grasp.

In my other work at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s hospital the quick and easy to grasp concept to allow children to learn and play tunes has been lifechanging. My work here is often not progressive as there can be children I only meet once on the ward and others who are long-term patients. It is wonderful to see not only the children’s but also their family’s faces light up around them as they perform songs they have learnt that day through the use of figure notes at a time when often the rest of their lives are unpredictable and out of control.

Here are some examples of children’s favourite songs that we have quickly written out in figurenotes.

Although I do not use Figurenotes in the same way as many others I find it very beneficial to my work and I hope that other music therapists will too!

“Figurenotes, Figurenotes, play what you see!”

Thanks to Emmeline for sharing her experiences. If you are interested in writing a guest blog, please get in touch with the Figurenotes team to share your ideas.

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How can Figurenotes help music sessions happen as Primary School returns?

Educators all over the world are either in preparations or currently navigating the return of our young people to formal education. There are so many factors to consider, and when it comes to music it’s no different.

Figurenotes have some great resources designed to help teachers and support staff run simple, fun and successful music sessions that comply with physical distance guidelines. These videos and supporting material, designed and created by Drake Music Scotland‘s associate musicians are simple, fun and achievable. Something that our young people need now more than ever after a turbulent last term and summer break.

We even have something for a sing-free birthday! Pop your stickers on your chime bars, or find something that matches the colours and use it as an instrument. The possibilities are endless!

If you are new to Figurenotes, check out our website and access these resources by singing up to our Resource Base for £23.99 per year (less than £2 per month . You will find resources like these and much more under the Lesson Plans tab.

Happy Figurenoting!

How can Figurenotes help as schools plan to return next week?

Teachers, pupil support assistants and practitioners do incredible work all year round supporting our young people’s learning. We know that things will look very different when schools return next week, so at Figurenotes HQ we have been putting together some useful resources for delivering music sessions in the classroom.

Created in conjunction with Drake Music Scotland, these resources and supporting videos are aimed at sensory groups of all ages and could perhaps fill the gap whilst visiting specialists may not yet be permitted to access your settings. For those of you that have previously had a visit from a Drake Music Scotland musician, some of these tunes may be familiar to you, like this one below.

Familiarity is great for our young people transitioning back into formal
education settings. Something familiar and achievable can encourage your young
people to feel safe, nurtured and sets them up for success after a long and
sometimes worrying break from routine. You can pop these songs on whilst
singing is not allowed, use the Figurenotes parts to play along or use the
Powerpoint presentations for lesson inspiration.

You can find these resources and more under the Lesson Plans tab on our Resource Base. For new customers, visit the Figurenotes website where you can sign up to our Resource Base for just £23.99 a year (that’s less than £2 per month). For those returning, we will be adding more to the lesson plans tab so keep coming back to check them
out.

Happy Figurenoting!

How can Figurenotes help as we plan to return to our settings?

Today the Scottish Government released guidance on returning to early years settings. Many practitioners in Scotland and all over the world will be wondering how music is going to fit in to the “new normal”.

Here at Figurenotes HQ, we want to help all of our customers continue to provide their vital contributions to the development of young people. We have teamed up with Drake Music Scotland‘s Associate Musician Fi Sharp to provide some useful resources which enable practitioners to carry out music sessions for their young people.

Fi has made these super handy videos which help to plan activities from our First Figurenotes pack. You can find these handy resources and supporting videos under the Lesson Plan tab on our Resource Base. There is something for everyone including emotion stories, movement activities, Figurenotes parts and fun-filled cross curricular activities like this one.

Whether you are new to Figurenotes or a distinguished #FigurenotesChampion, we have something for everyone on our Resource Base. Subscription is £23.99 a year (less than £2 per month) and is full of useful resources, tunes, lesson plans and much much more.

Brand new customer? You can get everything you need to get started with our Early Years Value Bundle!

Visit our online shop and grab your First Figurenotes pack today.

Happy Figurenoting!