Music Geragogy, Elemental Music Pedagogy and Community Music – didactic approaches for making music in old age

Abstract

Older people have shown a growing interest in cultural activities in recent years. In Germany, the disciplines Music Geragogy and Elementary Music Pedagogy have reacted to this trend and started to integrate the topic ‘Music making in old age’ into (further) education programmes. This article presents these initiatives and their links to Community Music. As for the future, the international discourse concerning these three approaches should produce important stimuli for the didactic and methodological fundamentals of the topic ‘Music making in old age’, in both theory and practice.

Contemporary dance as being and becoming in the age of aging

“…Conducting transformative activities for older people, that challenge established structures regarding age and ageing, demands that existential as well as essential dimensions of bildung, in other words human-as well as content-related aspects of arts are accounted for. By that, this study contributes with an understanding regarding older people and arts activities that complete what is already found in community dance and community music research (Barr, 2013;Green, 2000;Hartogh, 2016;Higgins, 2007;Lehrman, 1976).…”

“…Liz Lehrman's (1976) initiatives and models for physical and creative modern dance activities with older persons constitute valuable pioneering work in this area. Social interactions including both participants and facilitators offer opportunities for everyone to express themselves, connect to life experiences, and find their identities in social relationships (Barr, 2013;Green, 2000;Hartogh, 2016). Such experiences are also found to contribute to social wellbeing among older adults (Camic et.…”

Using a shared research practices paradigm with adult choral singers for the teaching and learning of musical literacy skills

“…Meanwhile, Balsnes (2017) identifies a need to develop theories and practices regarding music-making for older adults. Similarly, Hartogh (2016) states that different didactic approaches are needed for older adults, and recommends projects that value people’s knowledge and experience. Thus, I hoped this approach would help us adopt a reflexive approach to the teaching and learning activities, regularly evaluating our progress and the quality and efficiency of the activities in which we would engage on both an individual and a collective level.…”

“We are Not that Old You Know:” Dance as a Dwelling Place for Women over 65 in the Northern Part of Sweden

“…Lerman's (1976) initiatives and models for physical and creative modern dance activities with older persons constitute valuable pioneer work in this area. Social interactions including both participants and facilitators offer opportunities for everyone to express themselves, to connect to life experiences, and to find identity in relationship (Green 2000;Barr 2013;Hartogh 2016). Such experiences are found to contribute to social wellbeing among older adults (Camic, Tischler, and Pearman 2014;Phinney, Moody, and Small 2014;In-Sil et al 2015;Pearce and Lillyman 2015;MacMillan 2016).…”