Intro
Music can be a powerful tool for people with dementia. It’s great for lifting their mood, stirring emotions and sparking memories. This lovely activity explores a variety of different songs and encourages people to guess the musical genre.
Everyone can enjoy listening to the genres they love and possibly discover a few new ones along the way.
You can make a song and dance of this activity on World Music Day on 21st June – or any day or the year.
What you need
- Playlist of music from different genres, such as:
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Musicals
- Opera
- Classical
- Motown
- Jazz
- Folk
- Pop
- Country
- Disco
The Activity
- Play the first track to the person/group
- When it’s finished, ask the person or go around the group and ask if they can identity the genre
- Once identified, spark up a conversation about the song and genre, and find out people’s feelings towards it
- Give people the time to share any memories or feelings evoked by the song
- Move on to the next track and carry on in the same way
Top tip
Write all the genres onto cards or in a list to give people a nudge in the right direction. Also, why not do a bit of research online about the history of the genres and share it with the person/group?