Research Obs Braid House Concert

Research question -

“What are the quantifiable effects and advantages of therapeutic live music performance on the welfare of those in care?”

Date: Tuesday 25th of February
Time: 2pm
Venue: Braid house Livingston

About the concert: Braid house is a centre that is for retired senior citizens. Situated in the middle of Livingston they regularly hold concert and different types of entertainment for their attendees. The age range is from 60 to 90+

Verbal content and clarity: The clients were all very vocal and were able to join in conversation, sharing their stories with each other and one thing I found surprising is that they were al ready for the concert even as I was setting up. It seemed that everyone wanted to speak to me while setting up asking questions about the gear I had. I thought to myself at this stage it would be a great concert.

Vocalization of residents: The crowd at this concert were great, they asked for songs and sang along and got really involved. Over the last 24 concerts I have been able to structure the sessions as to what to play in front of different types of audiences. The real success today was outlining the session for the attendees. They appreciated knowing what was coming.

Eye Contact: Major eye contact in this session. Lots of singing and looking in the direction of me and I got a real feel that I had been accepted by the group on the presentation of the concert.

Facial Expressions: lots of smiles, nodding and the correct expressions

Body Posture: I was pleased to see that the clients were positioned in a concert like fashion, more of a U shape everyone getting to see the performance. The importance on this and being able to see everyone, if possible in the audience helps wit the connection of the performance.

Movement: I was pleased with the amount of people getting involved. There was no dancing but plenty of foot tapping, hand clapping.

On-going evaluation: Today concert was real success and that was because I was able to identify the music that was suitable for the crowd. They made it clear at the start that they liked Johnny cash and a mixture of genres. This was a dream come true for me as its what I was prepared for the most.

It was a good feeling to get told that the music had made an impact and that the venue would be keen to get me back to perform for the clients.