Rachel’s Blog

I had a milestone day today as I conducted my first independent singing session with a small group of over-60s at an activity day organised by Age Concern Oxfordshire. The event took place in a Methodist church centre in Witney, which was hosting a range of different activities including a creche, a coffee bar, as well as the hall being used by Age Concern.

The purpose of the activity day was to provide information for older people about services they are entitled to or may need to access, as well as giving them taster sessions of different activities: seated exercise, singing, movement to music etc.

My session lasted about 30-40 minutes and covered a range of music, starting with a gentle warm-up, and moving onto some favourites from shows and musicals. The actions for Edelweiss caused a fair amount of confusion and hilarity, and engaged the participants with the song and with each other. It is so important to give the participants something to ‘do’ with the song, be it actions, singing the song in an exaggerated style or accents, or simply encouraging the participants to make a sound in a particular way, e.g soft and quiet, or precise, staccato etc.

I finished the session with a pared-down medley of African-American Spirituals: Oh When the Saints and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. This received a round of applause from other people in the room who were not participating.

A few learning points for me:

- remember to sing more quietly and listen to the sound the group is making

- think about the pitch – is it too high or too low for participants?

- how do I cater for people with particular needs? for example, there was a man there who was blind and so could not read the words, although I deliberately chose short songs, and could not see the actions

On 28th October I joined a Singing for the Brain session supported by the Alzheimers Society. It was a cold, rainy day, but despite this there was a good number of people there – 20 in total with 9 clients and 11 carers/musicians/volunteers. The session began with tea and cake and as people arrived they were given name labels.

An opening song welcomed everybody and affirmed each person by name – always an important aspect of building relationships within a group. An interesting action to this song was to pass around a long ribbon which each person held – and then for everyone to raise their arms, guiding people’s hands with the ribbon, if they were unsure or unco-ordinated for any reason, and it was a way of linking each person together.

My criticism of the session was that it perhaps ‘rattled through’ the repertoire a bit too quickly. We really covered a lot of songs and at times I had the feeling that the clients’ voices were being ‘pasted over’. Another aspect which I, and perhaps others, found difficult was the noise level, especially during the songs which included percussion instruments. This may have been because of the acoustics of the room.

A real challenge for people providing participatory music for older people with dementia is being able to guide them through repertoire in a way which allows that person to express themselves and to engage with others around them.

This session was enjoyed by most of the participants present. It also felt like a great way of bringing together carers going through similar situations. One woman I spoke to who was caring for her husband who had had a stroke commented most strongly on the social aspect of the singing group, and the importance of being with other people, which ties in with a school of thought that social relationships are a major determinant on health.