Free Music Playlists for the Elderly

I play the accordion and loved getting the playlist from Susan. I like to play from lead sheets and would welcome any links. I have been playing a Senior Assisted Living facility. Thanks.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaFsw_GPN0K-PsWCUXnBgMgS21FBSKpAT

Sharing our sing along playlist in youtube. Its a combination of war songs and the likes of Englebert, The Platters and Dean Martin.

Here is a great list
https://www.goldencarers.com/pdf/4565/
There are 32 pages make sure you look at them all

looking for songs with lyrics. TY

Some great stuff here. The link to Spotify didn't seem to be working, but I searched within spotify and found a playlist by Golden Carers. This is a fantastic list of songs - almost all of which I have been using regularly with my role at a Senior Living Community.

https://open.spotify.com/user/crbeggs1/playlist/0eo2GCQ8pzCrT6wDuaaI0s?si=dq-cO7SyQxGk4wOVzK4dIA

Unfortunately, a number of the youtube videos in the playlists have been removed since this was originally posted. Would be nice to know what songs those were or to see this post and it's linked content updated.

This is really helpful. Not only will it help me connect with my grandmother, but my school requires community service, so I want to visit a nursing home. I'm really grateful for this.

My mom died of Alzheimer's 2 years this week. I would have loved to had this information. I did a lot of these activities with her since it was my mom I knew her likes and dislikes. She would LOVED to had a music playlist. Something I never thought of. My suggestions to anyone w/ family member or loved one who has Alzheimer's,.
1. HAVE PATIENCE.. it's frustrating for both of you when they don't remember. Don't get aggravated if they don't remember something or someone. I had days when I went into her assisted living house. She didn't know me. I was devasted..I walked away..cried hysterically for 15 minutes ..got myself back together ..and she said Hey baby where have you been ? LEARN NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY..there will be days you'll be so frustrated you'll want to screamed.. it's just as frustrating for them. They want to remember too..but they can't. LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY. they're still you family ..tell them stories about the family...if they remember it that's awesome.celebrate those days.if they don't try again tomorrow or another day. They might never remember it .don't insist that they know it...they did ..but they don't now.
GO VISIT THEM OFTEN. there's nothing more important than family. I had 2 kids in school so I'd go have lunch w/her 3x a week. Did I have other things I should be doing of course. Going food shopping,clean the house etc. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS . Enjoy their company .They love to see you. It makes their day..some days it breaks your heart when you leave b/c they're having a bad day. NEVER cry in front of them...as I used to call it give yourself a "time out" walk away for a few minutes..cry, scream, yell and get your composure and come back. It will make them feel horrible and sad to see you cry ..please...I cried in front of my mom one day when she didn't know me..the people who worked @ her assisted living house escorted me away..told me how to handle these days and moments. LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY. I would give anything to be able to have our chats. I miss her hugs the most. When I'm having a bad day a mom's hug makes everything ok.

We are in the process of starting an adult daycare and these are super ideas.
Thank you all very much. I will keep updated on all of this.

What a wonderful idea. I'll be passing this one on to my resident family members.

Speaking as a music therapist, may I remind everyone that music preferences are very individualized. Songs trigger negative memories as well and you need to find out if a patient has any negative associations when you make a playlist.

My hope is to be able to play music from an MP3 player - any ideas? Residents don't have mobile phones and I-Pad is not practical. Would I need to subscribe to Spotify Premium, download to computer and then put on MP3? My understanding is that there is no free and legal way of downloading.

Hi Irene,

I personally created my account using the "Sign up with Facebook" button".

The alternative is to signup with an email address here: https://www.spotify.com/au/signup/

Usually a username like firstname + lastname + number is the way to go as a lot of people use Spotify.

Then, you can just download the app on your phone or computer, and login with those details.

Hope that helps!

Thanks Maurice!

Hi May,

I do believe it is possible to save YouTube videos to song files which you could then play on a USB, but you would have to google this. Apart from that I can't think of another solution.

Trying to save it to my USB, is that possible? I don't have an Ipad but we do have a player that can play from USB.

Hi Heather,

The paid version of Spotify actually lets you download any songs so you don't need an internet connection to listen to them. You can do this on the iPad.

They have a free 30 day trial so that might be a good way to test it and see if it works for you.

Hi. In my homes we have no wifi. Is it possible to download these pieces of music into my iPad so I can use them in the homes? Thanks. Heather

Hi Ivan, even though in Australia, near Brisbane, no bias, we love Scottish & Irish music, former Tasmanian, love it there also! Hope we can connect via computer! Thank you!

This is a great thing. We also love music at any time. I present a weekly radio show featuring this type of music, hymns, singalongs, simple quizzes. As we're in Scotland there is a slight bias towards national likes. You can catch us on the Radio North Angus website. My show is on Fridays 10 -11.30am.

I used this activity weekly, Play U Tube, take request from all the residents individually , have a chat about the song/singer, reminisce ,, always great to liven things up and have some fun and the resident, who picked the tune , if they want to sing, give them a microphone to sing along.... visitors love it too, especially the kids, there are telling everyone they were singing along with "Granny" with U tube...great interaction,,,

Thank you! Our group love a singalong at any opportunity, many of the songs I recognise & are their vintage.

Every fortnight we have a music request afternoon. I hook the laptop to our big screen projector and we have requests from Youtube. Everyone loves the songs and accompanying clips and it always surprises me how varied the range of music is. From Vera Lynn to Queen!

Thanks, that is such great information . I am sure that my residents will benefit from this .
Vicki