Figurenotes

“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/

Feature your organisation on this site and across our social media channels – join our Figurenotes Champions Showcase!

We know our global Figurenotes users often feel isolated, as many musicians and educators are self-employed or are the only music teacher in their school. There are so many fabulous organisations out there doing amazing work with Figurenotes. We’d love to feature more of you and create a global network, making it easy for people to connect and students to find teachers that use Figurenotes.

The new Figurenotes Champions page will feature as many of you as possible, from the private teacher with one pupil using Figurenotes, to the school that starts every pupil in this way, and the organisation doing incredible work to further music education in their area. We want to hear from you all!

If you’d like to feature, just complete this form to let us know about your work. By completing the form, you’ll also be entered into a prize draw to win a bundle of Figurenotes goodies.

After a year of lockdowns, school closures, and U-turns, many of you will be total pros at remote, hybrid, synchronous and asynchronous lessons. Here we compile some of the top tips we’ve gathered along the way.

Breakout Rooms = Practice Rooms

Delivering to a group and need to check up on their individual work? Whether in a classroom setting or a group rehearsal, assigning pupils their own breakout rooms as practice spaces means you can visit each pupil and see how they’re doing. No scheduling needed, just pop in when you feel like it. The threat of an imminent visit from a teacher can help keep them on task too, especially if they’ve got many distractions at home (how many pets have you seen over Zoom by now?)

Know Your Platform

Some schools will be very strict about the platform you can use and you’re stuck with it. If you’re a private teacher, try to get everyone on the same platform as you. We’ve found Zoom to be the best, as their sound options seem the most comprehensive. The Original Sound feature is fantastic and teaching instrumental lessons would be much harder without it. The new high fidelity music settings haven’t blown us away and sometimes caused more problems, but original sound should see you right.

Make sure you send accessible resources and instructions to students, parents/guardians, or support staff, so everyone is set up and ready to go.

Know the accessibility features of your platforms and technologies. There are new updates all the time, such as Zoom now having in-meeting closed captions. Google Meet’s captions are generally accurate, even when singing.

Online Recitals

My first online recital had 100% engagement. Normally I get about half of my pupils wanting to perform live, and virtually none of my adult pupils ever want to get involved in concerts. Let them choose between playing live or sending you a video beforehand for you to share from your screen. One of my pupils has always point-blank refused to play in concerts and she took part by sending in a video, even though she couldn’t attend the concert itself.

One brilliant bonus of performing online is that you can invite family and friends from far afield who would never have been able to see the live show. We used the chat feature in Zoom to post positive and supportive comments. It was lovely.

Connection is Everything

The strength of your internet connection has become the difference between a great lesson and a frustrating waste of time. If you find you or a pupil has terrible wi-fi, try an ethernet cable. Directly plugging into your router can do wonders for the strength of your connection.

Human connection is important too. Take time to discuss how the week has gone, not just in terms of their practice. Find ways to play together (your student needs to be muted) or play games. A laugh can go a long way during a pandemic.

Get Creative

Figurenotes lends itself to creativity, and this is no different online. Grab household items in Figurenotes colours and compose with them. Share screens and use the Figurenotes software to do some composing or arranging – a great way to sneak some stealth theory in. Try using the whiteboard feature, or Google Jamboard, to draw graphic scores in Figurenotes colours and play them. Wherever you can find colour, you can compose and improvise. Remember those homemade instruments mentioned in Fiona Sharp’s excellent blog? Endless fun and a way to entertain the kids during school closures and cancelled clubs.

Improve Your Skills

This is a great time to build on the skills you have and take a training course, as most are online and don’t require travel. Getting stuck into skill development is much more beneficial to both your mental health and job satisfaction than completing Netflix. There are plenty available. Our new online course, Figurenotes Online: Developing Your Practice, is ideal for emerging and established musicians, teachers, and music practitioners. You’ll learn how to make your work more accessible, inclusive, and fun! The groups will be kept nice and small in order to focus on your needs and help develop resources that fit your setting and style. You can find out more here: https://figurenotes.org/new-online-training/

We’ve got a special Christmas treat for members of our Resource Base – a new Musescore plugin!

Subscribers to our Resource Base have long been able to download a plugin for Musescore that allows you to change the noteheads to Figurenotes colours with one click, giving you stage 3 Figurenotes notation at the touch of a button. Now we have created a transitional tool allowing you to do even more.

If you want to ease your pupils into stage 3 notation more slowly, you can now use shaped noteheads with Figurenotes colours with our latest plugin.

Using shaped noteheads in this way allows pupils to adjust to the new stave appearance more gradually. Shapes can help reassure players that they are in the right octave, while still progressing their rhythmic reading.

Write your piece in Musescore or import it from the Figurenotes software. After highlighting the piece, click on the plugin in your Musescore menu to change the piece to either stage 3 or the new transition stage. Easy!

Once you’re logged in, you’ll find the new plugin under ‘Software Resources’, along with a Sibelius plugin and instructions on installing the new plugin.

Not a Resource Base member? Sign up today for only £23.99 a year – that’s less than £2 per month!

Membership will give you access to a huge bank of tunes, lesson plans and resources you can adapt to suit the needs of your pupils using the Figurenotes software for mac or PC.

Note: This plugin is currently only compatible with Musescore 3. We are working on a compatible version for Musescore 2 and hope to launch it soon.

In the meantime, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with all things Figurenotes and get your hands on our free resources bundle.

The world’s first online Figurenotes training programme has launched!

Figurenotes Online: Developing Your Practice

This new interactive course is suitable for all music educators and practitioners; enabling you to begin or further your work in an accessible, inclusive way.

You will take part in 3 interactive sessions with expert course leaders and small groups of your peers. Each session will guide you through new ways to approach the fundamentals of music-making; creating and tailoring resources that fit your working practices. To help get the most from the course, you’ll be given activities to do between sessions to help you apply this training directly to your own work, with valuable feedback from course leaders and participants.

If you’re looking for a new tool to add to your toolbox, or want to take a deeper look at the way you work, join us for this fun and engaging course. You’ll receive a copy of the latest Figurenotes software as part of your attendance, allowing you to fully engage in the content and activities within the course.

You can find more information on our training pages, including the booking form. If you have any questions, please get in touch at figurenotes@drakemusicscotland.org.

£149.99 – includes Figurenotes software and 3-week training course.

Thursdays – April 22nd, 29th, and May 6th 2021. Morning and afternoon options available.

See what people had to say after our last Music Teacher’s Toolbox training day:

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

If you’ve ordered Figurenotes Stickers recently, you might have noticed a slight change in their design. The same shapes and colours as before, but without the shadows.

We think this makes the shapes clearer and easier to see on the instrument – and you seem to agree! Thank you to everyone that has helped us with testing and feedback.

Not sure how the stickers work on your instrument? Check out our handy instrument guides and sticker charts, available on our Resource Base under the Instruments tab.

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!