Healing Through Guitars

"Music can heal the wounds which medicine cannot touch."

-Debasish Mridha, M.D.

Join Healing Through Guitars where kindness is the good kind of contagious!

Healing Through Guitars brings live music to seniors, veterans, and community members to create connection, reduce loneliness, and lift spirits. As Mary Poppins once said, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” and music has a way of doing the same. My name is Caroline Rafferty, and I am a junior at Burlingame High School. I co-founded Healing Through Guitars with my sister, Ella Rafferty, to share the fun that live music can bring. When I’m not volunteering or learning new songs (I take requests!), I play tennis and enjoy practicing my French and Italian. Although my sister has since moved away, she still joins the fun whenever she is in town, and we occasionally perform together on our guitars.

Burlingame Villa

Set List:

1. Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
2. Surfin' U.S.A. - Beach Boys
3. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
4. Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley
5. Lola - Kinks
6. Take Me Home Country Roads - John Denver
7. I'll Be There for You - The Rembrandts
8. All My Loving - The Beatles
9. Take a Chance on Me - ABBA
10. Imagine - John Lennon
11. Paint it Black - Rolling Stones
12. Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
13. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
14. Can't Help Falling in Love with You - Elvis Presley
15. Spoon Full of Sugar - Julie Andrews

16. Can Can-Jacques Offenbach
17. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
18. Lips are Sealed - GoGos
19. California Girls - Beach Boys
20. Dancing Queen - ABBA
21. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
22. Every Breath You Take - Police
23. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
24. Let it Be - The Beatles
25. Shake it Off - Taylor Swift
26. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
27. Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
28. Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Franki Valli
29. True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
30. Malagueña-Ernesto Lecuona

"Malaguena"

"Country Roads"

Schedule a Visit or Volunteer

Contact below to schedule a visit to a senior home or residence or join us in volunteering, it's a lot of fun! All instruments welcome.

Availability :

Wednesdays 5-8

Saturdays 8-3

Sundays 12-4

Cities: San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont and Redwood City

Power of Music

Exciting new research shows that music has the power to heal. Music therapy is now being used to treat asthma, Alzheimer's disease, depression and other illnesses. Music also helps reduce stress and anxiety. In fact, live music is being used in some oncology waiting rooms as a way to create a calming environment for patients.

https://www.pbs.org/video/njtvnews-music-helps-bring-back-memories-elders-dementia/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/well/music-therapy-treatment-stress.html