"Gospel (genre)" redirects here. For the literary genre, see Gospel. For the African-American musical genre, see Black Gospel music.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gospel music" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(June 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Gospel music
Stylistic origins
Christian hymns
spirituals
Cultural origins
Early 17th century, Scotland
Derivative forms
Country
rhythm and blues
soul
rock and roll
Subgenres
Black gospel
Fusion genres
Christian country music
Regional scenes
Southern gospel
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes. Including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Gospel music is characterized by dominant vocals and strong use of harmony with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century.[1]
Hymns and sacred songs were often performed in a call and response fashion, heavily influenced by ancestral African music. Most of the churches relied on hand-clapping and foot-stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella.[2] The first published use of the term "gospel song" appeared in 1874.
The original gospel songs were written and composed by authors such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane, and Fanny Crosby.[3] Gospel music publishing houses emerged. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music. Following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate.[4]
Black and Southern gospel music are largely responsible for gospel's continued presence in contemporary Christian music, with soul music by far the best-known popular music variant.[5] The styles emerged from the African-American music and American folk music traditions and have evolved in various ways over the years, continuing to form the basis of Black church worship even today. It has also come to be used in churches of various other cultural traditions (especially within Pentecostalism) and, via the gospel choir phenomenon spearheaded by Thomas Dorsey, has become a form of musical devotion worldwide.[6] Southern used all-male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartets. Progressive Southern gospel has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as country gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s. Bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is quite popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora produced in the United Kingdom.
^"Gospel History Timeline". University of Southern California. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
^Jackson, Joyce Marie. "The changing nature of gospel music: A southern case study." African American Review 29.2 (1995): 185. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. October 5, 2010.
^Malone (1984), p. 520
^Cite error: The named reference Malone_523 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^McGuinness, Paul (August 26, 2022). "A Change Is Gonna Come: How Gospel Gave Birth To Soul". uDiscover Music. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
^Burnim, Mellonee (1980). "Gospel Music Research". Black Music Research Journal. 1: 63–70. doi:10.2307/779294. ISSN 0276-3605. JSTOR 779294.
Gospelmusic is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition...
Black gospelmusic, often called gospelmusic or gospel, is the traditional music of the Black diaspora in the United States. It is rooted in the conversion...
Southern gospelmusic is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express...
an accolade by the GospelMusic Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards...
The GospelMusic Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms...
Maverick City Music released their first extended play, Maverick City, Vol. 1, on July 29, 2019. The EP debuted on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums Chart...
traditional gospelmusic genres such as Southern gospel, traditional black gospel, urban contemporary gospel, gospel blues, Christian country music, Celtic...
Christian Music (CCM) and Gospelmusic after determining that there were "two distinct wings to the gospel house: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and...
The GospelMusic Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the GospelMusic Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions...
Christian country music (sometimes marketed as country gospel, gospel country, positive country or inspirational country) is music that is written to express...
genres represented in Detroit music include classical, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, rock, pop, punk, soul, electronic music, and hip hop. The greater Detroit...
themselves in other styles of popular music, beyond the church music of hymns, gospel and Southern gospelmusic that was prevalent in the church at the...
Gospel (Greek: εὐαγγέλιον; Latin: evangelium) originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for...
and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospelmusic and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S...
Traditional gospelmusic is older forms of gospelmusic. Traditional black gospel, which originated among African-Americans in the early 20th century Gospel blues...
family. Gospelmusic became popular in Zimbabwe in the late 1980s. Jonathan Wutawunashe has been described as "Zimbabwe's first real gospel star". Other...
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding African American Christian life, as well as...
the ownership of Universal Music Group. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Capitol CMG is in the Christian Gospelmusic industry. Capitol CMG is a company...
gospel songs. South African gospel started to be popular in the 1990s with artists such as Rebecca Malope and Lundi Tyamara. Classical and art music in...
Hot Gospel Songs is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of gospel songs using the same methodology...
Gospel blues (or holy blues) is a form of blues-based gospelmusic that has been around since the inception of blues music. It combines evangelistic lyrics...
GospelMusic Heritage Month was spearheaded and pioneered by Alvin V. Williams in 2007. GospelMusic Heritage Month in the United States was established...
Global Information