We have had several comments and requests for elderly music activities in recent months. Many of our readers are familiar with the benefits (including health) of using music with seniors and the more elderly. (Great for kids too).
One of the easiest and enjoyable ways for seniors to learn and play their music is with chimes—the simple way. No doubt, this can be a great outdoor as well as an indoor activity for the elderly. To know, check out our article on Top outdoor activities for the elderly.
One of our activity consultants is very familiar with these ideas, has played chimes herself, and highly recommends it as an activity because you don’t need to take lessons, practice, read music, or even know much about music.
Tips on Elderly Music with Chimes
If you have ever played handheld pipe chimes, you know just how much fun they can be and how easy they are to play. After all, you won’t need to know how to read complicated sheet music, and it is as simple as hitting your one chime when it’s your turn in the song.
No Musical Talent Is Required
So it’s perfect for elderly music. Playing pipe chimes is a great group activity where people of all ages can play together without any practice and is a loved holiday tradition for many families.
Enjoy fun songs that you’ll recognize, ranging from over 200 Christmas, religious, and children’s songs that we all heard while growing up like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, When The Saints Go Marching In, Old McDonald, and On Top Of Old Smoky, just to name a few.
If you are looking for chimes to play music, TreeWorks Chimes U.S.A. A large Single Row is the best option. This 35-Bar Wind Chime is made with the Tennessee Black Walnut wood, so no worries of artificial work. The long bar wind chime is the perfect, versatile, and powerful addition to any person who loves to play music with chimes.
Elderly music for one or a group — with the addition of some uniquely designed cradle holders, you can turn your same handheld pipe chime set into a xylophone. This allows just one person to enjoy the same songs without the need for a large group.
You can even dramatically simplify things by removing all the chimes/notes that you don’t need for each song. In some cases, you can play a whole song with only five chimes in front of you. It’s a great learning tool and a fun activity for all ages.
Making your own set can also be fairly easy with the use of some simple tools, time, and accuracy. After all, these are just metal pipes cut to the correct length that make such a beautiful sound.
Sets — Or, if you’d rather someone else do the work, you can purchase an affordable complete or fully customized set, including 23 pipe chimes, a heavy-duty storage bag, metal strikers, cradle holders, wooden mallets, and songbooks.
“Music Books — One more thing, you can get all the pipe chime music for free online, or you can purchase either a PDF or printed version of each songbook with some very useful aids — including how many pipes are used for each song, an index, a list of chimes needed for each song and how often they are used, etc.
Sing Along, Senior Citizens is an excellent music book that contains all the best-ever songs for this age group. Several studies have shown that music produces a happy feeling, and we can use this to reach the most withdrawn. One can read this book in social gatherings for therapeutic purposes and having a good time. The best thing we like about this music book is that the songs have been carefully edited, made simple, and transposed to keys that are easy for senior citizens, both male and female.
The PDF version allows you to print out each song however you’d like (on large posters, for example) or even display them on a big screen or TV. In any case, the printed songbooks and PDFs are well worth it.
Playing chimes with the elderly is also a fun activity not only for them but also for caregivers. Activities like these help caregivers a lot to have effective communication with patients. Read our tips for caregivers on how they can communicate effectively with elderly patients.
So see if elderly music with chimes would work with your group or family. We love the idea of having an activity with making chimes yourself. (You would need someone to help who has access to basic tools and the ability to use them). And having access to a PDF version of the music to print out and display on a large screen is great.
Elderly music activities are wonderful additions to get-togethers, parties, special meals, events, etc. And the use of chimes is an easy way for many to participate and have the satisfaction of creating music of their own (rather than always just listening).
It’s simple enough for children too, and some of the music books Musical Pipes has were written for children originally, but also used extensively for seniors as well. So consider how you might include making music with your group.
If you are looking for a musically tuned chime made by the expert, Woodstock Chimes – The ORIGINAL is the one you need to get one today. The tubes of this chime are perfectly tuned and create a very natural harmonic overtone together. These chimes provide the lifetime tuning guarantee and create more tones than the number of its tubes.
The weather-resistant chime is crafted expertly with the ash wood topper. It features nine high-polish silver aluminum tubes that won’t rust anytime soon. This chime has the quality you can trust, and it also makes a perfect and truly unique gift to any elder, kid, or professional.