An Analysis of Songbook Series for Older Adult Populations

Music therapists utilize singing as a therapeutic technique to meet various goals and objectives for clients of all ages and areas of needs. The therapeutic importance of singing has been substantiated within the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Professional Competencies (2004). As denoted in the Professional Competencies, music therapists are expected to utilize vocal, piano, and guitar skills to perform a variety of music genres; acquisition of these skills is considered essential during undergraduate training (AMTA, 2004). Furthermore, the Standards for Clinical Practice state the music therapist must aim for "the highest level and quality of music involvement consistent with the functioning level of the client. The music therapist's provision of music will reflect his or her best abilities as a musician" (p. 1 9). Furthermore, "Appropriate musical instruments and materials, should be used in music therapy services" (AMTA, 2004, p. 19).Researchers have determined that well elderly prefer singing activities over all other types of activities (Gilbert & Beai, 1982; Hylton, 1983). In addition, research has indicated that singing interventions have improved speech and memory of adults with cognitive impairments (Cohen, 1992; Cohen & Masse, 1993; Haneishi, 2001), assisted individuals with dementia in learning names as well as recalling new songs versus spoken materials (Carruth, 1 997; Prickett & Moore, 1 991 ), and resulted in greater vocal and verbal participation for group singing versus a discussion group for individuals with Alzheimer's disease (Olderog-Millard & Smith, 1989).To lead these singing activities, music therapists typically utilize singing with guitar or piano accompaniment. Moore, Staum, and Brotons (1 992) found that after they removed the live music presentation conditioned from their analysis, recorded piano chordal accompaniment was the most preferred, followed by recorded guitar accompaniment. Furthermore, well elderly also preferred popular music from their young adult years, which is music that was popular when they were 1 8-25 years old (Barlett & Snelus, 1 980; Gibbons, 1 977; Gilbert & Beai, 1982; Hylton, 1983; Jonas, 1991; Lathom, Peterson, & Havelicek, 1 982; Moore, Staum, & Brotons, 1 992). While these researchers provided a plethora of information regarding the genre of music most preferred by well elderly, little information existed regarding specific song titles for this population. Recently, VanWeelden and Cevasco (2007) investigated the repertoire that music therapists used with geriatric clients during singing activities. Music therapists listed the top five songs they used for popular, musicals, patriotic, hymn, and folk music. Interestingly, they contributed two times more popular songs than any other category. Song lists were provided within this study, including the top 10 recommended songs for each genre as well as a complete list of all recommended songs for each genre.Based on the top 10 recommended popular and musical songs (a total of 32 songs due to tied ranks) from the VanWeelden and Cevasco 2007 study, VanWeelden and Cevasco (2009) investigated whether geriatric clients had heard the song before, generally preferred listening to the song, and would want to sing the song. Almost all of the participants had heard all of the songs; only one song was not heard by more than 80% of the participants. The top two songs geriatric clients liked "a lot" were Over the Rainbow and Moon River. The greatest number of participants indicated they would most like to sing the following songs: By the Light of the Silvery Moon, In the Good Old Summertime, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, and You are My Sunshine.Utilizing songs from the top 32 popular and musical songs from the VanWeelden and Cevasco study (2007), VanWeelden, Juchniewicz, and Cevasco (2008) tested whether undergraduate and graduate music therapy students had heard the song, could identify the name of the song, and could name the decade the song was composed. …