Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Selecting pieces for retirement home mini-recital

Apart from all the great suggestions already posted, would it be out of the question, to encourage the audience to sing along to a couple of really well known standards?

Entertainment in retirement homes, is often a passive activity for the residents.
I am sure they would love to be part of the show, themselves.

Moonriver.
Where My Caravan Has Rested.
Oh Danny Boy.
Send in the Clowns.

Favorites of my 80-year-old mom (not in the rest home, but enjoys me playing).

Good point about the age thing. However, tunes didn't go out of style quite so quickly, so they probably know most of them.

Actually WWII era tunes and even early 50's should be okay - before R&R. My mom loved Sinatra (she was born 1919) so that might help a bit.

Most of that era listened to Arthur Godfrey on the radio, and later TV. Know who he was?

I volunteer at a local assisted living facility, and I play from a collection of sheet music my aunt, who would have been in her late 90s, gave me when I was a teenager. Tunes include "Now Is the Hour," "My Buddy," "Among My Souvenirs," "My Dream Memory," "Garden of Dreams," and "Where Is the Song of Songs For Me?". Interestingly, just about all of the sheets include ukulele tunings and chord diagrams -- and the uke was Arthur Godfrey's instrument. I remember him being on TV when I was a little kid. A VERY little kid. :0)

The percentage of people in a nursing home who listen to classical music is about the same as those not in a music home - those who play it plus one more.

They will recognize show tunes and, maybe, some light classical transcriptions. None of them have seen Wicked or Cats, all of them can sing most of My Fair Lady and South Pacific. They will know Sousa marches, ballads, etc. They will know String of Pearls, Begin the Beguine, SingSingSing, In the Mood.

And, although I've seen it done, I would avoid "I'll be Home for Christmas, if Only in my Dreams."

This thread makes me wonder...

What will future generations be telling people to play for US in OUR retirement homes??

If they know what's good for them, there'd better be lots of Queen, Journey, and Foreigner in my nursing home. :-)

That is a truly scary thought, E&I. I can see myself trapped in a crowded room with music playing that I loathe, and unable to escape.
Wait, that already happens to me, in the supermarket!

lol. That would be awesome!



Happens to me too, in my HOUSE!

Ah.........yes and no.

Yes, because any time you can you should check out the equipment ahead of time. It's simple professionalism, part of giving the best performance possible.

But there's a subtle point here. Recitals are a learning experience for the student, a culminating experience that forces effort into preparation, that teaches performance under pressure, etc. All these are focused on the student. They largely neglect the audience.

This isn't a recital, it's a gig. The mental focus must change. You inspect the piano not so you can sound good, but so you can make the audience happy. You are not an artist on a pedestal, you are hired help whose sole goal is to make a customer satisfied.



LOL! Very true. But also accept that for the average person, Debussy on a Steinway or Bechstein isn't any better. Though if the piano is truly a honkytonk piece of junk, you're going to have trouble making most classical stuff sound good.

But no problem making beer barrel polka sound good. Etc.

I wouldn't even bother to check the piano. They don't have any money in those places and probably can't do anything about it anyway. However, here is a difference between an assisted living facility (they have money) and a retirement (nursing) home (they don't).

These folks are going to love anything people play. I'm sure none of them are expecting concert level performances. It's good practice for every body and you make people happy at the same time.

Last time my kiddies played in a retirement home, there was a stuck key. It was horrible for the kids, but they all learned how to play around it. That is a helpful lesson that they wouldn't have gotten any other way. The students handled it well, and no one in the audience even seemed to have noticed.