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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

Gibraltar

A cross-curricular lesson for Middle School, Secondary School, High School, KS3 children, with a 3-part song, a music video, poetry analysis and writing, music analysis and composition, history, documentary/film-making and more.

"Gibraltar, Our Homeland"
Music video by Paula Downes, words and music by Andrew Downes.

The Poem
My soul lies deep in Gibraltar,
The rock, surrounded by water.
Where people prosper in plenty,
And live in freedom and peace.

Our souls lie deep in Gibraltar,
Our rock, surrounded by water.
Where people prosper in plenty,
And live in freedom and peace.

Our island home is rich in history,
Her boundaries prized by nations o-er the sea.
We, love Gibraltar, our homeland,
Our isle of freedom and peace.

When I sail over the water,
I long for my love, Gibraltar.
And when my ship reaches home,
I thank my God for my land.

When we sail over the water,
We long for our love, Gibraltar.
And when our ship reaches home,
We thank our God for our land.

Our rock stood firm through every war and strife,
For peace we yearn, for freedom more than life.
Our souls lie deep in Gibraltar,
The isle of freedom and peace.

Poetry Background
'Our island home is rich in history,
Her boundaries prized by nations o-er the sea.'
'Our rock stood firm through every war and strife'. 

The history of Gibraltar includes the discovery of the first ever adult Neanderthal skull, as well as numerous wars leading to the rule of the Moors, the Spanish, and the British amongst others. See the videos below to learn more.

Timeline Task
Use the internet to help you to draw a timeline of Gibraltar's historical events.

Documentary Task
Create a documentary video about Gibraltar. You can cover several points in history or just choose one, or you could create a travel guide.

Poetry Analysis
Look for nouns, adjectives, rhyming words and repetition. 

Poetry Writing
Write your own poem about Gibraltar, choosing your own subject. It could be a particular building or historical event. Decide who you are and how you are feeling.

Music Analysis and Composition
This song is in the pentatonic mode. The melody and harmonies are taken from just five notes (Bb, C, Eb, F, G ) The easiest transposition of the pentatonic mode to find is all the black notes on the keyboard. Compose a melody using these notes and ask some friends to improvise some harmonies just using the black keys.

For more examples of pieces in the pentatonic mode, visit our Modes page.

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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

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