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!

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!