Music for Life: Music Participation and Quality of Life of Senior Citizens [Paperback]

Music for Life: Music Participation and Quality of Life of Senior Citizenspresents a fresh, new exploration of the impact of musical experiences on the quality of life of senior citizens, and charts a new direction in the facilitation of the musical lives of people of all ages. Authors Fung and Lehmberg clearly define the issues surrounding music education, music participation, quality of life, and senior citizens, discussing the most relevant research from the fields of music education, adult learning, lifelong learning, gerontology, medicine, music therapy, and interdisciplinary studies. At the heart of the book is Evergreen Town, a retirement community in the southeastern U.S.A., that serves as the backdrop for three original research studies. The first of these is in two phases, a survey and a focus group interview, that examines the histories and rationales for the music participations and non-participations of community residents. The second and third case studies take an in-depth look at a church choir and a bluegrass group, two prominent musical groups in the community, and include the perspectives of the authors themselves as group members and participant-observers. Fung and Lehmberg conclude with a challenge for the profession of music education: to act on this research and on the current advances in the field, to enable all people to benefit from the richness of music as a substantial contributor to quality of life.

PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Part I: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1 Music Education and Quality of Life
Chapter 2 Impact of Music Participation on Quality of Life

Part II: Looking into a Retirement Community
Chapter 3 A Big Picture from Evergreen Town
Chapter 4 Delving Deeper through Their Words
Chapter 5 The Role of Music in Senior Citizens' Lives

Part III: Case Studies of Two Contrasting Musical Groups
Chapter 6 The Graceful Singers: A Traditional Church Choir
Chapter 7 The Pickers and GrilC4