Memory Care Outing

[Bill Sheehan]

You did good, Bill.

Thank you, R-M !!

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Thanks Bill... and Nickie!

I have a student who is going deaf, slowly, as well. He now has hearing aides with Bluetooth capability. The school is going to get us a special microphone/transmitter unit so he can hear me directly through the aides. He has the hardest time with background noises, so this will eliminate that problem. It will probably sound like I am right in his head... we'll see what that is like for us... might be his worst nightmare. It will be much harder to ignore me I'm guessing!

Maybe we can get one to hook up to my ukulele as well...

Technology!

That is wonderful, BB !! What a great example of shining some light into the life of another! And it's clear that many of the Forum members do likewise!

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

Yesterday I got to perform solo in the memory care unit of one of our local retirement facilities. I did a single set of maybe 40 minutes duration.

It was a lot of fun, and the residents (numbering around twenty or so) seemed to enjoy it. Songs included "King of the Road", "I'll See You In My Dreams", "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter", "Rainbow Connection", "What The World Needs Now Is Love", "Get Together", and similar tunes.

Now that I'm pushing 70 myself, it occurred to me that these folks are pretty familiar with these tunes, as I could see many of them quietly singing along!

For this outing, I used my Martin S-0, in which I have installed a simple disk-style under-the-soundboard passive transducer, running to an output jack at the rear of the uke. I plugged straight into the "instrument" channel of my little Fender Acoustasonic 15 amp, and I plugged my microphone into the XLR-style mic input channel. I placed the amp on a stool, and put the stool off to my left and slightly forward so as to avoid feedback problems. I could still hear myself just fine.

This setup worked really nicely for this type of outing, and I felt like I was filling the room (a fairly large room) adequately. I didn't use my separate pre-amp/EQ on the uke, but it sounded very decent at the moderate volume I was playing, and I kept the "mids" on the amp dialed back quite a bit to keep the "quackiness" of the pickup to a minimum.

Overall, a very fun, light-packin' gig!

Sounds wonderful and I'll bet the residents really enjoyed your presence. Well done. I'm not good enough to play for others but would really enjoy this sort of outing, sharing the happiness the ukulele gives.

 

[Nickie]

Thanks Bill... and Nickie!

I have a student who is going deaf, slowly, as well. He now has hearing aides with Bluetooth capability. The school is going to get us a special microphone/transmitter unit so he can hear me directly through the aides. He has the hardest time with background noises, so this will eliminate that problem. It will probably sound like I am right in his head... we'll see what that is like for us... might be his worst nightmare. It will be much harder to ignore me I'm guessing!

Maybe we can get one to hook up to my ukulele as well...

Technology!

A while back there was a thread about a girl who was deaf who played ukulele, on stage!

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

A while back there was a thread about a girl who was deaf who played ukulele, on stage!

Saw that- she really was a gifted artist.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

A while back there was a thread about a girl who was deaf who played ukulele, on stage!

I love the stories of people who persevere through adversity. It fuels the soul.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

I love the stories of people who persevere through adversity. It fuels the soul.

So inspiring! And at the same time, what a great example of how a person can make beautiful music with just one uke and one voice-- uncluttered, pure. Somehow, in watching Mandy here, I'm not missing drums, bass, or keyboard at all. One uke/one voice just may be my favorite thing (with the possible exeption of brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts, non-frosted).

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Sounds wonderful and I'll bet the residents really enjoyed your presence. Well done. I'm not good enough to play for others but would really enjoy this sort of outing, sharing the happiness the ukulele gives.

Thanks, Eggs n' Ham! I have a feeling you could absolutely play for others. Consider the retirement home setting-- a neat way to get the hang of performing is to see if a local nursing home would allow you to come in some afternoon and sort of "wander" with your uke. No amp, no mic. If you prepared as few as 3 songs-- songs that you really love-- and strolled from one location to another within the facility, stopping to play a couple of them for residents you encounter along the way, you can reach a lot of people without the perception that you're repeating the songs, because your audience is "rotating", so to speak. That's basically how I started doing it. No concerns about "gear" (as much as I love gear), and no need to worry about remembering a ton of songs, just three "sure-fire" favorites that I knew I could do in my sleep! And before you know it, 45 minutes has gone by, which is just about right for an outing of that sort! You can do it!

 

[Ziret]

Yesterday I got to perform solo in the memory care unit of one of our local retirement facilities. I did a single set of maybe 40 minutes duration.

It was a lot of fun, and the residents (numbering around twenty or so) seemed to enjoy it. Songs included "King of the Road", "I'll See You In My Dreams", "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter", "Rainbow Connection", "What The World Needs Now Is Love", "Get Together", and similar tunes.

