Intergenerational music-making – a vehicle for active ageing for children and older people

The goal of the present chapter is to review studies that illustrate the positive impact of intergenerational music-making on the physical, social, emotional and cognitive wellbeing of children and older people. Intergenerational practice has been found to promote active ageing by supporting generativity, the feeling of providing for succeeding generations, and lifelong learning associated with meeting new challenges and learning new skills. It has also been found to promote the development of social relationships and interactions that lead to dissolution of stereotypes of older adults as decrepit and dependent and of children as rude and insensitive. Closely linked with the idea of generativity is that intergenerational practice in music can support three facets of well being that have been identified as social affirmation, purpose, and control/autonomy. The chapter discusses the benefits and challenges of intergenerational practice through the example of three programmes and concludes with recommendations to facilitators.