Figurenotes

We asked Santa and he can’t find your names on the naughty list, so you must have been very good this year. We’ve decided to treat you all to a Figurenotes Advent Calendar. Sign up via the mailing list and we’ll send you a gift each Sunday of Advent. From resources to discount codes, those people who receive our mailing list will get 4 gifts throughout December. To join in the fun and get your hands on some exclusive goodies, sign up here. For those who love a good sing song, there are only a couple of Carol packs left in the online shop. We’ve also added the Creative Christmas resources from the last Music Teacher’s Toolbox on to the Resource Base. Like to get organised for the year ahead? Book your place on our next Music Teacher’s Toolbox training day – 25th March 2017. We have only released 10 places and they are already getting booked up! Although we cannot guarantee delivery by Christmas, the last postage date advised by the Royal Mail to mainland UK is 15th December. Please get your order in by 10am on this day for it to be processed before Christmas. Well done for surviving the Christmas concerts and endless requests for Jingle Bells. The end of term is in sight!

One of my favourite jobs on a weary Monday morning after a weekend of training is reading the feedback forms. It is so rewarding to see how valuable this type of training is to so many people. Some of our most experienced Figurenoters were training alongside those completely new to this way of notating and learning music, and everyone found what they were looking for.

Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your willingness to try new things and new ways of thinking about teaching.

There was a long waiting list for this CPD, so we’ve decided to release 10 places for the next Music Teacher’s Toolbox on 25th March, 2017. Click here for more information. Remember that members of the Resource Base get 10% off using the code RB2017. These days always sell out, so make sure you’re the early bird! Please tell us what you’d like to see on this training day, as we’ll be discussing the programme very soon. Sign up to the mailing list to stay updated.

See some of the feedback from last weekend below:

“Immensely useful. Gained loads of confidence, motivation, and success! Loads of ideas as to how to implement this work within our charity. Everyone was extremely helpful and enthusiastic. Thank you so much. A very interesting and informative day.”

“Lots of new ideas. Wonderful resources for Christmas. Renewed enthusiasm and reminders. Fabulous day! Well worth the trip. Please just keep doing what you’re doing!”

“A great day sharing ideas, resources, and getting a better grip of the Figurenotes software. Loved the band workshops – lots of useful ideas and lots of fun!”

“Excellent day. Very well presented, in an open, friendly setting. Absolutely everything has been useful! Nice to network and I picked up loads of ideas to take forward.”

“I really enjoyed the day and gained more ideas of how to use Figurenotes with pupils. Thank you!”

“I just love it. It has worked so well!” “Wow! Figurenotes really transformed my lessons. I love it!” “The way of displaying rhythm is brilliant. It makes total sense.” “I’ve tried to use colour before, but Figurenotes is just perfect.” We were drowning in compliments at the ABRSM conference. With over 500 instrumental teachers attending, Emma and Lauren were kept very busy explaining how Figurenotes could help in instrumental lessons. One of the first people through the door was a teacher we met here last year. It was wonderful to hear how Figurenotes has transformed his teaching during the past year, especially in one particular special school. He is now taking his pupils towards stage 2 Figurenotes, so we suggested some ideas from Fi Sharp’s blog. Thanks to the ABRSM for gathering such an interesting group of delegates and exhibitors in one place. So long, and thanks for all the biscuits.

“You’re going to need a bigger boat” – Music Teacher’s Toolbox is proving so popular that we’ve booked a bigger space. Looking at a fully-booked CPD course, we thought we’d better make room for some others, so we have released 2 more places. You can see the full programme and book. Please remember to fill in the booking form to give us a little more information about your work and what you’d like to learn. On November 19th, we welcome a host of musicians and teachers from across the UK for our Music Teacher’s Toolbox training. Not only will they get hands-on experience of using Figurenotes in many different settings, they’ll also have access to the software, expert advice and tuition, and unlimited amounts of fun and inspiration! Our Figurenotes play-together at the end of each training day is a chance for our participants to put what they have learned into practice in a band setting. Most discover a previously undiscovered love of the bass guitar and are surprised at how easily they can play something completely new to them. This experience often influences how Figurenotes can be used in their teaching. We love seeing those ‘Eureka!’ moments when they see which pupils will benefit most from a particular Figurenotes teaching technique. We have just released 2 more places on this previously sold out course, so please get in touch if you’d like to improve your skills in inclusive music in a fun, supportive environment. Find out more on our website.

Drake Music Scotland, the charity behind this site, recently won a Curiosity Award. This has allowed us to make a demo Figurenotes app, which we hope will act as preparation before taking up an instrument. The app will develop musical skills in a game-like environment. We don’t know if this app will be made available to the public yet, as it is only a prototype for now, but we wanted to share this exciting news with you all. There is a sneak peek in the photo above.

