Geriatric Clients' Preferences for Specific Popular Songs to Use during Singing Activities

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Joumal of Music Therapy, XLVI (2), 2009, 147-159

© 2009 by the American Music Therapy Association

Geriatric Clients Preferences for Specific

Popular Songs to Use during

Singing Activities

Kimberly VanWeelden, PhD

The Florida State University

Andrea M. Cevasco, PhD, MT-BC

The University of Alabama

ese rchers suggest popular mu sic to be prima rily preferred

by seniors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to

determ ine geriatric clients' preferences for particular popular

songs to possibiy use in singing activities. Specifically, the

researchers sought to determine whether the seniors' had

heard the song before, generally preferred the songs, and

would prefer to sing the songs. The researchers also

examined whether possible preferences adhered to the

young adult years age hypothesis, as stated in previous

research. Results indicated that nine songs had been

previously heard by 100% of the participants, with five of

these songs from the 1910s and eariier The greatest

number of participants preferred the song Over the Rainbow

a iot , and the greatest num ber of participants indicated

that they would like to sing In the Good Old Summertime,

Let Me Call You Sweetheart, You are My Sunshine, and By

the Light of the Silvery Moon. Further results and discussion

are included.

In recent

years

attention has been given to the rising number of

older adults in the United States. Medical advances and greater

awareness of healthy life habits are contributing to people living

longer as well as engaging in higher func tioning lifestyles (Clark

Ficken, 1988; Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related

Statistics, 2006; Glassman, 1983). The population growth of older

adults creates a challenge for society, however, because quality of



8 ournal of Music Therapy

which include music participation, that fulfill their emotional,

social, and physical needs. They are also looking for experts

that will lead and tailor activities to meet their needs and

preferences.

Music therapists have been working with geriatric clients in

various clinical settings for years (Lathom, 1982; Oppenheim,

1987;

Smith & Lipe, 1991); however, investigation of the types of

activities provided to and p referred by well elderly is limited. To

date, researchers have found singing and listening activities to be

most preferred by older adults (Gilbert & Beal, 1982; Hylton,

1983).

Additionally, when seniors participate within these

activities they preferred popular music of their young adult years,

defined as when they were 18 to 25 years old, as well as patriotic

and religious music (Bartlett

c

Snelus, 1980; Gibbons, 1977;

Jonas, 1991; Lathom Petersen, Havelicek, 1982; Moore, Staum, &

Brotons, 1992).

While several researchers have listed senior preferences for

certain music styles and some song titles, to date, only one study

has examined the actual repertoire music therapists used with

geriatric clients. VanWeelden and Cevasco (2007) investigated

specific repertoire used during singing activities that music

therapists found to bring about positive changes in behavior

and [were] considered the clients' preferences (as determined by

observation, comments froin clients, comments from caregivers,

etc.)

(p. 9 ). Surveys were sent to professional music therapists, of

which 151 responded, that asked them to list up to ten songs

within each of five music style categories (popular songs, patrio tic

songs,

hymns, folk songs, and songs from musicals). Results found

many recommended the same repertoire selections, creating

repeated song titles within each category, allowing each category

to have a top 10 list of most used/p refer red songs. It was also

found that music therapists recommended three times more

popular and popular style music (songs from musicals) than

music from the other styles.

Researchers suggest popular music to be primarily preferred by

seniors. It is thought this may be because older adults recall







Vol. XLVI No. 2 Summ er 2009

151

T LE

1

Continued

28,

29,

30,

31,

32,

Songs

I Could Have

Danced All Night

Try to Remember

Shine on Harvest

M o o n

Moon River

My W ild Irish R ose

Date

1956

1960

1903

1961

1899

Heard

N

34

32

33

32

34

94,4

88,9

91,7

88,9

94,4

Not At All

N

2

2

5

1

1

%

5,6

5,6

13,9

2,8

2 ,8

Preferences

Sotne What

N

12

16

8

8

13

33,3

44,4

22,2

22,2

36,1

A Lot

N

22

18

23

27

22

%

61,1

50,0

63,9

75.0

61,1

Like

T o

Sing

N

9 80,6

8 77,8

7 75,0

2 9 8 0 , 6

26 72,2

Stimulus CD

It was decided a priori to use excerpts of each piece, due to the

amount of music, and for each piece to be presented instrumen-

tally. Each excerpt of music was approximately 15 seconds in

length; however, careful attention was given to each song's tempo

and style as well as to end each excerpt on a natural musical phrase.

Additionally, because all excerpts were instrum ental, it

was

decided

to incorporate the section of the song that included the tide within

the 15-second musical phrase. Therefore , if the seniors' recognized

the lyrics and could sing along silently, they would also be able to

identify the song. For most songs this allowed the excerpt to start at

the beginning (i.e..

