1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:04,533 AMNA NAWAZ: Nashville, Tennessee, is called Music City for good reason. 2 00:00:04,533 --> 00:00:08,800 Now John Yang reports on a program that connects the city's musicians with its older residents, 3 00:00:09,666 --> 00:00:11,200 bringing benefits to both. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,066 It's part of our ongoing coverage of arts and culture, Canvas. 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,100 JOHN YANG: It's morning at Nashville's East Park Community Center, and these seniors are 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,000 getting into the groove. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,900 Kyshona Armstrong leads a rousing chorus of old favorites. 8 00:00:28,900 --> 00:00:33,066 She's a professional musician with a background in music therapy. 9 00:00:33,066 --> 00:00:38,033 When not on the road touring, she sometimes plays gigs like this for a nonprofit group 10 00:00:38,033 --> 00:00:42,966 called Music for Seniors, which connects Nashville's talent with its older residents. 11 00:00:42,966 --> 00:00:47,600 KYSHONA ARMSTRONG, Music for Seniors: Out on the road, I'm meeting people all the time 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,166 and it's about me, right? 13 00:00:49,166 --> 00:00:51,200 And it's just like, I'm sharing my story, I'm sharing my story. 14 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,166 But when I come to the community groups, I feel like it's my opportunity to feed into 15 00:00:57,066 --> 00:00:59,033 others. 16 00:00:59,033 --> 00:01:02,333 It just feels good to really kind of root into the community and to see a difference 17 00:01:02,333 --> 00:01:04,433 in the people. 18 00:01:04,433 --> 00:01:07,533 JOHN YANG: It was Sonny Collier's first time at a Music for Seniors session. 19 00:01:07,533 --> 00:01:12,533 SONNY COLLIER, Participant: It was -- kind of surprised me a little bit how I can rattle 20 00:01:14,533 --> 00:01:18,233 them off at the top of my head at age I am now. 21 00:01:18,233 --> 00:01:23,233 JOHN YANG: Former singer-songwriter Sarah Martin McConnell started the program in 2007, 22 00:01:24,666 --> 00:01:28,000 combining her love for music and her degree in social work. 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,066 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL, Executive Director, Music for Seniors: Music for Seniors really 24 00:01:30,066 --> 00:01:35,033 is a hybrid of music and the social services, because every program that we do is about 25 00:01:39,300 --> 00:01:41,700 taking music out to the community. 26 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:46,666 JOHN YANG: There are free daytime concerts every month, and local musicians lead sessions 27 00:01:48,133 --> 00:01:51,466 at nursing homes and community centers across Middle Tennessee. 28 00:01:51,466 --> 00:01:56,433 Now Music for Seniors is teaming with researchers here at Vanderbilt University to see if the 29 00:01:57,766 --> 00:01:59,733 effects of their programs can be measured. 30 00:01:59,733 --> 00:02:04,500 Studies already show that exposure to live music can improve seniors' brain function, 31 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:09,066 emotional wellness and even mobility. 32 00:02:09,066 --> 00:02:13,133 Carrie Plummer, a geriatric specialist at Vanderbilt's nursing school, is designing 33 00:02:13,133 --> 00:02:15,066 the research. 34 00:02:15,066 --> 00:02:19,600 Plummer says the Music for Seniors program could be particularly useful for dementia 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,633 patients. 36 00:02:21,633 --> 00:02:23,633 CARRIE PLUMMER, Vanderbilt University: One of the things that we're really having to 37 00:02:23,633 --> 00:02:27,233 think about, are there are other ways for us to improve their quality of life? 38 00:02:27,233 --> 00:02:31,033 The more you have patients with better social networks and are able to socialize, that there 39 00:02:31,033 --> 00:02:34,566 seems to be a reduction in their risk for dementia. 40 00:02:34,566 --> 00:02:37,133 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL: My mother loved music. 41 00:02:37,133 --> 00:02:41,466 JOHN YANG: McConnell's experience with her late mother, who had Alzheimer's, was at the 42 00:02:41,466 --> 00:02:43,466 root of Music for Seniors. 43 00:02:43,466 --> 00:02:47,833 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL: I, being a musician, decided that I would start going to her adult 44 00:02:49,900 --> 00:02:51,933 day services program. 