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The Future of Community Music

Training students is a brilliant way to ensure the future of music education and community music fits with our mission. We love working with the next generation of musicians, giving them the tools to lead accessible and inclusive sessions as they embark on their careers.

Last Monday, Drake Music Scotland led a workshop for the BA(Hons) Community Music course at Edinburgh College. With a cohort of about 45 students, we managed to cram a lot in. The most valuable aspect of our training is always the hands-on learning. We firmly believe in learning by doing, so naturally, we built our famous 5-minute band.

A percussion section used body percussion to keep a beat, while the rest of the room divided into groups playing various instruments – bass, adapted Figurenotes guitar, switches with Notion, iPads using Thumbjam and GarageBand, as well as a chime bar choir. Figurenotes scores helped keep everyone on track, especially people playing instruments they had never tried before. Everyone loves a Figurenotes bass! Pink Pony Club has never sounded so cool.

We finished with a beautiful improvisation using an image of colourful houses in Tobermory harbour as our starting point. Everyone coming together in a creative vision was the perfect end to the session, and everyone went home very relaxed. Twinkling sun rays on the water played out over moving chords underneath, all led by a volunteer conductor with a chime bar. Figurenotes colours make improvisation and composition easy, taking away the anxiety of the ‘blank page’.

The feedback was wonderful to read: ‘joyful’, ‘inspiring’, ‘engaging ‘, and even ‘pretty darn cool’. Our hopes for the future of community music are pretty high right now. Thanks for having us, Edinburgh College.

If you are interested in training, take a look at our flagship Figurenotes course. Focusing on the fundamentals of music-making, these interactive sessions are delivered online in small groups. We also run bespoke training for organisations. Get in touch for more information, or check out Figurenotes.org/training.

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Lauren Two, Electric Boogaloo

Time to Celebrate

Creative Edinburgh is celebrating 15 years of the Creative Edinburgh Awards. They invited us to mark the occasion and celebrate with other previous award winners.

The timing could not have been more perfect. We won our award back in 2022 for our collaboration with Tayfusion to produce Notate. This project brought our Figurenotes notation programme into an internet browser, which meant people could access it without the need for installation. This had always been a sore spot, as teachers needed to contact their IT department with any problems, and we couldn’t fix them as quickly as we’d have liked. By moving online, we removed barriers and increased accessibility, particularly for musicians travelling between classrooms, schools, and projects.

The Next Phase

The next phase of this project launched this summer. We have removed subscription costs and created a brand new resources library. No fees, just accessible resources.

We’ve campaigned for decades for better access to music education, so what better way to make this a reality. Anyone can now access Notate and the Library for free, with no installation. All you need is an internet browser.

And if that isn’t enough, you can make requests via our Wish List form for more resources. Help shape the Library by letting us know what you want to see. It can be as basic as ‘More trad tunes’, or something really specific. Let us know what you’d like to see.

Take a look at the previous winners on Creative Edinburgh’s website. We are in very good company!

Nominations are now open for this year’s Creative Edinburgh Awards. If you are in the Edinburgh area, take a peek at the categories and see who you would nominate.

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Lauren Two, Electric Boogaloo

The Rhythm of Life

What’s new in the Library for September?

Calling all drummers. We’ve put the focus on rhythm for this month’s resources. Explore a whole host of drum beats to develop your skills, from basic beats to variations and fills. We’ve got rock beats and blues beats, editable files, and PDFs in stage 1 and stage 3.

Not a drummer? There is something for you too.

If you’re looking for some ‘get to know you’ songs for the new school term, try The Pie Song. Get your group to come up with their own pie fillings as you learn to sing together. This sweet little song explores the So-Mi interval, which is often used in the Kodály method.

Most kids love to come up with the most disgusting filling possible, resulting in a fun-filled session full of giggles. Just be glad you don’t have to eat them afterwards. You could also develop this by creating a load of filling rhythms and tapping/clapping them to a beat.

For our pianists, we have some lovely wee tunes, such as Bartók’s Conversation 1 (sometimes called Dialogue 1). This is a great tune for developing the skill of playing with 2 hands on the piano.

Don’t forget you can request resources using the Wish List form. This helps us tailor the resources to our users. We’d love to hear from you.

And in case you’ve forgotten, this is all FREE! Register an account on our website to explore the Library and download your free resources. If you have previously had a Notate account, make sure you register on this new website with the same email address you used for Notate. You can find a step-by-step video below to help you with registering.

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Lauren Clay

Develop Your Practice

Book your place now for Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice. Our flagship training course is delivered in small groups online. New dates announced for November 2026. Make the most of our new free resources and invest in your skills.

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Lauren Clay

And we’re live!

Our new website is live and ready to be explored. All of our Figurenotes resources in one place, with just one login.

- No more subscription costs

- FREE access to Notate

- FREE resources library

- One site, one login.

The best bit? It includes Notate, our notation programme, for free. No more subscriptions, no download needed – just log in and get going.

But we didn’t stop there.

Our mission is to make music education accessible to all. So you also get free access to a library of resources right here on the website. We will update this regularly, so make sure you check back to see what we’ve added. If there is something you want, but can’t see, add it to our wishlist by emailing us with a request.

Stickers and magnets are still available via our online shop. You can access training courses and bespoke training for your organisation.

And if that isn’t enough for you, remember you can get free resources by signing up to the Figurenotes newsletter.

What Do I Need To Do?

