In todays music workshop we were introduced to Figurenotes. This is a simpler way of reading music for those who struggle reading notation. ‘It is a simple and clear system designed to demystify the first steps of learning music. There is no ‘dots or squiggles’ to be learned, just to simple concepts of matching and playing in pulse. (Drake Music 2010).

 

 

Different shapes are used for each octave these consist of crosses, squares, circles and triangles. For each note name there is a different colour, for instance all C notes would be Red, all D notes would be brown and so on. This way of learning music is a visual aid for pupils. I myself used this in high school when learning piano for both my national 5 and higher exam as I struggled to read notation due to being dyslexic.

 

In the Visual arts workshop we all made paint brushes out of different materials and textures.

 

 

A music lesson idea I thought on would be to create or play a piece of music with visual aids such as the figurenotes system. Therefore, pupils are grasping their own understanding of this material.

As an art lesson it could be to make paint brushes also as this will help pupils used different means of materials / resources to create the final product. This will eventually help in other areas of the curriculum as it helps with pencil grip/control.

 

Drake Music Scotland (2010) Introducing Figurenotes