The power of Music on dementia patients

Reviewing the film, Alive Inside, showed people re-discovering music that had been meaningful to them at a much earlier time in their life, and explored how music deeply shapes our memories and identities. Although the film focused on dementia patients, music has this power for all of us, helping form our sense of self, and creating powerful shared experiences with others.

Imagine yourself 50 years from now, and choose two songs (or pieces of music, with or without lyrics): Choose one that you think you will remember as being meaningful from this current time, and another that was meaningful to you during your childhood or an earlier period of life. They could be songs that you especially enjoyed or identified with, or that you associate with an important memory, place, or people.

Discussing;

• Why is the song especially meaningful for you?
• How do you think those meanings, or the emotions you associate with the song, relate to the its sonic qualities? In other words, listen carefully to the song a few times, and discuss some of the details in the sounds that you notice: What aspects do you notice in the music’s rhythms, melodies, harmonies, or timbres that you think most affect your emotional experience of the song and what it means to you?

Describing sound can be challenging, and is very subjective, but we expect you to make an effort. You do not have to use the terms discussed in the Levitin reading, though you may do so if that helps.

Be sure to revise your writing carefully, to ensure you are expressing your ideas clearly and fixing grammar and spelling errors. Label the 2 paragraphs as “Current song” and “Earlier song,” and provide a link to each song if available.

Note: The most common mistake that people make in submitting this assignment is that they talk about why each song is meaningful to them, but ignore the 2nd question above about sonic qualities. If you do this, your submission will be marked Incomplete and you’ll need to re-do it by the revision deadline, so please be sure to read the instructions above carefully the first time!

Peer Reviews

For the peer reviews, leave a paragraph commenting on your peers’ submissions. You do not need to evaluate whether their work meets the assignment criteria, which is the job of the TAs. Instead, consider pointing out what is found interesting in their response, or sharing  own views on the songs they chose (if they provided links), or offering suggestions for any other questions they might consider.