This research explored the potential for participation in community music making to enhance older people’s social, emotional and cognitive well-being. It comprised of three UK case study sites (The Silver Programme at the Sage Gateshead, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Westminster Adult Education Service). Each site had a sample of people aged 50 years and older (total N = 398) including novice and experienced musicians. Participants completed quality of life measures, developed for use in research on ageing, before and after nine months of active engagement with music. A control group (N=102) completed the same measures. In-depth interviews, focus groups and observations were also conducted of musical activities with a representative sample including facilitators and participants. This research will explore the role of music in older people' lives and how participation in making music, particularly in community settings can enhance their social, emotional and cognitive well-being. It will focus on the reciprocal processes by which personal attributes of participants in music making interact with contextual factors to impact upon the benefits that older people derive from music-making. The research will comprise three case studies, the Sage, Gateshead, the Connect Programme of the Guildhall School of Music, and Westminster Adult Education Service, which each offer a variety of musical activities to older people. In each case study a large sample of older people (up to 500) some of whom have recently begun musical activities (novices), others who are more experienced will be recruited to complete questionnaires and psychological needs scales related to autonomy, competence and relatedness before and after a substantial period of active engagement with music. Data collection will also include in depth interviews with a representative sample of participants, observations of musical activities and focus group interviews following the observations, and interviews with the musicians facilitating or teaching the activities.

Purposive/case-study and volunteer sampling was used for 3 UK sites. The face-to-face interviews, focus groups and observations form the cross-sectional one-time phase of the study. For the other phase, psychological assessments were used (quality of life measures) at the beginning and end for a repeated cross-sectional (9 months apart) study.