After feedback that our current training clashes with the school run (we see you, jugglers) we need your help to refine our options.
We want to hear from you. What time of year is best? Which days work with your workload? Which times make life easiest for you? Let us know your thoughts and we will build our training around you. The survey below has 4 simple questions, is totally anonymous, and will only take a minute to complete.
Our current Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course runs over 3 weeks. We deliver a 2-hour session once a week on Zoom, with homework activities between sessions. An individual follow-up session with course leaders can be booked at a time to suit you.
The interactive nature of this course means that being present, working in the small groups we deliver to, and sharing ideas are a huge part of the learning process. We feel that access to recordings won’t give the same benefit with this style of course, so we are keen to make sure people can attend live.
If you have any thoughts on other types of training you’d like then please send us an email at Figurenotes@DrakeMusicScotland.org. We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Pre-recorded videos, modular workbooks, in-person training – whatever you would like to see, let us know.
As a thank you, we’re offering 10% off resources in our online shop, including training! https://figurenotes.org/shop/ Just complete the form below. Thank you.
The Scottish musicians and teachers among you will likely know the Youth Music Initiative well. This music education initiative, funded by the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, has made so many projects possible over the last 20 years. It is a vital source of funding for the work that so many of us deliver. Drake Music Scotland, the charity behind Figurenotes.org, delivers an extensive schools programme supported in part by YMI funding.
To celebrate 20 years of this programme Creative Scotland hosted a special industry event on 2nd March, bringing the youth music sector together. The theme for the event was #YMusicMatters– can you see what they did there?
Come and Try
Figurenotes was invited to exhibit at the event as part of ‘Come and Try’, alongside other wonderful organisations doing brilliant work across Scotland. Soundplay Projects had their projections and fun installations bringing the room to life. The Sound Lab were recording in the corner, treating us all to some wonderful sounds. North Edinburgh Arts were showcasing some fantastic tracks made within their workshops. We were there to showcase Figurenotes with a range of instruments, from keyboards to adapted guitars, notation software to Thumbjam on the iPad. It was a buzzing room and great fun to be a part of.
“I’m gobsmacked to be honest.
I would have been SUCH a pro if I had this when I was trying to learn”
Excited event attendee on trying Figurenotes notation to play chimes
It was lovely to see some familiar faces and make new connections. We convinced many a non-musician to have a go on the instruments using Figurenotes notation, with very minimal explanation. Someone who had never touched an instrument before played Jingle Bells on the first try. A heavy-metal drummer who always struggled with notation played a cracking bit of Beethoven.
The common refrain we hear at events is ‘oh no, I’m not musical’. The shock and joy they experience when they realise they can do it without much help at all is so lovely to see. It just shows the immediacy possible in learning music when you break down some of the barriers. Everyone should be able to experience the thrill of making music, the confidence that stems from that, and the desire to try again and again. This form of expression should be available to all. That is #YMusicMatters to us.
Thank you to artist Katie Forbes who was live-drawing the event. She gifted us a wonderful piece of art as a thank you for giving her the opportunity to play music with us.
Thank you to Creative Scotland, all the YMI staff, and everyone at the event for an interesting, inspiring day.
Find us on social media to let us know #YMusicMatters to you.
We’re feeling particularly festive this year. Everyone is in need of a big bucketful of joy after such a tough period and we’re hoping the Christmas break will deliver! Stock up on your mince pies, get out your fluffiest slippers, and enjoy not listening to Jingle Bells being played 30 times a day. Relax and enjoy the break.
But before you do…
Make sure your Figurenotes orders are in by 16th December for UK delivery before Christmas and the start of next term.
Our office will close for Christmas at the end of 17th December; reopening 5th January 2022. Orders for physical resources will not be processed between these dates. Digital resources, such as the Figurenotes software, will continue to be processed automatically.
Royal Mail have warned that delays are likely to happen due to coronavirus, so we can’t guarantee delivery by Christmas. However, we are following their recommended last postage dates, so all should be well. The earlier you order, the better.
Launching in 2022
We’ve got some really exciting stuff coming in the new year. Our little elves have been working away in the background producing some exciting new resources that will be a game-changer for so many Figurenoters. We can’t wait to tell you about them! Watch this space…
If you want to stay in the loop about the launch in early 2022, make sure you’ve subscribed to our mailing list.
