Program structure

[kevinsagan]

My wife sings in church and I play guitar with either a finger picking or strumming accompaniment. Someone mentioned in a different thread that nursing homes were another place to share music and we thought we would give that a try. Wednesday night is our first opportunity to play.

We have a large enough selection that we could play all slow or fast songs. My initial idea was to alternate between fast and slow songs. If anyone has suggestions for structuring an hour of gospel music in a nursing home setting they would like to share, I would be glad to read them.

Regards

[WallyArms]

I suspect they will be pleased with whatever you decide to do, but here are some suggestions:

1. If you are also going to share a message, I would start uptempo, then slow down, have the message, some more slow songs and close with uptempo songs (like a church sevice).

2. If you have a large number of songs ready to go, they might be pleased if you just took requests for the whole hour.

3. Starting out with slow songs and building up to the faster songs would probably work well (as they get comfortable they will be more likely to clap and sing along).

Hope it goes well - that is a good way to spend an hour of your time this week!
:D

[Telesaurus]

That's a great Ministry!
Just go in with an open mind & let things go their course. Structure in a nursing home should be loose enough to allow communication between you & the residence to help determine what direction the music may go.
Although they will probably like everything you do,you can watch their reactions and pick up on what they like the most. Try to play as much as you can that will allow them to sing along or at least recognize & relate to most of what you're doing.
Gods' Blessings on your Ministry & please let us know how it goes & what you learned from the experience.....we're all still in the learning process & any input is always helpful.

[maestrovert]

Occassionally i will take a "jazz box" and a small amp and go play.......sometimes unannounced......i've noticed that they REALLY respond to the old favorites.... In the Garden, Old Rugged Cross, etc.....
it's great to see the smiles, the tears, and their tootsies tappin'.....

Play to bring Glory to God, and God to the nursing home's residents.....

"Music is love, and love is music if you know what i mean...."

[PraiseCaster]

A willing heart.

[kevinsagan]

I appreciate all who took the time to respond to my posting. We played an hour of old and new songs in front of an appreciative crowd of 30 to 40 Wednesday night. We had the most participation on acoustic songs with driving rhythms, e.g. Leaning On The Everlasting Arms.

There were some issues. I don’t think Activities Director told anyone we were coming. People were still showing up as we were finishing up. Next time we’ll put notices on their bulletin boards to keep that kind of disappointment to a minimum. I also found out gospel music is vocally intensive so I will add a couple of instrumentals to give my wife a rest.

It was time well spent and we will be doing it on a regular basis