Healthy aging is influenced by social and physical activities in which older adults participate. Musical activities such as singing, listening to music, and/or playing instruments may serve as an accessible and low cost activity to provide benefits to older adult health. The purpose of the parent study was to learn older adults’ insights about music and singing. Informants were recruited from an independent-living retirement community in the Puget Sound. Four resident focus groups were conducted with 20 open-ended questions with topics related to their first images of singing, how do they feel when they sing, and their insights of group-singing. The purpose of this study is to describe the lessons learned in assisting with recruitment, data collection and analysis of data from the parent study. Recruitment efforts varied and included flyers distributed to residential units, telephone calls, announcements before residential meetings, and word of mouth. Running focus groups required training of all research staff, adequate personnel to lead and take notes at the focus group, and adherence to IRB regulations. Analysis of qualitative data required training for the identification of themes. A model was developed and included positive and negative memories from structured and unstructured childhood experiences such as their mothers singing to them, participation in music class, and religious services. Psychosocial, cognitive, and physiological outcomes were identified from their past and current musical experiences, and are supported by the literature. Maintaining good communication and collaboration with the staff in the community was a crucial factor of the successful recruitment and arrangement for the focus groups. The findings of working in collaborative teams through discussion, negotiation, and brainstorming for processing the information, and establishing a community partnership have important implications for future health science research that is conducted in the community setting.