Problem area: Involuntary loneliness and untreated depression are major wellbeing challenges for older men. Concurrently, music listening is a potentially significant, yet hitherto understudied resource in facilitating wellbeing amongst this group. This presentation focuses on how the choices of music and discussions around music in a music listening group for older men forms and is formed by their sense of identity as ’older’, ’men’ and human beings.
Theory and method: The study is multi-disciplinary, drawing from research on ageing, men and masculinities, and the fields of music psychology, music therapy and music and health. Eight men, 64- 86 years old, with life challenges around loneliness and depression, met for 16 sessions to listen to music of their own choice and discuss whatever they found relevant in the context. The group was led by a music therapist, also this paper’s presenter. Transcripts from the group sessions, a focus group and individual follow-up interviews were analysed qualitatively.
Result: The participants’ choices of music ranged from Otis Redding to Wagner, and seemed to serve various purposes; from aesthetic enjoyment and sharing musical memories, to a more educative approach, showing the others rare pieces that they might not have known previously. The discussions were mostly tied to facts around the music and musicians, but ‘via’ the music, themes such as masculinity, outsider-ship, ageing and death, were also occasionally discussed.
Conclusion: When topics such as masculinity, ageing and death were discussed, the discussion was in line with traditional gendered patterns of communication. Yet, the musical choices seemed to express emotional experiences in connection to these topics, that were not verbalized, but expressed in sub-text ‘through’ the music. Thus, this study uncovers a discrepancy between what older men reveal verbally about themselves as ‘older’ and ‘men’ in a music listening group, and what they express through their musical choices.
2020.