Music and Alzheimer's

Every week, I play my violin with my mother on her portable electric keyboard: we go down to the floor where the advanced cases of Alzheimer's live, and we play songs for them.

When people hear about that, they're practically ready to canonize me as a saint: what a wonderful thing you're doing! they whisper, with the underlying subtext being: I could never do that myself. It's too depressing.

The big surprise: it isn't. It's actually a lot of fun. You've got to be ready to make a bit of a fool of yourself, and you've got to be prepared to roll with the punches. Sometimes, someone gets cranky and snaps at someone else, and other times people are just too scattered to sit. But most of the time, we have real fun, and I find it invigorating. Some of them recognize the melodies, and find themselves singing along, the right words coming out without them realizing it. Others like the beat, and tap along. Still others like the music itself: they close their eyes and wave their hands, listening to the rise and fall of a phrase.

We do it for half an hour, and there's no doubt about it: the best songs are the old ones. "It's a long way to Tipperary" is a favourite, and can always be relied upon to get people tapping and singing and clapping. "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, "On the Street Where You Live," from My Fair Lady, and "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'" from Okalhoma! are other big favourites. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Always," "Daisy, Daisy," and "School Days" also go over well.

Time and again, I've dragged myself to the residence to play, thinking to myself, no, I don't want to do this. I'm too tired, I'm too busy. And by the time I leave, there's a spring in my step, and I'm humming to myself, feeling pretty good about the world and about people. It's nice to think that people with Alzheimer's Disease, people who live such lonely and constricted lives, can actually do a person good. But they do me good. At least for half an hour per week!

Grant