Could you please suggest songs for seniors for me to learn?

[Toril S]

Hello friends
I realize that I have to freshen up my song list for future gigs.
As you all know I love to compose songs myself, and that is all well and good. But when playing for the seniors they like to hear the oldies and goodies, that bring on good memories of times long ago when they were young Please give me some suggestions of songs that will lift the mood and make for a good time, so that they will have a really good time hearing my music.
I don't read sheet music, so please only suggest the titles, I will find the songs on Spotify and listen to them and learn them that way. But if you have suggestions for what STYLES to use for the songs, that would be GREAT!

[Al Ram]

Toril
One alternative is to go to Youtube and find the top hit for the decades you think your senior audience will be more familiar with . . . . . .

For example, here is a link to hits of the 70's . . . that would be about 40-50 years ago . . . .

You can also search by region/Country  . . . these are hits in the USA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UyfumLEFLc

Hope this helps .  .. Have a great day

thanks

[Toril S]

Thanks Al! LOL! Father Time got me! I am not so much younger than my audience any more! Tempus fugit!!

[overover]

Hi Toril,

you could go to commercial MIDI file sites and use their Categories (and Audio Demos) to find suitable songs.

For example, go to >>> https://www.karaokeisland.com/midi.php?reset and use Categories like 1950's, 1960's, etc.

Use YouTube to hear the found songs in full length and in the original version.


Best regards,
Chris

[Toril S]

Thanks Chris

[Gloria]

HI TORIL, just want to wish you good luck with your new project!  I know you'll find lots of the 70's songs. I found out "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"&"Lucille" always went over good.  Have fun & bless you for doing this!   

Regards, Gloria

[jtrue]

Playing for seniors can cover quite a range of ages.  An active retirement community like The Villages in Florida in the USA will find folks arriving and living independently around age 55,  then migrating to some type of assisted living facility 25 to 35 years later, and moving to a nursing home 10 years after that.  I found most audiences seem to prefer the songs that were popular when they were in their mid-teens.  The trick is to get some idea of the average  current age of your audience and then identify songs that were popular when they were about 15.  If you're playing for a dinner dance for a group of retiree golfers who are mostly in the 60 to 70 age range then your song selection should be from about 50 years ago.  If it's the afternoon tea dance at the assisted living center where the folks are in the 75 to 85 age range then the songs should be from 65 years ago.  If you're doing a little concert at the nursing home where the residents are age 90 to 100 then the target period is about 80 years ago.  Since no audience is likely to fit these ranges precisely the choice of songs is not going to be an exact science, but one certainly can't say that "one size fits all" when selecting music for "seniors".  And don't forget that time marches on and you will have to adjust your selections with each passing year.

   j.

[Toril S]

Thanks a lot Gloria and jtrue!😀

[mikf]

Toril
I dont completely subscribe to the 'songs from their youth' theory for seniors. There is an element of correct in that, but I think it has as much to do with the nature of the song. For example 'yesterday' and 'I am a walrus' are both from the same people and the same era- but you would probably never play the latter at a senior gig. There is a saying in the business that you have to be able to hum the tune if the song is to be remembered.
Then there is exposure on both sides of our age. We all identify with songs from previous or later generations if they are good songs, because the people around us - maybe mums and dads or aunties - all sung them and played them. And of course there are regional variation as well in what is remembered.
So the bottom line is that it is more about developing a feel for the type of songs people like to sing and listen to, and that can cover a very wide range of time. its a different thing from 'getting a party going'. By and large, play nice, simple, well known songs from  between 30 and 70 years ago, and you will not go far wrong. And experience will tell you which ones work best in which environments.
Mike

[Toril S]

Thanks Mike. Very true!

[Rick D.]

Toril,


What age do you consider seniors? Theoretically, anyone over 65 is a senior and personally, I like a lot of different music. My Mom before she passed at 95 used to be fond of anything from the Glenn Miller era, as well as some more modern songs from the 60, 70's and 80's.
Let us know what age group you are targeting. As a senior myself I like rock and roll like the Beatles, but I also like harder rock like Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Supertramp, and things like that. I don't know if that is normal for my age of 65 or not. If you are playing in nursing homes, the Glenn Millar age is the most popular I have found.

Rick D.

[Toril S]

Thanks Rick D! I believe most of them is 60 to 80. As I am 60 myself now maybe I should just play the music I love myself. I love Glenn Miller😀😀

[blackpool]

I would pick 'evergreen' hits from the 50's through to 70's ...this will cover most of the age demographic in care homes who were young around those years. Evergreen hits ( as the name suggests ) remain popular for decades and are good 'bread and butter' gigging numbers especially if you are performing to a mixed senior age crowd.

Easy keyboard library EKL  do books of popular hits from all the decades of the 20th century - these are quick and easy so most can be sight read, although some do need chord embellishment being really basic. I would highly recom you buy/download the 50's, 60's and maybe 70's individual publications.

