(dance music)
-: Well Hi.
I'm Mr. B.
I'm a musician, artist and teacher,
based in Seattle, Washington.
Maybe you've seen me at an assemble or your school library.
I get to collaborate with some of the finest musicians
in the pacific northwest.
And now you.
♪ Are you ready to go ♪
♪ If you're a duo or a trio or you're ridin' solo ♪
♪ Ridin' solo ♪
♪ Let's start the show ♪ ♪ Go on get on with it ♪
♪ Get your hands clappin' ♪
Instructor: For today's lesson,
you'll need a piece of paper or a notebook.
And a pen or pencil.
Any way to capture your ideas.
-: Well, hi everybody.
Welcome to making music with Mr. B.
I'm Mr. B.
Today we're going to be writing a song
inspired by the word Encouragement.
I have a couple of guests on the show today.
Geoff Larson, who's a wonderful bass player,
and Annie Jantzer, who has the most amazing voice.
I can't wait for you to hear them both.
Let's jump right into it.
Instructor: For this first activity,
you're gonna be mentally and physically active.
Try and keep up with Mr. B
as he claps and slaps a rhythm.
Slappy, clappy, copy.
Slappers.
(slapping)
Clappers.
(clapping)
Copiers.
Let's kick it off.
Ben Ben.
Mo Mo.
Cats.
Boots.
Cats.
Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats.
(speaking rhythmically) (drums beating)
Let's get started.
Ready here we go.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Bump up the tempo.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Stop! (car screeching)
Level 2.
Ready here we go.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
Bing!
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Bump up the tempo.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Stop! (car screeching)
Level 3.
Ready here we go.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Bump up the tempo.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
Bump up the tempo.
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping)
(slapping)
(clapping) Bing!
(electronic boinging)
(laughing)
(shimmering)
-: Low.
(bass sustaining)
And High.
(bass sustaining)
(shimmering)
Today's song is inspired by the word Encouragement.
Whenever I'm writing a song,
I think of words or phrases that jump out at me,
that are connected to the topic I'm writing about.
On the top of your page, write the word Encouragement.
As you listen to our guests,
say what words or phrases comes to their mind.
Write down any that stand out to you.
Or any that you connect to the word Encouragement.
So again, we're writing down words
or phrases that connect to the word Encouragement.
-: In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
-: Essential.
-: Great job.
-: Feels good to give and receive.
-: You can do it.
-: Energizing.
-: Thumbs up.
-: Yay!
-: Practice, practice, practice.
-: Team.
-: I support you.
-: Support.
-: Run Forrest, run.
-: Giving high fives.
Instructor: Wow, thanks.
That's a lot to work with.
Save all the words and phrases you wrote for later.
Now, let's move on to the instrumental that we created.
(shimmering)
-: A bass sounds like this.
(demonstrating bass)
(shimmering)
(bright music)
Instructor: Today's track is inspired
by the word Encouragement.
Our guest instrumentalist is Geoff Larson.
-: Hey there.
My name is Geoff Larson and I play
the upright bass and the guitar.
Instructor: Thanks Geoff.
Geoff came up with four chords
inspired by the word Encouragement.
Here's what he came up with.
(bass sustaining)
To add a little extra flavor today,
I went into the garage to try to capture some cool sounds.
Music is all around us.
You just have to stop and listen.
As always, I put the sounds into my sampler, the MPC Live,
and made them my own.
Here's what I got.
(suitcase slamming)
(plastic rustling)
(stick slamming)
(balls knocking)
Once I got all the sounds,
I chopped them up and put them into my sampler.
And I started to play with a rhythm that sounded like this.
(rhythm playing)
I thought that sounded cool, so I added this sound.
(balls knocking)
And came up with a track that sounded like this.
(bright rhythmic music)
Your turn now.
Write down words or phrases that you think of
when you hear the word Encouragement.
These will become your lyrics
when you sing me your portion of the song.
There's no right or wrong answers,
so you can't get this right, and you can't get this wrong.
Whatever you say is just perfect.
I'll give you about one minute to write something down.
Remember, there's no right or wrong answers.
Anything that you get down will be just perfect.
Just about 10 seconds left.
Get those ideas down so you have something to look at
when it's your turn to sing.
I sure wish I could see what you're writing on your paper.
I bet you have some awesome stuff.
We're about to perform the song, so get ready, here we go.
Aw, man.
Stuck inside.
Raining and gray out.
What am I gonna do?
♪ I pick up a book and start ♪
♪ Flipping through the pages ♪
♪ Get lost in the lines ♪
♪ Brighten up some of the grayness ♪
♪ Call up the homie now ♪
♪ I'm feelin' much better ♪
♪ Asked her to rock the track so ♪
♪ Now I'll let her ♪
♪ Go 'head ♪
♪ Oh these days ♪
♪ Spent within ♪
♪ I reach out ♪
♪ And touch your hand ♪
♪ Giving high fives ♪
♪ From my windowpane ♪
♪ Energize ♪
♪ Supporting all my friends ♪
(bright energetic music continues)
♪ Oh these days ♪
♪ Spent within ♪
♪ I reach out ♪
♪ And touch your hand ♪
♪ Giving high fives ♪
♪ From my windowpane ♪
♪ Energize ♪
♪ Supporting all my friends ♪
(bright energetic music continues)
-: Thanks so much for joining us
on this musical journey today.
If you'd like to spend more time making music with Mr. B,
you can find me at learningwithstyle.com.
That's learningwithstyle.com.
I host lessons every week
and would love it if you could join me.
Thanks again.