• Grade: Fourth
• Origin: USA – Civil Rights Song
• Key: C Major
• Time: 4/4
• Form: through composed
• Rhythm: intermediate: | ta ta ta ta | ta/ ti ta/a | ta/a ta/a | ta/a ta-ta-ta| triplet syncopation, | ta/a ta ta | ta/a/a/a | ta (ta) (ta/a) |
• Pitches: intermediate: do re mi fa so la ti do re
• Intervals: beginners: mi/so (m3), re\ti (m3), so\do (P5), do/fa (P4)
• Musical Elements: notes: whole, half, dotted quarter, quarter, eighth; rest: half, quarter; triplet, repeating melodic rhythms, syncopation
• Key Words: USA history, African American history, USA holiday: Martin Luther King’s Birthday, civil rights movement, protest song, freedom song, civil rights marching song, USA geography; Selma, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia; overcome, shall, today, deep, heart, believe, hand in hand, not afraid

The beginning of “We Shall Over Come” is rooted in the Catholic Hymn “O sanctissima” which would have been known by slaves attending maritime services where it was sung as the “Mariner’s Hymn.”

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