Now that I'm pushing 70 myself, it occurred to me that these folks are pretty familiar with these tunes, as I could see many of them quietly singing along!

For this outing, I used my Martin S-0, in which I have installed a simple disk-style under-the-soundboard passive transducer, running to an output jack at the rear of the uke. I plugged straight into the "instrument" channel of my little Fender Acoustasonic 15 amp, and I plugged my microphone into the XLR-style mic input channel. I placed the amp on a stool, and put the stool off to my left and slightly forward so as to avoid feedback problems. I could still hear myself just fine.

This setup worked really nicely for this type of outing, and I felt like I was filling the room (a fairly large room) adequately. I didn't use my separate pre-amp/EQ on the uke, but it sounded very decent at the moderate volume I was playing, and I kept the "mids" on the amp dialed back quite a bit to keep the "quackiness" of the pickup to a minimum.

Overall, a very fun, light-packin' gig!

You get me all worked up to go play at a nearby residence and then you start speaking this foreign language—input channel, transducer, pre-amp, etc.—and all that is way more intimidating than stage fright.

 

[hendulele]

When we play at adult day centers and memory care units, the Brill Building songs are big hits. “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” always gets the residents singing.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

You get me all worked up to go play at a nearby residence and then you start speaking this foreign language—input channel, transducer, pre-amp, etc.—and all that is way more intimidating than stage fright.

Hahahahahaha! Sorry, Z, I sure didn't mean to create an intimidation factor with that bit of "tech talk"-- and believe me, my knowledge of that stuff is very rudimentary at best! Here's a suggestion: try arranging to visit that residence with nothing but your uke; I have done that many times, and the approach I used was simply to wander the facility asking random residents if they'd like to hear a song or two; if they said yes (which they usually did), I'd play and sing a couple of things right there in the hallway or wherever. Basically kind of a "one-on-one" approach, with no amplification involved. There are often small activity rooms where just eight or ten residents might be gathered, and if you grab a chair and sit in their midst, you can also get by with no amplification in that situation, with a small audience.

As to stage fright, here's how to get rid of it: decide on 10 songs for your performance (that'll generally carry you for 40 minutes or so, especially if you banter a little in between songs); practice those ten songs until you can do them with the same ease and confidence with which you might stand up and sing "Happy Birthday." That's my personal rule-- until it has become as easy as Happy Birthday, it doesn't get performed. So, you go in with those 10 songs, which by then you could do in your sleep, and you think about one thing-- making those people's day!

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

Who knows—someday I myself might end up in a memory care unit. And if I’m lucky, a very nice person will come to visit, bringing along a ukulele and making my day! You are a real prince to do this, Bill.

When I play at senior centers, nursing homes, and memory units, I often think the same thing. At 73, I am probably old enough to be in some (especially the senior centers). I don't want anyone to come and play for me though - unless I can no longer play. What's the fun in that for a musician?

I often jam with a bunch of old bluegrass guys I know. Many are in their late 80s and their voices and their ability to play and sing like they used to is going, going, or gone. Still, they keep at it. I hope when I get old and feeble, and God forbid they put me in a home, they bring me my ukulele or my guitar and the facility lets me play it.

My Dad was in a rehab facility for a short time when he was 93. He was bored to death and hated the place. His roommate felt the same way. One day while I was visiting them, his roommate said he heard I played the guitar and ukulele. He said he had a Guitalele in the closet and asked if I could play a few tunes for him. Fortunately, I had my iPad with me with all my songs. I have never really mastered Bill's idea to memorize a set of songs. I gave an impromptu 1-2 hour concert in their room. His roommate happily sang along to old songs and hymns (he was a former pastor). They both seemed very happy to have something to do.

I finally sprung my Dad loose from the rehab place and brought him home to live with me. It was a 24/7 job taking care of him, but he was so much happier. I'll never regret the year or so I took care of him until he passed away quietly in his sleep.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

When I play at senior centers, nursing homes, and memory units, I often think the same thing. At 73, I am probably old enough to be in some (especially the senior centers). I don't want anyone to come and play for me though - unless I can no longer play. What's the fun in that for a musician?

I often jam with a bunch of old bluegrass guys I know. Many are in their late 80s and their voices and their ability to play and sing like they used to is going, going, or gone. Still, they keep at it. I hope when I get old and feeble, and God forbid they put me in a home, they bring me my ukulele or my guitar and the facility lets me play it.

