Music was my first love

[northumbrian_k]

I have remarked on the power of music before. Today's visit to my wife's home showed me just what effect it can have. Residents from both floors, visitors and staff were entertained by a talented young couple who played guitar and fiddle and sang. We were treated to a mixture of jigs, reels and traditional songs such as the lovely Water of Tyne. We sang Happy Birthday to one resident. My restless wife settled in a few minutes and we listened together, hand in hand except when she wanted to applaud. Just before the final song (the Geordie anthem) one wheelchair bound resident shouted a request for Jimmy Nail's Big River but the performers did not know it. Next time, perhaps.

Then, for a few minutes - as my wife and others started to sing along to the Blaydon Races and those with tambourines raised them in the air - it was possible to put aside all the difficulties that the residents face and share their joy.

As John Miles put it:

"To live without my music
Would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles
My music pulls me through"

 

[Cat27]

That is so true @northumbrian_k

 

[nae sporran]

Thanks for sharing that Northumbrian_k, you made me smile at the thought of it. Does the care home do those concerts regularly?

 

[Grannie G]

Through the ages from singing lullabies to babies, music has been food for the heart.

My husband used to be calmed when listening to his favourite music. I used to take CDs into his care home when he wasn`t too well and we`d listen together.

Now we are all well aware of the value of singing for the brain.

Glad you found this shared time together @northumbrian_k. I hope there'll be many more times like this in the future.

 

[Izzy]

@northumbrian_k I so agree with you. Music is so important for us all but I think especially or people with dementia. My husband took part in our memory choir until the week before he died. How he engaged with the music changed as his dementia progressed but it always made such a difference to his mood.

The song you quote is one of our choir songs. It's moving to hear our members with dementia sing it. After seeing your post I had to look for someone singing it online.

 

[Izzy]

I never tire of watching this clip.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Thanks for sharing that Northumbrian_k, you made me smile at the thought of it. Does the care home do those concerts regularly?

This is the first concert since my wife's been there but it went down well so I would think that there'll be others to follow. One resident slept through it but some of the others who usually show barely any movement or emotion clearly got a great deal from listening and joining in. The tea and biscuits afterwards gave me the chance to meet and speak to residents that I don't usually see because they live upstairs. The man who wanted Big River turned out to be a good conversationalist with an interest in the history of shipbuilding on the Tyne. His friend used to play rugby for Gosforth. The husband of one resident gave the musicians some information about the location of the ferry referred to in the song Water of Tyne, which gave me an idea for a cycle ride or dog walk in that area.

It is too easy to see people living in care homes as just a group of 'residents', focusing in on what they can't do rather than their interesting and individual lives and experiences. If, like my wife, some of what they say is not strictly correct, that hardly matters if we get pleasure from conversation.

 

[Spamar]

We used to have a radio on all day. When OH went into a home, I took a small radio in, set it to Classic fm, and he enjoyed the music. Every time I went in for the next week, it was playing Radio 1. Excuse me! For whom is this radio intended? I found some nail varnish and wrote on the radio the station and the wavelength. Plus spread the word amongst carers. I never found it on the wrong wave again!

 

[northumbrian_k]

That's a great live version of a classic song @Izzy I had forgotten how good local lad John Miles is. The one time I saw him live at Newcastle City Hall he was lead vocalist for a band led by rock guitarist Jimmy Page, so the music that night was great but rather different.

 

[PalSal]

As many here on TP know, I am a music lover of all genres. But sadly my husband has never shared the interest. I organized an entire week's program for Novartis on their headquarters campus on "Music Motion and the Brain" in 2011. And for many music is a big connection to memories and the past for Alz patients. But sadly for me, not my Nick.
It is only nature and wilderness that brings him any pleasure. He was always willing to go with me to hear music in our before life....but once diagnosed...no pretense.Music was not his thing...and he gave up going with me to anything. He will occasionally tolerate a performance if I am part of it, but even that is no longer part of his life....

 

[Agzy]

I have remarked on the power of music before. Today's visit to my wife's home showed me just what effect it can have. Residents from both floors, visitors and staff were entertained by a talented young couple who played guitar and fiddle and sang. We were treated to a mixture of jigs, reels and traditional songs such as the lovely Water of Tyne. We sang Happy Birthday to one resident. My restless wife settled in a few minutes and we listened together, hand in hand except when she wanted to applaud. Just before the final song (the Geordie anthem) one wheelchair bound resident shouted a request for Jimmy Nail's Big River but the performers did not know it. Next time, perhaps.

Then, for a few minutes - as my wife and others started to sing along to the Blaydon Races and those with tambourines raised them in the air - it was possible to put aside all the difficulties that the residents face and share their joy.

As John Miles put it:

"To live without my music
Would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles
My music pulls me through"

Such an uplifting and positive post, thank you @northumbrian_k