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This post is written by Tanner Bergersen, one of our practica students from the University of Minnesota practica student.

The Disney classic Jungle Book has many friendly sing-along songs, including “I Wanna Be Like You”. In this scene the movie show’s us how the ‘king of the swingers’ wants to be like the boy. The goal of this song was to imitate the gross-motor movements from a specific person.

The song starts with a generic version of the chorus to get the kids to play the shakers:

(capo 2)

C                                          A7

Ooo Oo Oo I wanna be like you

D7                                      G7                       C                      (G7)

I wanna shake like you, shake like you too

C                                                              A7

You see its true, I wanna shake like you

D7                                               G7                             C                    G7

I wanna shake my shaker, shake my shaker like you……….Stop! (mute string)

One of the students is then given the opportunity to choose how they want the class to play the shaker, whether it be tap, rub, up high, down low, on the ground.

Here is an example of the modified lyrics for another action:

Ooo Oo Oo I wanna be like you

I wanna Tap my feet, tap my feet like you

You see its true, I wanna tap like you

I wanna Tap my feet, tap my feet like you

The activity focuses on engagement, with the music being a reinforcement to follow directions. This song is great for music therapy students to practice the ‘7’ chords on guitar, giving the music a bit more color.

Here is a link to “I Wanna Be Like You”