Music and Memory: An Analysis of Songsbyheart.org's Impact on Elderly

This essay discusses Songsbyheart.org, an organization that uses music to connect with elderly people and stimulate their memories. The essay highlights the concept of musical memory, where the brain stores music in a way that evokes strong emotions and associations. It explores how Songsbyheart.org utilizes music, mirroring, verbal gesture prompting, and consistent eye contact as therapeutic techniques to engage elderly individuals, create new memories, and enhance their overall well-being. The analysis emphasizes the importance of engaging multiple senses and the potential for music to create a magical and therapeutic experience for seniors, especially those with memory challenges.

The most interesting Organization in my views
In my views, http://songsbyheart.org is an interesting organization. The concept of clubbing
together music with memories is a great idea especially when we are dealing with elderly
people. What makes this page special is the fact that they are creating music and songs that
can be considered as nursery rhymes for the elderly peoples. I can corroborate this statement
with the help of a musical concept. This concept is the “concept of the musical memory.”
Human brain stores music in a different part of the brain, this musical memory part of the
brain stores information with great accuracy (Cross). This is why a similar song brings us
closer to a particular emotion every time we listen to it. It is the same with the nursery
rhymes, they also connect us with certain information and this information stays with us in
the form of a mnemonic.
The attributes of Teaching Artistry/Citizen Artistry
A live performing artist, using the therapeutic technique of mirroring, verbal gestural
prompting and consistent eye contact, makes it a special delight for the elderly people. It has
been observed that elderly people often seek new fresh memories. However, the load of
previous memories keeps them occupied, this repetition sometimes makes them stoic. The
techniques of mirroring and verbal gesture prompting are very effective in terms of memory
retention. In the case of an elderly person, listening to a song while interacting with the songs
can become a therapeutic experience (West). It can add a new flair in an old song; it can also
create a magical impact in the mind of the listeners by engaging more senses. Music touches
a heart; if a performer is engaging the visual senses of the listener then it can spell magic and

therapy at the same time. This fact becomes prominent for an elderly person whose responses
are numb but who has a treasure of memory to recall good moments.

Bibliography
Cross, Ian. Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
West, Robert. Art & Science of Music Therapy: A Handbook. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013.