Nursing home entertainment pay - Page 4

solarbean · #46 08-16-2006, 05:20 PM

Even if you can knock off one song per week, you would be moving ahead at a good clip.

In addition to that Heart and Soul music site, here is a nice site with chord progressions to some older songs: http://www.theguitarguy.com/

I don't always agree with his chord progrewssions, but he does have a lot of material!

markm2553 · #47 08-17-2006, 06:25 AM

I just found this thread today.
Please keep up the posts. I love to hear about this, my wife
and I are working on this very project.

solarbean · #48 08-29-2006, 09:02 PM

Well, I did my performance this evening and I'd like to share the experience.

The Scandinavian Living Center is a home for about 40 residents - most of scandinavian descent. My Swedish Grandmother lived there during the 90's.

It has a common hall - called the Nordic Hall. This is where I played.

My wife and kids came with me.

I was scheduled for a 7:00 performance to last 1/2 hour. I arrived at 6:15 for setup. I introduced myself to the receptionist and she cautioned me that it was a bit late for a performance - they typically turn in by then. The second dinner seating was just finishing up, so she rallied the troops and about 1/2 dozen residents filtered into the Nordic Hall. I introduced myself and started playing at 6:45.

I made my introductions and opened with a Stan Rogers tune - "Lies". Then I went into some older tunes like "Tennesee Waltz", "You are my Sunshine", "Fly me to the Moon", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Don't Fence me In". I did a few folk tunes and finished with "Sweet Baby James".

The acoustics in the room worked very well with my Ultrasound DS3, Shure SM58, and OMC Aura. I hade never played a hall before - I was surprised at how much better my voice sounded than in my little dojo at home.

As I played another 8 people filtered in. Only one person left. There was a polite applause after each tune.

The high point of the evening was when I was looking out at the crowd - as I was singing "You are my Sunshine" - and I saw this wonderful little old lady slapping her thigh to the beat. For me- that was absolute bliss!!!

When it was over, I thanked them, and the people slowly filtered out - walkers in hand.

A few stayed around and thanked me. One woman wanted me to play "that George Harrison Song". After learning that she was after "Here comes the Sun", I promised to learn it and return soon.

My advice to myself and anyone else -

1) They loved the 30's - 50's era music. Not so much the newer ones.
2) Crank up the volume, speak loud and clear. They cannot hear very well.
3) Go back to the Heart-and-Soul favorite song list and learn a few more. Those folks are dead-on!
4) Call around and set up more of these gigs. It felt wonderful for me and I think the residents enjoyed it.

This thread is about "nursing home pay". I did this performance gratis. I work as a software engineer - I need some of the "Human effect" in my life - and was glad to have the opportunity to get out and play. Perhaps I would look for pay if I had more confidence in myself and if the host had an entertainment budget, but for where I am in this adventure, gratis is OK.

Chicago Sandy · #49 08-29-2006, 09:50 PM

Some of the most gratifying gigs I ever played were the nursing home shows I played for the Coffeyville (KS) Humanitites Project in 2003. 17 shows in 5 days, $975--but after paying for airfare, lodging, car rental and food it was a labor of love.

Jail and prison shows are also like that--except that old people aren't scary and the nurses don't have guns. "Lies" is a wonderful song, but I think it speaks more to the middle-aged and younger seniors in the retirement villages.

ParleyDee · #50 08-29-2006, 10:48 PM

I don't do nursing home entertainment but play for services in a rehab centre. I know what some of you folks feel when you're not sure why you're there and whether anything is registering. We see brain-injured teens who talk like drunks, burns victims who're a walking dressing with eyeholes, folks with bolts in their heads - the works - and you just have to fit in around whatever happens.

The worst one to date was attended by four "clients" (can't call them "patients" any more), a few volunteers and a priest. Clients 1-3 are stone-cold-deaf-as-doorposts elderly ladies. Father and the chaplain doing the readings have to bellow at them, so music is a dead loss. Client 4 is a tragedy - a nun who fell headlong down a flight of stairs *and* under a vehicle. Head collapsed in like a half-flat basketball, no idea of what's happening, talks loudly and incoherently to her carer all through the service. Elderly Chinese lady in a wheelchair comes in unexpectedly halfway through the readings (the chaplain usually has a list so that volunteers can collect everybody who's coming). It's quietly explained that this is a prayer service, she's welcome but we're just checking she's in the right place. She keeps manoeuvring in the door, so I move into the corridor to let her in, then squeeze in behind her. Come communion time, she suddenly realises it isn't her therapy session after all and starts to back out .. right into me. Having started the communion hymn, I keep singing/playing whilst hopping backwards through the door on one foot, dragging the chair propping my music with the toe of the other, to avoid being mown down. I finish the hymn standing the in the corridor rather than try the trick in reverse. Clients are eventually taken back to their rooms and priest, chaplain and muso all fall down in a hoarse and frazzled heap.

Still, for every day like that there's another where a client is clearly very touched, and even when the clients aren't so "with it", the volunteers and visiting family appreciate the service and having music for it. Of course, it isn't the sort of gig one does for personal reward, but it's good for morale to remember those days at the times when it doesn't go so smoothly.

