By their sheer exuberance, musicals transport us to a different world. What specific impact do they have on health and wellbeing, maybe more than other music genres? I hope this will be the first in an occasional series within Medley’s regular blog posts, exploring how and why different music genres have particular impacts on us.Continue reading “All Singing, All Dancing”
Tag Archives: Music
A New Song
When I told someone that I would be writing about singing, music and Parkinson’s Disease, she asked: “But why would music help Parkinson’s?” And her response struck me, because it’s true that the part music can play in many illnesses is far less well known than, say, its impact on dementia. Through recent years soContinue reading “A New Song”
Shared Or Unique?
Music has great power as a unifying force. Songs and music create a shared vocabulary to draw on as they become a common experience. But while music builds community, its impact on us is also highly personal: I might respond to a song very differently to you. These two distinct impacts music has on usContinue reading “Shared Or Unique?”
Freedom Through Music
How can the ability to improvise music survive the onset of dementia? On one level, Four Notes is the story of one man’s musical imagination, even as he lives with dementia. But on another level it could reveal more about improvisation’s specific scope for music for wellbeing across different situations. You are probably familiar withContinue reading “Freedom Through Music”
A Song To Sing
Is singing always more powerful than instrumental music in boosting wellbeing? This is one question Medley plans to explore more widely. If it is more powerful, then why is this? Many songs have a strong narrative element. Is it this storytelling which makes songs memorable because people can identify with them? Do we have anContinue reading “A Song To Sing”
Mood Music
Opening up new perspectives, boosting mood, enabling people to express themselves: music, art and nature all have lasting impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Future Medley blog posts on mental health will look at art and nature as well, but here I’ll explore a little of music’s specific impact. 10th October marks World Mental HealthContinue reading “Mood Music”
Care To Create
You might think that during long months of lockdown, arts activities would have ground to a halt in care homes of all places. You would be wrong. In a year when so much media coverage of care homes has focused on delays in coronavirus testing and scarcity of PPE, it is more important than everContinue reading “Care To Create”
In Unison
As we adjust to Covid-19 for the long haul, uncertainties has become one of few certainties. And uncertainty over communal music-making at this time throws up questions on music’s impact on wellbeing. Is it the music itself which helps or the opportunities it creates to interact with others? Is hearing or performing music alone equallyContinue reading “In Unison”
Rekindle Memory
Time and time again I hear how music, art or nature resonate with people who have dementia, opening up worlds which seemed closed. Dementia may have been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has once again delayed proposed care reforms. But it has not gone away. Instead it has gone on spiralling. Next week, 21stContinue reading “Rekindle Memory”
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