Lauren recently presented at Light Bytes to tell them how the app is developing. Light Bytes and the Curiosity Awards are run by Creative Edinburgh, Creative Dundee, and We Throw Switches; and supported by Creative Scotland. The app has been developed by Alex Horowitz. We love how he has taken the simplicity of Figurenotes and made a beautiful journey through the clouds, helping you to improve your skills as you go. Fun, motivational, and educational. If you want to see Lauren’s presentation, it was sent out via Periscope on Twitter.

We can't wait until 19th November. Why? It is the next Music Teacher's Toolbox! *insert your own personal fanfare here*

These training days are packed full of inspiration, whether you are new to Figurenotes or an experienced Figurenoter. Perfect for freelance music practitioners looking for some CPD. Great for teachers in both mainstream and special schools who might be looking for a way of teaching music to a class with a mix of abilities and needs. Ideal for those organisations who want to offer CPD to their staff without organising their own training days. Make the most of Drake Music Scotland's experts.

Further details on the programme are available here. You can book online or send us a purchase order. Take a look at some videos from previous training and read what the participants have said. If you have any questions then please call 0131 659 4766 or email Lauren at Figurenotes HQ.

Are you a member of the Resource Base? Congratulations, you get 10% off! Use the code RB2016 at the checkout.

Places are limited and we always get fully booked, so secure your place now. We can't wait to see you all.

Ok, so your school may not have a Steinway, but I’m sure we have all run into this issue when using Figurenotes in schools. Those beady eyed Figurenoters among you may have seen that we now have Reusable Stickers in our online shop. These went down a storm at the ISME Conference at the end of July, as they are great for those teachers that may not be able to put stickers on school instruments, or don’t want to have stickers on their piano for all of their pupils’ lessons. Perfectly sized for piano, which makes them great for pitched percussion too, this sheet gives you four octaves of stickers. They are bigger than the usual Figurenotes stickers. The icons are printed onto plastic, making the stickers easy to remove from the keys and stick back onto the sheet. Be careful of those oily fingers on the back, as this will shorten the lifespan of the stickers. Reusable Stickers are now in the online shop for an introductory price of £9.99. Only a limited amount are available, so be quick to get yours before they are all snapped up.

Reusable Stickers #new #music #piano #percussion Perfect for #pianoteachers and #percussionteachers

A video posted by Figurenotes (@figurenotesmusic) on Aug 18, 2016 at 4:07am PDT

These new Reusable #Stickers are hugely #popular! Get them while you can. Introductory price £9.99 while stocks last. www.figurenotes.org/shop #piano #musiced #music #percussion A photo posted by Figurenotes (@figurenotesmusic) on Aug 18, 2016 at 4:15am PDT

Have you ever wanted to be part of an orchestra? The BBC have launched their Get Playing initiative, which includes a virtual orchestra. You record your part in time with the conductor and they’ll do the rest. You could feature in the Last Night of the Proms!

Worried about reading the music? Don’t worry, we’ve Figurenoted the parts for you, so you can play too! Check them out on the BBC Get Playing website. You can play along with the conductor, or choose to play just the tune.

We can’t wait to see your entries! Deadline is 27th August.

We now have a dedicated space on our Resource Base for BBC Ten Pieces. So, if you’ve been wanting to get involved, but weren’t quite sure where to start, or if you’ve been brimming with ideas and want even more, click on over to our Resource Base.

We have lesson plans, scores, creative activities, poetic inspiration, and more! All in wonderful, multicoloured Figurenotes.

These ideas can also fit into a class where not everyone uses Figurenotes. Just choose your resources carefully and edit the Figurenotes files using your software, should you want to.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with and create. Please do send us (and the BBC) your creative projects and performances. We love seeing videos and photos from your sessions. Make sure you have permissions before sending though.

Good luck!

Did you know that Figurenotes is SQA approved?

You can use Figurenotes for both performance and composition in SQA exams all the way up to Advanced Highers!

This means that accreditation can be opened up to a huge range of people that struggle with traditional notation, whether this is because of additional needs, such as dyslexia, or not. By allowing alternative forms of notation to be used and submitted, the SQA is leading in inclusive music accreditation and is recognising that music is music, regardless of how it is read.

If you would like the exam board that you use to start recognising Figurenotes as an alternative form of notation that can be used in accredited exams, please let them know. We would be delighted to follow up with specific information, but they need to know that teachers and pupils want inclusive accreditation.

This is something we should all be fighting for, regardless of whether you work in mainstream or special education. You never know when one of your pupils will need this support and recognition.