I primarily teach adults and children with disabilities to play, rock, folk, Broadway, and jazz using Figurenotes. I teach a Special Music Education graduate course in Connecticut at the University of Bridgeport that includes a teaching component with our bands. Each student is assigned to mentor and arrange a song the musician would like the band to play, in Figurenotes.
How has Figurenotes helped your organisation achieve their goals?
I am gradually finding musicians in Connecticut that want to be musical but have not been successful in traditional music
education.
What’s been your biggest success using Figurenotes?
The dozens of musicians who display the “big smile” that Figurenotes founder Markku Kaikkonen writes about as the goal for teachers. When we see the big smile, we know that the musician is feeling joyful immersed in the music.
Have you undertaken any research or evaluation of the effectiveness of Figurenotes?
Yes. So far we are informal and have not written up any results. We are experimenting with using Figurenotes in our own way that supports the specific needs of our musicians. For example, we have a wonderful case study of a woman with autism who in a year has used Figurenotes to
transition to reading traditional notation. She still will often use markers to color notes or chords to help her to read quicker. She now adapts notation for herself.
Website: https://www.justaccessiblemusic.com/
- Studied Figurenotes at Resonaari, Helsinki