It pays a tiny bit more than petrol money. I'd do this one gratis were I retired, but I have to leave work for it, take a long lunch, get back to work and make up the time, and Him Indoors usually has to do chauffeur service for me and the guitar. It wouldn't be practical at the moment without some compensation.

John99 · #51 08-30-2006, 05:55 PM

It sounds like the gig went pretty well. I know the feeling when the crowd is pretty sparse. I LOVE the hall you got to play in! The best I can do so far is a corner of the dining room when they all come in to eat.
I have been back the last two Saturday evenings, and both times went well.
I even had a request for "Show me the way to go home," from an old woman in back. Or else she was yelling, "Finish the show and go home." Either or.

I'm still doing it on a voluntary basis. I don't feel as if I've paid enough dues yet to ask for some compensation. They do offer all volunteers a free meal ticket, but the food isn't exactly appealing to me. I have to buy my own cappochino though.

pbg2user01.doteasy.com/2/5/2/67/images/folder_15337/img2935544f62314915bf.jpg

Sage97 · #52 08-30-2006, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John99

Does anyone know what kind of pay a guitar player/singer could expect at a nursing home?

Thanks for any info.

This service is considered non-skilled and is therefore not covered by Medicare and other third party payors.

beachbum205 · #53 08-30-2006, 07:59 PM

Solarbean,

Very imformative post! Thanks much for sharing your experience with us. Learning of your experience is very helpful to those of us who are considering trying this type of "gig".

markm2553 · #54 08-31-2006, 07:10 AM

Thanks for the update!

markm2553 · #55 09-05-2006, 08:22 AM

Hate to dig up an old thread, but I have an update. Sorry if it's a little long.

We ended up playing our first Nursing Home gig last night, by accident!

My wife wanted to go visit the nursing home last night with some of the ladies group from Church. At the last minute she asked if I would go and play for a friend of ours. My wife had promised her I would come down and play for her. She asked me 30 minutes before they where going to leave! I agreed, thinking I was going to be playing for one lady in her room.
Not having any time to prepare, I just picked up my guitar hymn book.

When we got there the woman we went to see was out in the hall waiting to go to supper. We visited with several people in the Dinning Hall while they ate, and I got to meet a couple of new friends. A couple of people asked about my guitar case. When they found out about our plans, they asked us to sing in the hall, not in her room. So we ended up singing in the hall right outside the dinning area, to anyone that would listen. Several people knew every word of every hymn we did. I haven't seen so many smiles in I don't know when. I have always seen music as one of God's gift's to mankind, and I saw it's power last night to bring joy to a heart.
When it was time to leave, we where asked to come back every month. My wife is going to call about getting our name on the "list" later this week.

If you feel lead to do it, just do it. I think I tried to plan to much. "A lot less talk and a little more action", is what I should have been doing all along...

solarbean · #56 09-05-2006, 07:54 PM

Awesome news, Mark!!!

I am sure you lightened some tired old hearts. We should feel blessed that we are able to make music and make happiness - both inside and out. I hope the monthly thing works out for you.

astrummer · #57 09-05-2006, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solarbean

We should feel blessed that we are able to make music and make happiness - both inside and out.

Anyone who gets opportunity to perform / serve in such a setting don't pass it up.

John99 · #58 09-06-2006, 03:25 PM

I know what you mean about overthinking it. I can do that for so long, and then when I finally get up and do it, I hate myself for analyzing everything for so long, and missing out on an opportunity I should have kicked into gear a long time ago. Better late than never I guess.
Let us know how it goes as a regular gig.

johnfern.com

MikeGates · #59 09-06-2006, 03:39 PM

My grandma likes Jazzy stuff like "The Claw" by Chet. She also like Les Paul and the old bluesly. A little bossa nova. i'd just mix it up. How bad could it be? They're not tooo picky.

solarbean · #60 09-25-2006, 08:20 PM

Well... I performed at another Nursing Home. This time it was the Life Care Center in Littleton, MA. It is a nice place with about 100 residents ranging in age from 75 to 100.

I played at 2:00 in the afternoon. A great time to play. About 20-25 residents showed up. What a wonderful audience. Nobody fell asleep. They chatted with me and sang along to most songs. Pure Magic.

With the exception of Sweet Baby James and a short John Gorka tune, I played nothing newer than 1955.

I had my moment of glory... as I completed my rendition of "Danny Boy", Mary shouted out from the back of the room, "My God, where has this guy been?"

Made me feel pretty special.

Then she announced that she used to wear her dress 5 inches short, but that girls didn't kiss when she was young.

Mary is about 85, blind, and cruises around the home in a souped up wheelchair with foam bumpers..

The others responded in unison, "Mary, be quiet".

She refused to comply.

But all in all, it was a great event. These poor people have absolutely nothing to look forward to. Think about it... at an advanced age, you really don't want to be thinking ahead. Each new day is in one way a blessing, but in another way one less tick in a clock that won't be rewound. Your greatest joy is reliving - at least for a moment - a time in your life that was sweet. For audience and I it was a special moment. Maybe more so for me - I don't know. But I will definitely do it again. If nothing else, they gave me a nice moment to look back upon.