“Not only was the training great, it was also really fun, which is so important”
As always, we had an absolute blast delivering the Figurenotes: Developing Your Practice course. The interactive elements always have everyone smiling and it really brightens our day to work with such enthusiastic music leaders.
The inspiration was sparking for our fabulous course participants from the very first week! It is so invigorating to set an activity or a homework challenge and see the ideas pouring out of the wonderful teachers before us.
“Online worked a treat! Well planned for the context and plenty of opportunity to share practice. Good space for thoughts to be absorbed too.“
The Group
Last time we had an international crowd, but this crew were all based in Scotland, so we are also building a lovely network of musicians that can support each other in their day-to-day work too. That is why we encourage all our Figurenoters to join the private Facebook group too. It’s a great place to ask questions and share ideas with other Figurenotes teachers and leaders.
Getting to know our small groups and working together over the weeks really helps us to deliver practical advice relevant to each person and their working environment. With such broad portfolio careers in music and music education, we love hearing about the incredible professional experience each attendee brings to their work. Instrumental and classroom teachers, mainstream and specialist schools, composers and community musicians – we had a wealth of knowledge and experience within this group. Music education in Scotland is very lucky to have such an inspirational bunch of musicians teaching the next generation.
“Excellent, fun, interactive, and curious sessions that were active and engaging.“
Week 1 – Rhythm
After introducing the basic principles of Figurenotes, we start the fun and games. Our rhythm activities using canon even got a live outing with a woodwind group in the week following the session, which went down very well with the pupils!
Our rhythm homework challenge inspired such innovative responses. These ranged from movement activities inspired by Pachelbel’s Canon, exploring and listening on an adventure with a cuckoo (Saint-Saens), all the way into outer space for a space-themed rhythm and structure activity. Their pupils are going to be having a lot of fun in the coming weeks working on this lot.
Week 2 – Composition
Chime cam made an appearance this week to showcase some compositions created during the session. We played with different ways of using rhythm and colour (pitch), as well as directing each other’s playing. It is always lovely to hear some live playing in an online setting too (the viola played as a cello was my personal highlight).
Week 3 – Groups
The Gingerbread Man came to play today. Incorporating elements from the past 2 weeks, this activity is great for differentiation, turn-taking and other ensemble skills, as well as having more extension activities than you can shake a rainstick at!
By combining this with practical tips for making group-work accessible and fun, this action packed week should set up our music leaders with the tools they need to get cracking with Figurenotes.
“I’ve already started using it and the kids just get it straight away. It’s definitely here to stay. It’s been life-changing!”
1:1 Follow-ups
Every participant can book a follow-up session with course leaders to ask whatever questions and queries that weren’t covered in the training or to dive deeper into certain aspects of their practice. This could be anything from reviewing and discussing resources created during the course, refining and developing them, or a walk-through of the software. These sessions are a wonderful way to tie up the learning from the previous 3 weeks to set our participants up with the skills and confidence to dive into using Figurenotes in their practice.
What Next?
Our next course will run in March 2022. Book your place here and join us for more Figurenotes fun and games, learning skills for delivering accessible music sessions, whatever your work setting.
“Loved all of the compositional games gifted and the resources of materials – an amazing package of tools to get going in a lot of contexts.“
Our highly sophisticated random selection tool has chosen a winner for our Figurenotes Champion competition. Congratulations, Lifesize! You have won a bundle of Figurenotes goodies, including a stickers value pack, your choice of tune book, a year’s subscription to the Resource Base, and the new Figurenotes Software (which you’ll receive as soon as it is released!)
Lifesize is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Hastings and St. Leonards-on-Sea, UK. Providing music and arts engagement with young people and adults.
This fantastic organisation was founded in 2019 and delivers work in a variety of settings using both traditional instruments and technology. Lifesize works with all ages, including people with learning disabilities and people experiencing mental and physical health challenges. They aim to support artistic and musical ambitions, while working in a responsive and person-centred way, promoting overall wellbeing and self-esteem.
Figurenotes has helped Lifesize to “enable a creative environment where workshop participants of all abilities are supported to collaborate effectively.”
Our Figurenotes Champions map and profiles page are filling up nicely. We’d love to feature more of the wonderful organisations, schools, and institutions that are using Figurenotes in their work. Take a look at the profiles already on the site and complete the form to feature. This is a great way to reach new pupils, connect with local networks, and make global connections and collaborations. We’ll be highlighting as many as we can through our social media channels and newsletter too.
