Make a playlist

Making a playlist is a great way to connect to someone living with dementia.

Next time you and the person you care for are listening to music and a song comes on you both enjoy, why not save it to a playlist?

Playlists can be like a personal album of musical memories, with different tunes associated with people, places and moments.

Save the song every time and gradually you will collect all the tunes that mean the most. 

Our Ambassador Tony Christie sat down with his granddaughter Deià, and together they built a playlist filled with his musical memories.

An elderly man and a young woman sitting together on a couch, intently looking at a tablet. Several framed photos are visible in the background.

Older man wearing yellow-tinted glasses and scarf hugging a young girl in a brown leather jacket, both smiling indoors.

Resources

Two people at a table in conversation, one holding a tablet, with a takeaway cup and medication bottle on the table, in a bright room with brick walls.

Build a playlist

Playlist for Life has loads of free resources to create 'the soundtrack to your life'. Learn about the memory bump, red flag songs and how to use your playlist throughout the day.

Go to Playlist for Life →

Elderly woman wearing headphones and a knit hat, raising her hands.

Access free playlists

Playlist for Life have made more than 200 playlists on Spotify by genre, year and identity. You can access these for free without needing a Spotify account.

Click to access ready-made playlists →

Two elderly women wearing headphones, laughing and holding musical instruments, maracas and tambourine, sitting on a sofa with a floral wallpaper background.

Find a musical memory

BBC Music Memories is a free tool with clips of tunes arranged by decade, genre, geography and hobbies. Visit their site to find out what memories might spark.

Go to BBC Music Memories →

Real life stories

  • Two women sitting outdoors, one elderly wearing sunglasses and a pink vest, and the other with long blond hair wearing a blue patterned blouse.

    “If it’s one of her off days I’ll say ‘shall we put the music on?’ And we both start singing”

    Brenda and Trish

  • An elderly couple sitting indoors, smiling. The man wears a polo shirt, while the woman is in a cardigan and headscarf, holding a walking stick. Light filters through blinds behind them.

    “You start to sing and you feel much better…you start to wonder if you’re the same person.”

    Tim and Cindy

  • Two women sitting together, one older and one middle-aged, inside a room with floral curtains and a window showing an outdoor view.

    “It can just be five minutes or even just one song, but that’ll do.”

    Patricia and Clara