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Gospel

Gospel music has its roots in both Negro spirituals and European hymns. In the late 1800s, African American churches began fusing various musical styles, including spirituals, hymns, and sacred songs, typically accompanied by hand clapping and foot stomping. Gospel music was advanced in the 1930s by Thomas Dorsey, known as the "Father of Gospel Music," who created a new style called gospel blues that blended blues and jazz with traditional gospel. At the heart of gospel music tradition was the church choir, consisting of volunteer singers from the congregation who would dress in robes and follow a call-and-response format.

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179 views3 pages

Gospel

Gospel music has its roots in both Negro spirituals and European hymns. In the late 1800s, African American churches began fusing various musical styles, including spirituals, hymns, and sacred songs, typically accompanied by hand clapping and foot stomping. Gospel music was advanced in the 1930s by Thomas Dorsey, known as the "Father of Gospel Music," who created a new style called gospel blues that blended blues and jazz with traditional gospel. At the heart of gospel music tradition was the church choir, consisting of volunteer singers from the congregation who would dress in robes and follow a call-and-response format.

Uploaded by

Juan Gomez
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Gospel Music Characteristics

By Stephen Saylor ; Updated September 15, 2017

Gospel music has been an important part of the spiritual life of the church since the
late 1800s. It has its roots in both Negro spirituals and traditional church hymns that
came over from Europe. Revivalists of the turn of the century employed gospel music
to stir emotions and gain converts.

Lyrics
Gospel music lyrics are simple and clear to communicate the message of God's love
and forgiveness expressed through the death of Christ on the cross. The message
is expressed sometimes from an experiential "I" and "my" perspective and
sometimes from a "we" and "thou" angle (community-oriented traditional hymns).

Instruments
Some instruments commonly heard in Gospel music are the piano, organ, guitar,
bass guitar, drums, tambourines, keyboard, violin, and brass horns. The instruments
vary according to the sub-genre of gospel music being played. The banjo is found
commonly in blue-grass country-style gospel. The guitar and drums are the main
source of sound in gospel rock.

Gospel Rhythms
Black gospel music is very rhythmic and involves frequent clapping to the beat of the
song. Repetitious lyrics and rhythm patterns are often employed to make
memorization of the lyrical content easier. One such song, says "Soon and very
soon, we are going to see the King, Soon and very soon we are going to see the
King" repeatedly and finishes with "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we are going to see the
King." This repetitious rhythm is both didactic and emotional.

Gospel Performers
Gospel music is presented by a variety of performers. The soloist is often employed
to deliver a gospel song as an invitational tune at the end of a service. Duets are
used on occasion to inspire the congregation with a heartfelt message. Gospel trios
and quartets, such as the Gaither Trio and the Imperials, have produced many
gospel classics. Choirs have also presented gospel tunes in churches and in
concerts to inspire the faith of many.

Sub-Genres
Gospel music encompasses many sub-genres and styles. The traditional black
gospel choir or soloist is definitely part of what gospel music is but not the whole
picture. There are Country gospel singers whose inspirational tunes can be heard
on country and Christian radio. Contemporary Christian music and Christian/gospel
rock have brought the gospel message to mainstream audiences with singers like
Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Petra.

History
Gospel music is deeply rooted in the rich traditions of the African-American church. During the
late 1800s, African-American churches in the southern United States started fusing various
styles of music into their worship services, including African-American spirituals, hymns, and
sacred songs. Such music was primarily sung at church and accompanied by hand-clapping and
foot-stomping.
At the heart of the gospel music tradition was the use of a choir. The church choir consisted of a
group of volunteer singers from the church congregation. Choir members could easily be
distinguished from the rest of the congregation because they normally dressed in uniforms, which
were choir robes. This might be something you remember from various films like The Blues
Brothers, Sister Act 2, or Norbit. The types of music sung by the gospel choir followed the call-
and-response format similar to that used in traditional hymns and sacred songs.
The traditional structure of gospel music changed in the late 1930s when Thomas A. Dorsey,
who became known as the 'Father of Gospel Music,' began working for Pilgrim Baptist Church
in Chicago, Illinois. Dorsey was a former jazz pianist and composer who had worked with famous
players such as Ma Rainey and Hudson Tamp Red Whitaker. Dorsey created a new style of
gospel music called gospel blues, which infused his study of blues and jazz with traditional
gospel music. It was initially rejected; however, by the end of the 1930s, gospel blues won over
acceptance as the new form of traditional gospel.

Spirituals
The spirituals are the most powerful expression of the Africans merging of
Christian beliefs with the needs of the enslaved and the music traditions
of Africa. Although the message of Christ’s resurrection and the afterlife
were always present in the spirituals, the story of the enslaved Israelites
and their quest for the seemingly elusive Canaan had a special
significance for enslaved Africans, who equated themselves with God’s
chosen people. The enslaved Africans brought extra power to the Biblical
text by “making it live.”

Strong on call and response, highly repetitive, and given to high levels of
improvisation, spirituals expressed the collective joy, pain and hopes of
African Americans during the period of enslavement.

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