45 00:02:51,933 --> 00:02:55,900 So, I would go and bring my guitar, my dulcimer, and we would sing together. 46 00:02:55,900 --> 00:02:58,600 JOHN YANG: She said the sessions struck a chord. 47 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,466 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL: They just would light up. 48 00:03:01,466 --> 00:03:05,066 And they were a different group as I was leaving than they were as I was coming. 49 00:03:05,066 --> 00:03:09,933 JOHN YANG: And if it helped them, McConnell thought, why wouldn't it help others, whether 50 00:03:09,933 --> 00:03:11,900 they have an impairment or not? 51 00:03:11,900 --> 00:03:16,000 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL: A lightbulb went off that this should be an organized effort to 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000 connect all of the musicians in Nashville with the isolated older adults. 53 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,533 JOHN YANG: Musician Matt Bridges helped designed the program. 54 00:03:24,533 --> 00:03:28,266 MATT BRIDGES, Music for Seniors: And what we're going to aim for is to make a joyful 55 00:03:28,266 --> 00:03:29,266 noise. 56 00:03:29,266 --> 00:03:31,300 That's it. 57 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:34,900 JOHN YANG: He led this drum circle at Second Presbyterian Church, the same adult day care 58 00:03:34,900 --> 00:03:38,500 program where McConnell and her mother once sang and danced together. 59 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:42,933 MATT BRIDGES: What we saw today is a little bit of reservation on the front end. 60 00:03:42,933 --> 00:03:47,933 Once we give it a shot, once all of us typically try something, our guard kind of starts to 61 00:03:49,366 --> 00:03:51,833 come down and we're able to really express ourselves. 62 00:03:51,833 --> 00:03:56,333 And that's really the beauty in these programs and these sessions, is that we're trying something 63 00:03:56,866 --> 00:03:58,800 new. 64 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,933 JOHN YANG: Something new that brought back memories for Shirley Green. 65 00:04:04,733 --> 00:04:06,433 SHIRLEY GREEN, Participant: Someone in my house was always singing. 66 00:04:06,433 --> 00:04:08,666 Someone in my house was always playing something. 67 00:04:08,666 --> 00:04:13,666 So, just as I get a little older, you get more and more into background, and you listen 68 00:04:15,533 --> 00:04:16,766 to others. 69 00:04:16,766 --> 00:04:18,733 But I enjoy music as part of my life. 70 00:04:18,733 --> 00:04:22,800 JOHN YANG: Music for Seniors also offers the chance to learn a new instrument, like the 71 00:04:24,133 --> 00:04:27,833 ukelele. 72 00:04:27,833 --> 00:04:32,833 Students in this class offered by Nashville's adult education program strummed classics 73 00:04:33,700 --> 00:04:36,200 they'd spent months learning. 74 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,733 Their teacher, Todd Elgin, is a songwriter and plays in a ukelele band called the Ukedelics. 75 00:04:41,733 --> 00:04:44,833 TODD ELGIN, Music for Seniors: They're not being forced by their parents to come in and 76 00:04:44,833 --> 00:04:46,833 take lessons. 77 00:04:46,833 --> 00:04:50,900 They're there because they have either wanted to make music their whole life or used to 78 00:04:52,100 --> 00:04:54,100 make music and maybe there was a hiatus. 79 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:57,966 JOHN YANG: And they're hoping many more older people will soon be sing their tune. 80 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:03,133 Last year, McConnell won a $50,000 grant from the company WeWork. 81 00:05:05,133 --> 00:05:07,700 That helped the program expand to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the first free concert launched 82 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:09,666 in August. 83 00:05:09,666 --> 00:05:13,700 SARAH MARTIN MCCONNELL: I would like to see there be a Music for Seniors in every city. 84 00:05:16,133 --> 00:05:18,866 Every place has talented musicians and every place has isolated, underserved older adults. 85 00:05:23,833 --> 00:05:28,833 WOMAN (singing): Change going to come. 86 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,800 JOHN YANG: That change, as simple as an old favorite song, can make all the difference. 87 00:05:36,833 --> 00:05:41,666 For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang 88 00:05:54,433 --> 00:05:59,433 in Nashville, Tennessee.