“Really great to see everyone’s ideas and the range of different minds from all over the world – great for inspiration!”
We had a fantastic time delivering our new online course designed to help people explore Figurenotes within their own teaching settings. Running 2 small groups across 3 weeks of training, we’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about the people involved and how they work.
Thank you to all our participants for engaging so well with this course. The activities and ideas created by your homework tasks were phenomenal and have such potential. We can’t wait to hear what you achieve in your lessons.
I have learnt how to use the Figurenotes system itself, but also some great ideas about planning, differentiation and different ways into composing.
Trainee 2021
Each week had a different focus, which was consolidated in the homework activity. Week 1 was an introduction to Figurenotes with particular emphasis on rhythm. Week 2 explored the world of creative play and composition. Week 3 focused on groups, ensembles, and differentiation.
As always, the creative composition task had the most wide-ranging results. The opportunities are endless when working with colour and shape. We have had everything from Kandinsky to puppets, train journeys to braille Bananagrams, Moomins to holiday snaps – and everything inbetween! What a creative bunch.
Tools for Creative Composition (week 2)
Our in-person training nearly always has a visitor to Scotland from another country, but with online delivery we can reach so many more people who could benefit from this training. With participants from Hong Kong, Greece, USA, and the UK this time around, we hope to reach even more countries with our next course date.
If you are interested in attending this course in the future, please get in touch, as we are currently working out dates and timings for the next run. With so many timezones to consider, it is helpful to know what works best for you.
The information was presented really well and you are both super knowledgable about teaching to diverse groups. It was great to get your insight.
“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.
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/
Fiona Sharp of F Sharp Music Practicehas had great success with her online music sessions during 2020 and into the new year. As many musicians worried about their future work opportunities, Fiona has continued to provide high quality sessions for many organisations including PAMIS and Drake Music Scotland. She has also delivered training sessions on how to get the most from online delivery, including advising on a new online project for schools with the RSNO. Here she gives us a brief insight into her practice.
Fiona Sharp of F Sharp Music Practice (above)
I was concerned like many music teachers, practitioners and specialists at the start of lockdown how music tuition could be achieved solely on an online basis, especially when working with pupils who have Additional Support Needs. Over the past few months I have been astounded at the level of development made with many of my clients and pupils and in particular their progress with Figurenotes.
I have tried various ways of using Figurenotes online and I have detailed below the activities and methods I have found to work particularly well.
Something I have found to work well when using Figurenotes online for teaching is emailing sheets of Figurenotes notes for the pupils to print and cut out so they are able to make up their own songs, unless the pupils already have their own Figurenotes magnets. I usually start my online sessions asking the pupil to choose 10-15 cut out notes, either showing me the note or telling me what colour and shape it is. They can either lay the notes out in front of them, or as I tend to do, I put the Figurenotes magnets on a board, which I then hold up to the screen for them to see.
To vary the exercises I sometimes change the shapes they have chosen and get them to play the squares with their left hand, and the circles and triangles with their right hand. I also do chord work using the magnets/cut outs as well as exercises focusing on hands separately and hands together.
Themes can be fun to make the sessions a bit more interesting, for example themes about the sea, weather and emotions are popular ones, then finding songs or making up musical activities to go along with that theme.
The sea is always a good theme. You can get pupils to put lentils or rice in a plastic tub with a lid and slowly rock it from side to side so it sounds like the waves. Try the ocean drum tutorial in the video below. You can make up a short sea shanty using the Figurenotes magnets or cuts outs, and there are plenty of sea-themed songs which you can play using Figurenotes:
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Bobby Shaftoe
Row Your Boat
Skye Boat Song
Overall, my experience so far working online has been positive. I have noticed I am having to describe and communicate a lot more than I would normally in a music session, but I have been very surprised by the level of development my pupils have had since teaching online. I have come to the conclusion that it could be due to fewer distractions. For pupils on the Autistic Spectrum this has been particularly evident, and I have been quite amazed at the level of concentration and engagement they have during their session. I feel many of my pupils have achieved a lot more in a half hour session than they would normally with me sitting next to them. I have also noticed they have to work things out for themselves more than normal as I am not there to physically support them or show them what to do. I have been very impressed and pleasantly surprised by the level of development made with each pupil through online music sessions.
