Gospel music

"Gospel is first and foremost a direct descendent of spirituals. What Thomas Dorsey and his friends kept as the defining attributes of gospel music - the call-and-response format, ample room for improvisation, rhythm, frequent use of the flatted seventh and third in melodies - remain true even today. The elements introduced by later musical forms, such as close harmonies, a sense of professionalism , showmanship, the regular use of an AAB rhyming scheme, and a pronounce beat all endure, but are tacked on the spine of the original spirituals, which are for the most part irrevocably linked to their African forebears". (People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music, Robert Darden, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004) Four queries commonly asked regarding gospel music are "What is it?", "When did it start?", "How did it evolve?" and "What are the various gospel styles?" Here may be a compilation that tries to answer these queries looking back at the history of musical style, African roots, African Yankee slavery, gospel music's evolution, seminal figures of the gospel musical genre, and at last a précis of gospel music designs up to the current day.…

Developed and built by, Rev. James Cleveland, “the Gospel Music Workshop of America” remains outstanding for the gifted gospel music we love to listen to today. Music is the primary purpose of the organization. The Gospel Music of America was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. In March of 1967, an effort to brainstorm his ideas he came together with friends, producing a venue for gospel music presentations. Furthermore, The Gospel Music Workshop of America is a Christian group. Rev. Cleveland…

Throughout time Gospel music has evolved tremendously. In the past there was not a wide variety of Gospel music to choose from but now there are a numerous amount of choices for everyone to enjoy. For example, Christian Rap, Adult Contemporary, and Christian Rock are some very popular genres of Christian music. Gospel music has always been a very popular type of music listened to all over the world. Now that there is such a broad amount of chooses, the popularity has just soared. One choice to…

Music Culture In a world full of music, I find that I am most grounded culturally in gospel music. Having been raised in a Southern Baptist church, I was indoctrinated into the use of gospel “tales”, also known as hymns, to help people of faith be reminded of what we believe in, to praise the God we worship, and to help us know about the promises he has made to us. Songs written through the ages about Christianity most often were heartfelt praises, but there were also many that were written as…

Gospel music transformed rhythm and blues in the 1950's because of the influence it had in the 1940s. Gospel music was a type of outsider music. It came around in the early part of the 1930s and it made people feel better about themselves. There were many positives things that were told when people sang gospel music. It focused on the positive things in peoples lives. Gospel music influenced some R&B styles of music with styles such as call and response. One particular style that was developed…

The quiet hum of the gospel music lulled me as I rode to church in the backseat of my mother's van, just like every other Wednesday night. The soft chords of the hymn blended with the sound of the van so well that it seemed manufactured with the motor itself and as we neared the church I had no idea that this would be no ordinary night. It was a night that would change my perspective completely and little did I know that after tonight, even dull ordinary moments like these would, in my eyes, be…

“With great power comes great responsibility” being the oldest of nine I have an abundance of both responsibility and expectations to uphold. One thing that was stressed was the importance of giving back to those that come after me. Over the last three years I have done many things that help those around and in my community. One of the most recent events was during the summer during “Gospel Music Workshop of America”. The next event occurred after that was also in the summer in Brooklyn. The…

Mahalia Jackson once said, “Blues are the song of despair, but gospel songs are the songs of hope.” Jackson will forever be known as the Gospel Queen, singing gospel songs. With her powerful and hopeful voice, she could light up a fire in people’s spirits. Born on October 26, 1911 in New Orleans, Jackson lived a very poor life. Living in a dilapidated house, she had to earn her way into this world. Jackson grew to be a major activist of the civil rights movement. She worked with the illustrious…

Uplifting Blues The feeling is well known, the pain of losing a loved one, the guilt and constant self-questioning of ourselves after their soul leaves this world, the mourning that no amount of advice or helping hands can rid, the acceptance that they are really gone, and that they are in a better place now. That feeling is exemplified in “The Hospital Blues You Gave to Me” by The Gospel Youth. The singer and songwriter Sam Little tells a story through his lyrics and makes the piece easily…

One of the greatest revolutions is Technology that can act as a tool to help spread the Gospel. In the video “Billy Graham: Technology, faith, and human shortcomings”, Billy Graham said about the three problems that David saw: human of evil, the problem of human’s suffering, and death. After I watched the video, I thought that even though sometimes, the technology used in the wrong ways, it is definitely improving the quality of our life. Also, if we utilize technology for spreading the Gospel…