Tonight was my night to go and play my "sundowning serenade" at a nursing home in a neighboring town. "Sundowning" refers to the stressful & disorienting time for people with Alzheimer's. It is the time at the end of their day, as they are getting ready for bed. When I arrived at the home, the frazzled nurse said, "oh, God bless you, we need you tonight!"
My serenade is an hour of quiet, peaceful instrumental guitar music. It is amazing to see how immediate the reaction is when I start playing. The agitated pacing and nervous chatter stops and they all seem to just go into a zone. I saw that the nurses were pleased that having me in the room playing music gave them a much needed break.
Earlier this evening, I burned my finger right where I have to fret it on the guitar. There were some songs that caused me some pain because of this but I so rarely have such things happen that I didn't mind a little discomfort.
They had the TV on to the movie, "Wizard of Oz" with the sound muted and I amused myself by improvising along with the scenes at times. Since I was playing relaxing music, most of the time what I was playing did not flow well with the movie. Sometimes though the clash of moods made for an interesting idea for me to later explore. So many of my own compositions begin during sessions like tonight's serenade.
What kind of music do you listen to relax? Do you listen to music as you fall asleep?
I play different CDs for different activities and moods. What I usually play when I want to relax, tho, is classical guitar music. I love Segovia! I have a 4-CD set that has classical guitar by various masters..Bach, Debussy, Albeniz, Villa-Lobos. My favorite piece is "Recuerdos de la Alhambra"
ReplyDeleteHi Evelyn,
DeleteI am like you in that I have different music for different moods. I love Segovia too and I remember that recording you are referring to! Thank you for reminding me about him because I have not listened to him in a long time! I think I am due to very soon.
I have a CD of Indian flute music that I listen to sometimes that helps me relax and go to sleep. The haunting and sad nature of it puts me in a pensive mood. I also enjoy classical guitar music and piano music to help me relax.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
DeleteI love Native American flute too and in fact I play it some. I agree it is haunting and relaxing to listen to. I like R. Carlos Nakai, so beautiful!