Keith

[Toril S]

Thanks Keith! I play by ear, so I will have to listen to the songs and learn them that way😀

[blackpool]

Oh - sorry I did not realise you played by ear. I should have read your post properly!!!  I do a combination of the two using simple scores as a base.
I would in this case as Al Ram says......check out the 'top hits' over these years on perhaps youtube and pick out the ones you think will suit.
Ironically the mature/elderly ( myself included )  seem to have a better 'long term' memory recall rather than short term so these pieces are more likely to stored in their deep memory, rather than post Mil. numbers.

I use a lot of 'song styles' which are all ready song titled, I find them VERY handy. These are available with title/tempo and style and include a dedicated intro for the particular song. They are great just to 'wade through' and pick out some nice titles. I can simply sit and play these, saving the ones i like to reg. list/playlist and editing to suit myself.

Just as a point going off topic....it is maybe worth just learning to read in open key ( easy C major ) and the popular relative chords that key throws up ( which you i imagine already use a lot of )  Most stuff can be read/played in this simple key and simply auto. transposed.
At least books/ sheets in this key of the evergreens would give you the titles and a bit of a template to ad-lib along with.
I am not a great reader but do find the combo of easy reading and ear do work great together.

Hope you get sorted...

[hammer]

Toril,
I just completed 15 years of gigging 4-6 times weekly at only Senior Venues.  Over the years the song selection has changed very little.  I have over 3000 songs from the 1920's to the 1970's that I use for gigs.  I have the songs divided into categories 1920', 1930's, 1940's etc to 1970's.  Seldom, if ever, have I had to change up a song list for a gig.  I usually play songs from each group on every gig.  It is amazing how often I have residents tell me how much they enjoyed the "old songs" that bring back great memories and they remember all the lyrics.  It is also amazing how often I get requests for songs from the "good old days" as they say.  I have also discovered about 5 songs that if I leave out of a gig someone will tell me you did not play "so-and-so".   

Another thing I learned - try to play as many songs as you can fit in to the hour you play. One time a resident told me I was the only entertainer they had that played a lot of songs each time I came.  Too much talking -not enough playing is not what they liked. 

On this website there is a list of the most popular songs from the periods of time you need for senior gigs.  That is how I started 15 years ago - using those lists as a start.   Good luck with your adventure and let us all know how it goes.

Deane

[Toril S]

Thanks Keith and Deane!! 😀

[hammer]

Toril,
Here is the link to the song list I mentioned above.
https://www.psrtutorial.com/music/topsongs.html

Deane

[mikf]

Keith
Toril has impaired sight so playing from music is unlikely to be practical for her.
But in any case my experience is that if possible its best to play these kind of gigs without music. I know that not everyone can do it, but it usually looks and sounds so much more relaxed and natural. To be truly entertained the audience even at senior venues have to feel like the entertainer is making this look easy, not like they are working at it.
Mike

[Toril S]

When I got my S975 I considered using an external screen, not for music but to see the screen to operate the keyboard. But for this to work for me I would have to have a HUGE screen, and I would be sitting behind a barricade, not visible to anyone. I want contact with the audience, so i dropped the screen. They sometimes have to endure me using a magnifiers to see the screen, but they can at least se ME. I really envy people that can read lyrics from a screen, because they won't have to memorize everything. But we don't get everything in life, and must be satisfied with what we have. Thanks to all for good suggestions You are such good friends! I am starting my project today, learning new songs. Will be fun

[Al Ram]

Toril
I envy people that can play and sing without reading anything . .  . . .. i can't . . . .

My memory is not the best, so I need the PDF's in front of me .  . . . .. but that makes me dependant . . . .

I only know a couple of melodies by memory . . . . .

thanks

[travlin-easy]

Toril, I suggest downloading my Music Finder Directory from https://app.box.com/s/zfolub89bakdxpjwvyko61zo2daagn73 This can easily be installed in your PSR S975. You will find over 500 songs to select from, and though some will require song specific, third-party style files, there are also available on the same site at https://app.box.com/s/qcblrge2ghw2ihzk4hr9226h7mq89g31

Hope this helps,

Gary

[Toril S]

Thanks a lot Gary😀😀😀

[Jan-Eve]

Hallo Toril S! Do you live in Norway? I live in Sweden, play and sing for older people, before this Corona started. But I have had a few gigs outside on riteredhomes. The best thing, I have experienced is to sing along with every song you play. Songs from Hasse Andersson, Sven Ingvars, Vikingarna and Ole Ivars orchestra: Jag trodde änglarna fanns.Together with Kicki Danielsson.
Gamle Svarten (Cacka Israelsson ) with a pad that make winnieblaster ( Horsenoice...)very popular.
Sjöman or Seemann in german with the swedish singer: Thory Bernhards from the 50:s.
I play by ear and have all the lyrics in a binder(Pärm). All the songs in alphabetical order in separate folders, to find qwickly between the songs. Then I play ackordion (Dragspel eller treckespil) and that is very popular among older people. I use to play: Födelsedagsvals till Mona av Benny Andersson.
So there is a lot to find out even among our own songs. Then I allways end with Vera Lynns oldie:
We meet again. So I hope you find this letter usefull! All the best from Jan - Eve in Ystad.

[Toril S]

Jan-Eve, thanks a lot. You are spot on!