Don t

Sit

Under the Apple Tree).

However, if the

song had a verse that did not contain the tide the excerpt started at

the chorus ( i .e . . Oh, What a Beautiful Morning).

The excerpts were recorded digitally and performed using a

Kurzweil PC-88 keyboard and included the accompan iment as well

as the vocal line. The accompaniment was played using a grand

piano sound while the vocal line was integrated using a blend of

woodwind sounds to create two different timbres. The song

excerpts were transferred onto a master CD in the order listed in

Table

1.

This order was randomly chosen a priori before recording .



5 oumal of Music Therapy

questions were located at the top of the sheet that asked the

participants their gender, current age, and what state/part of the

country they had lived in during their elementary years, high

school years, and during the ages from 18-25. After the

participants had completed the demographic section, the seniors

were instructed to listen to each excerpt, played on a stereo

system, and circle whether they had heard the song before;

whether they liked each song a lot, some what, or not at all; and

whether they would prefer to sing the song.

The researchers met with the participants individually or in

pairs to con duc t the study. This allowed adaptations to be m ade to

best meet the needs of the seniors to ensure accuracy of the task.

Example accommodations included adjusting the volume on the

stereo , enlarg ing th e font on the survey, giving more time between

excerpt presentations so persons could write their answers, and

allowing seniors to aurally give answers while the researchers filled

in their survey.

• Results

Geriatric clients from two senior centers and one retirement

village participated in the study, resulting in a combined total of

36 subjects. Since three

locations were used, an ANOVA was

conducted to compare subject age and participant venue to

determine whether differences existed between the seniors' ages.

No significant differences were found F{2 33) = 2.29,

p >

.05.

Further analysis indicated no significant difference between

scores for songs heard and participant venue,

F{2

33) = .29,

p

>

.05; preference for songs and participant venue, F(2,33) =

2.08,

p >

.05; and preference for singing songs and participant

venue,

F{2

33) = .71,

p >

.05. This enab led subjects to be

collapsed into a single group for purposes of analysis.

Responses from'all participants were calculated for previously

heard songs, preferences for songs, and whether participants

would want to' sing songs. Percentages for each of these

categories were examined for all participants. Results indicated

that nine songs had been previously heard by 100% of the

participants, with five of these songs from the 1910s and



Vol. XLVI No. 2 Summ er 2009 53

Old Summertime, Let Me Call You

Sweetheart

You are My Sunshine,

a n d

By the Light of the Silvery Mo on.

A complete l is t of

percentages by research question for all songs can be found

in Table 1.

Songs Heard

Data indicated that 9 out of 6 songs were heard by 100% of the

participants. Eight of these songs were popular tunes from 1931

or earlier, and five were from 1910 or earlier. The eight songs that

participants indicated having heard the least were from musicals

(see Table 2). Pearson correlation indicated there was an inverse

relationship between the date of the song and whether

participants had heard the song before, r =

—.51,p<

.01; as

song dates increased the number of participants who had heard

the song decreased.

Preferences

for Son gs

Participants indicated whether they liked each song no t at

all ,

some what , or a lot . Data indicated seven songs which all

partic ipan ts' marked they liked somew hat or a lot. Of these

seven songs, only one was from a musical

{Oh What a B eautiful

Morning ,

two were popular tun es from 1933 {BillBailey) dLnd 1927

{Ain t She

Sweet ,

and four popula r tunes were from 1910 or earlier

{Let Me C all You

Sweetheart Give

My

Regards to Broadway,

By

the

Light

of the Silvery Moon, In the Cood Old Summ ertime .

In addi t ion, the

greatest number of participants indicated they liked

Over the

Rainbow

a lot (81%), followed by

Moon River

(75%). Further-

m ore, there was a relationship between w hether participants had

hea rd the song and liked the song a lot , r =

.45, p = .01.

There

was also a slight association between the date of the song and

whether participants liked the song a lot , r = -. 2 4 , p > .05;

this indicates that as the song dates increased across the 1900s,

the participants preferences tended to decrease. Additional

information regarding preferences for each song is provided in

Table 3.

