Why Play In Nursing Homes?
Because a song can turn their day around. And this work can turn your life around.
Hello and Welcome to the Merriment Experiment.
Do you play music - and you want to play more? Maybe you’ve experienced music being played in a senior residence with a relative and you remember the magic, how it transformed their faces, seemed to bring them back to life?
I have never played in a senior facility or hospital where I didn’t feel more joyously connected to all of humanity afterwards.
Singers and musicians—I’ve discovered a new world where you are needed.
Nursing homes and senior facilities are eager to hire you to lift the spirits of their residents.
Things to love about this work:
-There is no better feeling than easing pain and bringing joy to someone. You get to do this for hours!
-You can explore whole new realms of material and genres
-You can develop repertoire that works for you – no one dictates your set list
-You get paid to play
- You can only get better at playing music if you’re playing music. Every performance experience enriches you too!
-Almost all of the work is in the daytime and mid week. Evenings and weekends off
-You don’t have to do a marketing campaign for every show
-Your age, appearance and image are not crucial elements of your success
-You don’t have to keep up with social media
-You don’t have to sell merch
-All of your instruments and gear become tax deductible
-YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU LOVE MOST
There are a few challenging aspects as well, but I will deal with them in separate posts.
What can you offer?
Can you sing or play guitar? Can you sing acapella? Play piano? Play instrumental music or play an instrument to backing tracks? Maybe you can think of a way to get seniors singing together? Create a juke box game out of it.
The point is: Don’t discount what you can bring even if you’re not a “singer” or an accomplished instrumentalist. Drummers: think about leading drumming circles with percussion instruments. Everyone has two hands to clap.
The therapeutic effect is from the connection that you offer much more than “how you sound” which is what we’ve all been focusing on all our lives. If you can make eye contact, if they can sing with you and feel lightened and heightened by the musical moment – that is the focus. Your job is to awaken their spirit, their positive memories and engagement through your music.
I strongly suggest volunteering to start. The reason is not only to road test the material and see what works. It’s for you to become comfortable with the environment. You will see some things that are tough to see. You will play for people who may not respond at all or may be aggressive. Or they may not leave you alone afterwards! It’s important to play and keep your composure through some disturbing and heartbreaking moments.
Right now- you have nothing to lose by getting started. I recommend volunteering in facilities other than those you want to pitch yourself to down the road for paying gigs. The best place to start, if you’re in one of the cities they are active in, is with Musicians On Call. They have a system in place that makes it very easy to just show up and play. They have guides to take you room to room in hospitals, and they support you every step of the way.
If you are not near any of their opportunities, I recommend making a list of nursing homes, assisted living places, hospitals and senior centers in your area. Target the ones you want to eventually perform for as a paid musician, and volunteer at one or two other places. Not that you can’t, down the line at the same facility explain that you can no longer volunteer your services, just that it’s less awkward to keep these environments separate. This way, when you approach the places you want to work for, you have experience and references from the volunteer places.
I want to help you on this path! Please comment in the comment section – that’s how we’re going to snowball collective knowledge around this. We’re forming a community, a consortium of music makers who help each other evolve.
Thank you for being here, and do bring on your questions, concerns and comments so we can get to know each other.
Let’s play!
Bibi
While I don’t really sing and I don’t play any instruments, I have done my share of performing as a juggler and magician in nursing homes. You are absolutely correct about appreciative audiences!
Most recently, my mother was in a nursing home and they were having a root beer float party. Basically it was the activities director slowly scooping out vanilla ice cream into plastic cups, pouring root beer over it and passing them out one at a time while the rest of the tub of ice cream turned into soup.
After a few minutes of this, my sister and I asked if we could assist. We ended up doing a little comedy routine while we passed out the ice cream and gave everyone who wanted it seconds. Not only did they love it, but every time I saw the people after that, they would always tell me how funny I was.
That turned out to be one of the last times that my mother had a good time.
Bibi, everything you say is absolutely true! I just uncovered an old photo of a piano player and me performing for a nursing home in Allentown, PA. The piano player himself was in a wheelchair and could barely control his hands. I was the standup singer and every month he would give me a repertoire of songs that he could manage to play. We did this every month for three years and it was the most joyous part of our lives.