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Lesson Plans

Week One – Introductions

The main goal of this first session is to get to know the group and start to understand what they are wanting from this project, as they have chosen to pick our Songwriting Group for a reason. Although not much songwriting will happen in this session, it is vital to the success of our project, as getting to know the participants will help make it progress with everyone getting the most out of it.

Week Two – Rhythm

• Warm up – Name a genre, listen to a song within that style and discuss a noticeable feature included in that music.
• Play “Here’s My Rhythm”, a game to focus on creativity and rhythm to start the session of learning how we can use it to our abilities and begin the songwriting process. Everyone can take in turns, if comfortable, creating a four beat rhythm using body percussion and having everyone else in the group repeat it back to them. This helps aid in focus of other peoples ideas and quick thinking with coming up with their own.
• Listening to other songs that have a strong, noticeable rhythm part, such as “We Will Rock You” – Queen, more modern songs such as “Cups (When I’m Gone)” – Anna Kendrick. This will help the group with communication of what they’re hearing by giving a set feature in the songs to focus on.
• Start building a rhythm together as a group, whether that be all together or smaller numbers, during this we will record through a microphone onto logic, so we can start creating a song from the basics, and use it to remind ourselves in the next sessions. This activity should help increase creativity and confidence in writing or sharing ideas.
• Group song to solidify the end of the session and continue the repetition creating a fond memory of finalising the sessions.

Week Three – Harmony and Chords

• Warm up – Guessing game of whether it is a happy (major) or sad (minor) chord, get the group working together to work out how the chords sound
• Introduce the “Four Chord Song” – The Axis of Awesome, demonstrating that we can use the same chords to create such different music, suggesting we could use those chords to create our own and starting to gather ideas for the original the group collectively writes.
• Discuss solfege with the group to continue the process of learning to read, building stronger foundations for the weeks ahead.
• Group song

Week Four – Lyric Writing 1

• Warm up –
• Picture activity – Discuss emotions, what it would feel like if they were there, the five senses and one word to describe it. After completing this first activity we will write a list of rhyming words to start building lyrics around the images.
• Group song

This session is a big week for creativity as it is writing words for an original song which they may have never done before, however, with the assistance of us leading the session it should move smoothly, making sure that enjoyment and social connections are the priority. Furthermore, all equipment needed will be available to each individual making sure everyone has access to what is needed.

Week Five – Lyric Writing 2

• Warm up –
• Poem activity – everyone will receive a poem that is not in the ‘correct’ order and asked to rearrange it, this can lead into a discussion about why everyone chose that order and what it means to them. After we share the original order and explore the meaning deeper.
• Structure and meaning, how they are connected. Share ideas for a hook of the song, gaining momentum on the songwriting.
• Group song

Week Six – Melody

• Warm up – call and response with different melody lines, getting everyone singing and focussed.
• How does the melody of a song make you feel? – Play some different songs, including the mentioned ones from the first week
• Display some pre conceived ideas to make sure they don’t feel overwhelmed with having to write a whole melody.
• Have a go at changing the lyrics to famous melodies
• Group song

Week Seven – Reading

• Warm up – Looking back over previous weeks and recapping solfege with notes written out
• Give the group the chance to see their music written out in notation format, start to form an understanding of how their music creates this
• Explain basics – note lengths, stave, the chords which we decided on previously
• Group song – the original

Week Eight – Performance

• Warm up – suitable movements to get bodies moving, making sure everyone is comfortable, different accessible moves
• Add some movements to help remember lyrics and gradually grow confidence while performing
• This may help with focus, while moving singing may come more naturally for them

Week Nine – Mock Performance

• Warm up – Recap, get bodies moving and voices steady, what they’re most excited about
• Go through the song and how they would feel comfortable performing
• Sing all together and record with a microphone (with consent), meaning we will have a complete version of the collaborative art.

When recording any of the sessions, we will use one laptop with all of the equipment necessary, such as a microphone and a DAW, by using the equipment we are comfortable with, we can educate anyone in the group who may be interested in that aspect of music, and means we can have the song in its complete form in a professional format for the group. Although we can comfortably see the laptop, the participants may not be able to as well, so we have the opportunity to hire iPads out from university meaning they can have a screen between them in smaller groups and see the details.

Week Ten – Performance

• Perform to family, friends and the public, celebrate the work they have all done over the ten sessions.

Additional Research and Evaluation

As we are working with people from the age of 55+ we need to be aware of their accessibility needs and why they are attending these sessions, a lot of the reasoning is from loneliness and wanting to be somewhere where community and social connections are the forefront of why we provide these sessions. Studies show that “98% of adults ages 50-80 reported at least one health benefit from music” furthermore, “active music-making has been shown to fight depression and maintain well-being in seniors” (Debbie, livingyourseniorlife.com) which proves that music making is a skill that can help in many ways, and why it is important that we provide the group with a way to learn, improve and grow within social situations. 

Due to the nature of the group we are working with, any activity we do we will make sure is accessible due to possible accessibility needs, such as writing all words/lyrics in a larger font so anyone with poor eyesight can read it clearly. Any warm ups or games such as “Here’s My Rhythm” are able to be done whether they’re sitting or standing, however the participants are comfortable. Moreover, as we are only doing one session for an hour per week, with a break in between, we will go over the previous weeks work with the group to make sure they remember and don’t forget the previous information and steps in the songwriting process, as we want to give the participants all of the information to songwriting basics to take with them after our placement is finished.

Another way that songwriting can be beneficial to the older generations is by keeping their minds sharp as crafting lyrics and melodies involves great memory use (such as recalling past memories), problem solving like figuring out rhyming words and the order of lines and creative thinking around a certain theme. “Research shows that engaging in creative pursuits like this may even slow down cognitive decline” (fitforthesoul.com)

Due to the unknown aspects of this placement, the weekly plans may vary depending on progress being made and how much the participants enjoy it and get involved with activities. Furthermore, as we only have an hour with each session, activities may take longer than planned which is the nature of this work, however we are prepared to adapt with the people we work with and make the sessions run smoothly while having fun as our main goal is to give the participants the information they need to write music and understand it deeper while having fun as a group.

Overall, this placement will work best when collaborating with the group and receiving continuous feedback after the sessions, although there is a structured lesson plan, there is always room for movement with any activities, as long as everyone keeps working towards their individual and group goals. These will be set in the first session and will be kept in our minds ready to reflect at the end of the 10 weeks.

Bibliography

Debbie. (2025). The Healing Power of Music for Seniors: Mind and Body. [Online]. Living Your Senior Life. Last Updated: 10 November 2025. Available at: https://livingyourseniorlife.com/healing-power-of-music/ [Accessed 3 January 2026].

Fit For The Soul. (2025). Is Songwriting a Good Creative Outlet for Seniors?. [Online]. Fit For The Soul. Available at: https://fitforthesoul.com/is-songwriting-a-good-creative-outlet-for-seniors/ [Accessed 3 January 2026].