Preference

for Singing Pa rticular Songs



154

oumal o Music Therapy

TABLE

2

Songs Heard Ordered by Total Response xmth Percentages

Song

In the Good Old Summer time

Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Ain t She Sweet

You Are My Sunshine

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Side by Side

Don t Sit Linder the Apple Tree

Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue

Give My Regards to Broadway

Getting to Know You

Sentimental Journey

Over the Rainbow

Bill Bailey

My Favorite Things

Edelweiss

I Could Have Danced All Night

My Wild Irish Rose

Bye, Bye Blackbird

Oklahonia

Do Re Mi

Shine on Harvest Moon

Summertime

Hello Dolly

You ll Never Walk Alone

Easter Parade

Try to Remember

Moon River

Glimb Every Mountain

Singing in the Rain

Date

1902

1892

1909

1927

1931

1908

1910

1943

1927

1942

1925

1904

1956 ,

1944

1939

1933

1965

1965

1956

1899

1926

1943

1965

1903

1935

1969

1945

1948

1960

1961

1965

1952

36

36

36

36

36

36

36

36

36

35

35

35

35

34

34

34

34

34

34

34

33

33

33

33

32

32

32

32

32

32

30

25

Heard

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

97.2

97.2

97.2

97.2

94.4

94.4

94.4

94.4

94.4

94.4

94.4

91.7

91.7

91.7

91.7

88.9

88.9

88.9

88.9

88.9

88.9

83.3

69.4

participants wanted

to

sing

the

least, five were from musicals;

three from the 1960s and one from the 1950s. A Pearson's

correlation indicated

a

relationship between whether participants



Vol. XLVI

No. 2

Summer 2009 55

T A B L E

3

Preferences

for Songs Ordered by Total Responses for A Lot with Percentages

Song

Over the Rainbow

Moon River


Do Re Mi

Let Me Gall You Sweetheart

Summertime



Edelweiss

By the Light of the Silvery

Moon

Ain t She Sweet

In the Good Old Summertime

Sentimental Journey


Don t Sit Under the Apple

Tree

Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for

Two)

My Favorite Things

You Are My Sunshine

I Gould Have Danced All

Night

My Wild Irish Rose

Getting to Know You

Easter Parade

Glimb Every Motmtain

Hello Dolly


Side by Side

Bye, Bye Blackbird

Bill Bailey


Try to Remember

Oklahoma

Singing in the Rain

Dat e

1939

1961

1908

1965

1910

1935

1904

1925

1965

1909

1927

1902

1944

1903

1942

1892

1965

1931

1956

1899

1956

1948

1965

1969

1943

1927

1926

1933

1945

1960

1943

1952

29

27

26

26

26

26

26

25

25

24

24

23

23

23

22

22

22

22

22

22

21

21

20

20

20

20

19

18

18

18

17

15

-A Lot

%

81.0

75.0

72.2

72.2

72.2

72.2

72.2

69.4

69.4

66.7

66.7

64.0

64.0

63.9

61.1

61.1

61.1

61.1

61.1

61.1

58.3

58.3

56.0

55.6

55.6

55.6

52.8

50.0

50.0

50.0

47.2

41.7

was

a

slight association between

the

date

of

the song

and

whether





Vol. XLVI

No. 2

Summer 2009 57

T AB L E 4

Preferences

for Singing the Songs Ordered by Total Responses for Yes luith Percentages

Song

In the Good Old Summertime

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

You Are My Sunshine

Let Me Call You Sweetheart


Over the Rainbow


Side by Side

Don t Sit Under the Apple Tree

Ain t She Sweet


I Could Have Danced All Night

Moon River

Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)

My Favorite Things

Edelweiss

Do Re Mi

Try to Remember

Sentimental Journey

Oklahoma

Bill Bailey

Getting to Know You

Easter Parade



My Wild Irish Rose

Summertime

Bye, Bye Blackbird

Hello Dolly

Singing in the Rain

Climb Every Mountain


Date

1902

1909

1931

1910

1925

1939

1908

1927

1942

1927

1943

1956

1961

1892

1965

1965

1965

1960

1944

1943

1933

1956

1948

1903

1904

1899

1935

1926

1969

1952

1965

1945

. N

31

31

31

31

30

30

30

30

29

29

29

29

29

28

28

28

28

2 8 .

27

27

27

27

27

27

26

26

25

25

25

24

23

20

Like to Si ng

86.1

86.1

86.1

86.1

83.3

83.3

83.3

83.3

80.6

80.6

80.6

80.6

80.6

77.8

77.8

77.8

77.8

77.8

75.0

75.0

75.0

75.0

75.0

75.0

72.2

72.2

69.4

69.4

69.4

66.7

63.9

55.6

a preference

to

sing repertoire from earlier decades (four songs

from 1910

or

ea rlier

and 5

song s from

tbe

1920s

and

1930s).

Previous researchers found repertoire choices that represent

a



8 ournal of Music Therapy

worked with geriatric clients (VanWeelden Cevasco, 2007), and

both the list of repertoire and tbe seniors' preferences included

music from various decades, results indicate the young adult

years

hypothesis may not fully encompass all music preferences

for singing activities by seniors. Therefore, music therapists may

want to include other factors wben choosing repertoire for

geriatric client success and preferences.

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Geriatric Clients' Preferences for Specific Popular Songs to Use during Singing Activities