The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy using songs and mind maps on the cognitive function of the elderly with dementia in a nursing home. The subjects of this study were selected from residents of the D senior care center nursing home in Daejeon, who were over 65 years old and whose cognitive function test scored between 10 and 23. Of the 21 elderly members with dementia chosen, 10 were randomly assigned to an experimental group and 11 to a control group. The experimental group participated in the music therapy program for 50-minute twice a week, 16 sessions in total. In order to measure the effects of this music therapy program, pre- and post- measurements were applied by using the MMSE-K scale, which enabled analysis of any possible effects. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in cognitive function between the experimental group and the control group. Besides understanding and judgment, both of which were elements of the five cognitive function categories, the other categories also showed positive results. For reality orientation and memory scores, the experimental group showed a statistically significant higher score compared to the control group. For attention span and calculation, however, the experimental group improved compared to the control group but it was not statistically significant. In language areas the experimental group demonstrated no difference.