There may be a short period of disruption as we iron out the creases. These are big changes and we appreciate your patience. Please let us know of any problems you have with accessing or navigating the website.

You will need to sign in or register using the email address you used for Notate, as this ensures you keep access to your files. Keep an eye on your inbox (and junk folders) in case we need to contact you. Adding Figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org to your ‘safe senders’ list will ensure you see our emails.

As a charity, we rely on donations. Please consider supporting our work at Figurenotes and Drake Music Scotland by visiting our Just Giving page to donate.

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Rebecca Di Rollo

Figurenotes Drop In Sessions

The Figurenotes team will host online drop-in sessions throughout 2026. These will take place every few months over the course of the year, and will usually take place in the first week of the month.

Each 30min sessions will provide a space to ask questions and gain guidance on all things Figurenotes. Some will be more general and open sessions, whilst others may have a particular focus, such as using Notate or working with a specific group.

Come along and ask questions, gain insight or just bounce ideas off the Figurenotes team and the wider community.

The first is a general drop-in session and takes place on Wed 4th February at 4pm.

Join using the Zoom link below.

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/84654315489?pwd=glhbNIwEU9Gdjowr6alNnoM6tGCnJq.1

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Rebecca Di Rollo

Training Dates Added

Did you miss out on our online course in November? Secure your spot for the next one and enjoy a discounted price with the early bird rate.

After lots of enquiries about when the next Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course will take place, you can now book your place on our May 2026 course. Our early bird rate of £99.99 will be available until 20th Feb. Places are limited, so book quickly to avoid disappointment.

Book now

Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice. Online Training in Accessible Practices for Music Educators. 6th, 12th, and 20th May 2026. 9:30am-11:30am. Early bird till 20th Feb. Book now at Figurenotes.org. Image of primary children playing chime bars using coloured notation.

How does it work?

You’ll learn how to use Figurenotes as a tool, working through the fundamentals of music. We’ll focus on rhythm, composition and creative play, as well as working with mixed-ability groups and ensembles. Each interactive session will be delivered in a small group.

Between sessions you’ll create resources that work for you, getting feedback and ideas from the rest of the group and course leaders. A follow-up 1-to-1 gives you the opportunity to go deeper, with course leaders focused entirely on you and your work.

The training was brilliant. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to teach anyone music, with or without ASN

Excellent, informative, and always happy to take weird and wonderful questions!

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Rebecca Di Rollo

Happy Holidays

As festive concerts come to an end, we wish all of our Figurenotes community a restful and happy holiday season. Figurenotes HQ is shutting up shop, but we will still be around to answer queries.

Simply drop us an email at figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org

You can also check out our Linktree for all things Figurenotes.

Physical orders will be posted out again from the 6th January.

The Figurenotes Team

Festive infographic with animated presents, mixed with musical instruments on a purple background. White text above reads "merry Christmas from everyone at Figurenotes HQ"

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Lauren Clay

New Plans for the Hub

Exciting plans are in development.

To make way for more accessible resources, we are winding down the Figurenotes Accessible Music Hub (FAM Hub). If you are an account holder, please check your email (and junk folder) for more information. The Hub will be removed entirely on October 28th, 2025.

Our mission is to make music more accessible for all. With this in mind, we will be launching more free-to-access resources in the near future. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know when they launch. You receive a free bundle of resources just for signing up, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Get Your Free Bundle

We can’t wait to tell you more. Watch this space!

Psst… Did you hear about our training? Find out more about the Developing Your Practice course in the training section of this website.

Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice. 5th, 12th, and 19th November, 2025. 09:30am-11:30am GMT. Online. Learn accessible approaches. Designed by, and for, music educators. Leave with relevant resources to use right away. Book now at Figurenotes.org

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Lauren Clay

Free Starter Pack Launch

Fancy some free resources?

We have updated our free bundle of resources for 2025. Anyone who receives our email newsletter can get the new ‘Starter Pack’, so if you haven’t signed up already, you can do so here.

Get your bundle

The pack contains:

Five well-known tunes using the notes from middle C to the G above.

Backing tracks at different speeds to help with practice and performance.

Songs and activities to help build musical skills, such as listening, turn-taking, rhythm, and pulse.

An explanation of how Figurenotes works

Puppet cards to add even more fun!

Puppet cards showing friendly monsters in Figurenotes shapes. A smiling red circle, a yellow cross with 3 eyes, a blue square with one eye, and a green triangle with scales. They have circles to cut out where legs would go. These are for your fingers to go through.

The tunes are designed for ‘5 finger piano’, but are not instrument specific. They would work well on digital instruments too, such as Thumbjam and Clarion. These tunes are written in Stage 1 Figurenotes notation. You can read more about progression here.

The songs and activities can be used in group and 1:1 settings, with options to adapt and extend for more creativity.

We’re thrilled to be launching this set of resources, available free to anyone with an email address. It is especially lovely to feature musicians from Drake Music Scotland’s Singing Group in the recordings. To learn more about the charity behind Figurenotes, take a peek at Drake Music Scotland’s website.

A purple background. Images appear in blob shapes in 3 corners. They contain piles of Figurenotes resources. Glimpses of yellow and blue circles can be seen in various rhythms. Friendly monster characters in circle, square, triangle, and cross shapes can be seen. Text reads: Free Figurenotes Resources

How do I get my bundle?

Pop your details into the signup form. You will be redirected to download your Starter Pack.

For those lucky people who are already signed up – your resources are in your inbox now. Go and take a look. Happy Figurenoting!

Get your bundle