Dementia-Friendly Choral Library
An ever-growing collection of choral sheet music specifically adapted to support and empower people living with dementia.
What is this library?
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The Giving Voice Dementia-Friendly Choral Library is a collection of sheet music designed to make it easy for choral leaders to select repertoire that supports their singers living with dementia.
It includes music developed for our Twin Cities Choruses and music submitted by other choral leaders and composers who are committed to making sheet music accessible and sharing their work with other choirs.
Each arrangement includes:
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Full score (voice and piano)
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Vocal score
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Lyrics only
Check out "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" to see (and freely use) a free, public-domain example of the offerings in our library.
What makes the music
"dementia-friendly"?
The sheet music in this library is thoughtfully adapted to minimize frustration and maximize joy for people living with dementia. We have developed a set of standards based on what we know about how different forms of dementia affect the brain and based on years of feedback from singers in our Twin Cities Choruses. Here are some of the main features of the songs in our library:
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No longer than four minutes.
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Familiar and/or specifically relevant to people living with dementia.
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Easy to navigate. The music reads from front to back like a book, with no repeats or codas.
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Large font and plenty of white space.
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Reduced clutter in vocal scores. Accompaniment and expressive markings are excluded.
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Limited range for each voice part.
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Lyrics-only option for singers who find sheet music unfamiliar or confusing.
These and the rest of the standards are outlined in our Submission Guidelines.
Why isn't this music free?
We're all about reducing barriers to access, but sometimes there are limits beyond our control. Like copyright!
The Dementia-Friendly Choral Library is a curated collection of songs that are available for purchase on Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. When you purchase a song, a portion of the cost goes back to the original copyright holder.
A few songs in the library are freely available because they are in the public domain (the original copyright has expired) and the arranger has chosen to make the work freely avaialble rather than collect a fee.
You might also wonder why you have to buy a minimum of ten copies of a piece of music. That's a limit set by the online sellers to prevent people from purchasing only one licensed copy and distributing it to an entire chorus.
How can I add an arrangement to the library?
We want to include everyone's dementia-friendly arrangements! And we want to make sure that people who use the library can expect each piece of music to work well for their singers living with dementia.
The first step is to read our Submission Guidelines. These include a checklist to help you ensure that your arrangement will be accepted, and they also outline the entire process.
The Library
Free Downloads
These songs are either in the public domain or made freely available with permission from the copyright holder. Click on a song title to download a free arrangement!
Song Title (Voicing) | Words & Lyrics By |
|---|---|
Always (SATB) | Irving Berlin |
Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two) (2-Part) | Harry Dacre |
Arrangements for Purchase
Click on a song title to view more details, download a sample, and follow links to purchase.
Song Title (Voicing) | Words & Music By |
|---|---|
Ac-Cen-Tchu-Ate the Positive (SATB) | Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer |
Ac-Cen-Tchu-Ate the Positive (Unison) | Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer |
As Time Goes By (2-Part) | Herman Hupfeld |
As Time Goes By (SAB) | Herman Hupfeld |
As Time Goes By (SATB) | Herman Hupfeld |
Bridge Over Troubled Water (2-Part) | Paul Simon |
Bridge Over Troubled Water (SAB) | Paul Simon |
Bridge Over Troubled Water (SATB) | Paul Simon |
Don't Worry, Be Happy (2-Part) | Bobby McFerrin |
Don't Worry, Be Happy (SAB) | Bobby McFerrin |
Don't Worry, Be Happy (SATB) | Bobby McFerrin |
Feed the Birds (2-Part) | Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman |
Feed the Birds (SAB) | Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman |
Happy Together (SAB) | Gary Bonner and Alan Gorda |
Happy Trails (Unison) | Dale Evans |
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (SATB) | Bill Backer, Roquel Davis, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway |
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (SATB) | Traditional Spiritual |
Lean On Me (SATB) | Bill Withers |
Love Is All Around (2-Part) | Sonny Curtis |
Love Is All Around (SAB) | Sonny Curtis |
Love Me Tender (SATB) | Elvis Presley, Vera Matson, and George R. Poulton |
Love Me Tender (Unison) | Elvis Presley, Vera Matson, and George R. Poulton |
Moon River (SAB) | Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini |
Moon River (SATB) | Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini |
Moon River (Unison) | Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini |
Over the Rainbow (2-Part) | E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen |
Over the Rainbow (SAB) | E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen |
Que Sera Sera (2-part) | Jay Livingston and Ray Evans |
Que Sera Sera (SATB) | Jay Livingston and Ray Evans |
Rainbow Connection, The (2-Part) | Paul Williams and Kenneth L. Asher |
Rainbow Connection, The (SAB) | Paul Williams and Kenneth L. Asher |
Rainbow Connection, The (SATB) | Paul Williams and Kenneth L. Asher |
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (SAB) | Hal David, Burt Bacharach |
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (Unison) | Hal David, Burt Bacharach |
Rawhide Theme (SAB) | Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin |
Rawhide Theme (SATB) | Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin |
Sing (Sing a Song) (2-Part) | Joe Raposo |
Singin' in the Rain (2-Part) | Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown |
Singin' in the Rain (SAB) | Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown |
Sound of Music, The (SAB) | Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers |
Sound of Music, The (SATB) | Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers |
Sound of Music, The (Unison) | Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers |
Stand By Me (2-Part) | Ben E. King, Mike Stoller, and Jerry Lieber |
Stand By Me (SAB) | Ben E. King, Mike Stoller, and Jerry Lieber |
Stand By Me (SATB) | Ben E. King, Mike Stoller, and Jerry Lieber |
Where Everybody Knows Your Name (SATB) | Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo |
Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Unison) | Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo |
With a Little Help from My Friends (SAB) | John Lennon and Paul McCartney |
Won't You Be My Neighbor (2-Part) | Fred Rogers |
You Made Me Love You (2-Part) | Joe McCarthy and James Monaco |
You Made Me Love You (SAB) | Joe McCarthy and James Monaco |
You'll Never Walk Alone (SATB) | Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers |
You've Got a Friend (SATB) | Carole King |
You've Got a Friend in Me (2-Part) | Randy Newman |
You've Got a Friend in Me (SAB) | Randy Newman |