The sound of a jam session fills the room here at University Village Thousand Oaks senior living facility. Once a week, this group of residents get together to master playing the ukulele.
Resident Diane Moore launched the group earlier this year but since then, it’s more than doubled in size, and has participants aged from 21 to 99 years old!
"We just span the generations," says Moore.
Moore says the ukulele is ideal for the seniors to learn and play because of its easy to learn chords and small size.
"Ukulele's perfect. It's tiny, it's light," she says.
More than just musicality, Moore says the strumming session is good for overall well-being.
"Whenever I'm kind of down or achy or just not with it, all I have to do is pick up a ukulele and sing for 10 minutes and it's gone. I feel like a new person," she said.
"And then I read all kinds of things about dementia and the importance of socialization, which we do. They say learn a new instrument or learn a language, so we're doing that. And the singing is making new dendrites in our brains," said Moore.
"Also, a lot of us have the beginnings of arthritis and moving your fingers and pushing down on strings helps strengthen your hand and staves the arthritis."
Joni Donaldson is 90 years old. She's picked up the ukulele again after decades of not playing.
"It's the most fun part of my week," said Donaldson.
"We have so much fun," adds 88-year old Barbara Johnson.
And while these seniors are learning the chords, the music and using their muscle memory - they’re also building friendships.
"I was all alone and I wasn't meeting new people and so I joined this group," explains 93-year-old resident Maggie Kildee.
Kildee says she had found herself spending a lot of time in solitude, so this group has brought her companionship and socialization.
"I have loved being out and meeting people and laughing. Now I can't sing, but it's been wonderful to pretend I'm strumming and pretend I am singing," she says.
Sally Taylor is 89, and has a way of smiling while she’s singing and playing.
"I was having the time of my life, and you know this is so good for the brain. Nobody cares how I sing or how I play, we just do it," said Taylor.
It’s never too late to learn to play a musical instrument for the first time, says 83-year-old resident Su Park.
"I say I can and I go for it," she says of her positive attitude.
80-year-old Nate Harimoto had owned a Ukulele for 50 years but never played it, until now.
"I'm born and raised in Hawaii. This ukulele was made by a family friend when I was a child and I've just had it all that time and just never learned to play it," he said.
And Peggy Waters is also playing a ukulele she’s had since childhood.
"I bought this ukulele for $5 from another kid who didn't want it, and this was 1948. Diane [Moore] took this over to be restrung, and it turns out it's worth $500!" said Waters.
"So I immediately bought a case for it, because I was in a closet with the canned goods, and I didn't think that was right."
The group say they’re considering a performance but a performance, they say, is work – and they’re doing this for fun. And they certainly seem to be having plenty of that!