My Dad was in a rehab facility for a short time when he was 93. He was bored to death and hated the place. His roommate felt the same way. One day while I was visiting them, his roommate said he heard I played the guitar and ukulele. He said he had a Guitalele in the closet and asked if I could play a few tunes for him. Fortunately, I had my iPad with me with all my songs. I have never really mastered Bill's idea to memorize a set of songs. I gave an impromptu 1-2 hour concert in their room. His roommate happily sang along to old songs and hymns (he was a former pastor). They both seemed very happy to have something to do.

I finally sprung my Dad loose from the rehab place and brought him home to live with me. It was a 24/7 job taking care of him, but he was so much happier. I'll never regret the year or so I took care of him until he passed away quietly in his sleep.

Wonderful story you've shared there, SWB, and inspiring too!

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

This video is over 6 years old in happier times, when the band was still together. The concert uke player is now suffering terribly from pancreatic cancer. It's kind of fun to look back on stuff like this sometimes. We had some great times. I think I was playing the Uke-bass at the time. It is a snippet of a set we did at an assisted living facility.

An Assisted Living Snippet

 

[Bill Sheehan]

This video is over 6 years old in happier times, when the band was still together. The concert uke player is now suffering terribly from pancreatic cancer. It's kind of fun to look back on stuff like this sometimes. We had some great times. I think I was playing the Uke-bass at the time. It is a snippet of a set we did at an assisted living facility.

An Assisted Living Snippet

Outstanding, SWB! Great song selection you guys had, too! We're all sending thoughts of hope and encouragement to your friend; that's such a tough situation.

 

[Ziret]

Hahahahahaha! Sorry, Z, I sure didn't mean to create an intimidation factor with that bit of "tech talk"-- and believe me, my knowledge of that stuff is very rudimentary at best! Here's a suggestion: try arranging to visit that residence with nothing but your uke; I have done that many times, and the approach I used was simply to wander the facility asking random residents if they'd like to hear a song or two; if they said yes (which they usually did), I'd play and sing a couple of things right there in the hallway or wherever. Basically kind of a "one-on-one" approach, with no amplification involved. There are often small activity rooms where just eight or ten residents might be gathered, and if you grab a chair and sit in their midst, you can also get by with no amplification in that situation, with a small audience.

As to stage fright, here's how to get rid of it: decide on 10 songs for your performance (that'll generally carry you for 40 minutes or so, especially if you banter a little in between songs); practice those ten songs until you can do them with the same ease and confidence with which you might stand up and sing "Happy Birthday." That's my personal rule-- until it has become as easy as Happy Birthday, it doesn't get performed. So, you go in with those 10 songs, which by then you could do in your sleep, and you think about one thing-- making those people's day!

Excellent, excellent advice. Thank you!!

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Excellent, excellent advice. Thank you!!

You're welcome, Z. And of course, as always, different approaches work for different people.

I played at a memory care unit just yesterday afternoon, and it was evident when I arrived that the staff hadn't been informed that I'd been scheduled. So they did their best to scramble up a few folks to come down and listen. I'd guess there were maybe 8 residents there. Looking back, I probably could have ditched the PA gear and just pulled up a seat with all of them gathered around a table, and done the tunes totally unplugged! But I'd already set things up, so I went ahead and used the PA.

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

You're welcome, Z. And of course, as always, different approaches work for different people.

I played at a memory care unit just yesterday afternoon, and it was evident when I arrived that the staff hadn't been informed that I'd been scheduled. So they did their best to scramble up a few folks to come down and listen. I'd guess there were maybe 8 residents there. Looking back, I probably could have ditched the PA gear and just pulled up a seat with all of them gathered around a table, and done the tunes totally unplugged! But I'd already set things up, so I went ahead and used the PA.

Ah yes the downside of playing at these places. Even though my band is generally well liked by the seniors and we often play for free, it is often impossible to get the social coordinators to return calls. We have also had your experience with getting there and finding out no one remembered (or scheduled) the performance was supposed to be that day. I'm never quite sure if the bookers just figure its extra work for them, they are just busy and short-staffed, or they just don't give a damn sometimes.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Ah yes the downside of playing at these places. Even though my band is generally well liked by the seniors and we often play for free, it is often impossible to get the social coordinators to return calls. We have also had your experience with getting there and finding out no one remembered (or scheduled) the performance was supposed to be that day. I'm never quite sure if the bookers just figure its extra work for them, they are just busy and short-staffed, or they just don't give a damn sometimes.

Yes, SWB, and I suppose the best way to handle those bumpy moments is to just chalk them up to the imperfection of the good old human condition! And I always think, I don't want a gig to go TOO well, 'cause then I wouldn't have the fun of reflecting on how I might improve next time out!

 

[keonepax]

Great selection of songs for the gig! I can understand why the residents enjoyed it! Good on you, Bill!