The Gospel Experience

 

     Gospel music runs deeply in the traditions of the African American church. During the late 1800s, African American churches started moving different styles of music in their worship services, such as African American spirituals, hymns, and sacred songs. Music that was sung at church was led by handclapping and foot-stomping. What makes the gospel music tradition so special would be the church choir. A church choir often contains members from the church who volunteer to sing for church services. Choir members can be easily spotted out from the rest of the church because they normally will all have the same color or be dressed in uniforms, which are also called “choir robes”.

Mississippi Mass Choir In their "choir robes".
 

    In the late 1930s gospel music continued to thrive. Four styles of gospel music began to emerge such as Quartet style, Traditional Gospel, Contemporary Gospel and Praise and Worship. The quartet style of gospel music is when a few number of male singers sing music together with stiff harmonies. Traditional gospel music normally features a basic sound suited for singing with a choir. Contemporary gospel emphasizes more on solo artists that hardly ever sing with a choir. Paise and Worship is a mixture of both contemporary and traditional gospel styles, in that a praise leader has a small group of singers to help lead the church service into singing gospel music.

    
There were several major Gospel artists who were really popular around this time period. Thomas A. Dorsey was an African American musician, composer, and a Christian. He was known as the “Father of Gospel Music '', and he began working for Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. He was a former jazz pianist and he also worked with a few famous players such as Ma Rainey and Hudson Tamp Red Whitaker. Dorsey created his own style of Gospel music which was called “gospel blues”. With the creation of gospel blues, Dorsey was able to enhance his study of blues and jazz with traditional gospel music. Another pioneer of gospel music is Charles Albert Tindley. Tindley was a Philadelphia minister who composed hymns based on negro spirituals, adding instrumental accompainments, and etc. He was known as the “Godfather of Gospel” who inspired others such as Thomas Dorsey to begin writing religious music. In the early 1900s Tindley was appointed pastor of the Calvary Methodist Church.  Tindley wrote 47 hymns, while some of them are protected by US copyright laws. The lyrics in Tindleys songs are a reflection of the struggles African Americans faced during that time. Tindley wrote in his “Book of Sermons” in 1932, ‘We are often destitute of the things that life demands: Want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands We are trusting in the Lord and according to his Word We’ll understand it better by and by”. The last artist I will be talking about is Mahalia Jackson. Jackson was raised in a strict religious household. Her father’s family had several entertainers, but Mahalia was forced to find her own musical activities to sing in the church. When Jackson was 16, she went to Chicago and joined the Greater Salem Baptist Church choir where her incredible voice led her choosing to become a soloist. In the early 1900s Jackson first grabbed the public attention when she joined in a cross-country gospel tour singing such songs as “ He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” which is one of my favorite gospel songs and she also sang “ I Can Put My Trust in Jesus”. Jackson refused to sing anything but religious songs and she also refused to sing at places she felt was inappropriate.  

"Take My Hand, Precious lord" By: Thomas A. Dorsey

    

A Picture of Mahalia Jackson Singing

There are a variety of instruments used to create gospel music. Gospel music has a strong percussion background. Some of the instruments that are used in gospel music are the tambourine, organ, piano, drums and bass guitar. The organ is just like a piano but it uses its pipes inside to create a large range of different notes. The piano was also a key instrument used to create gospel music. Pianos were used in the church to go along with a soloist who would be backed up by the choir. Another key instrument that used to create gospel music would be the drums. With gospel music being a rhythm heavy genre the drums played a key role in giving the music a strong and steady beat. Africa has deep connections that connect gospel to other forms of music. Drums are stated to be the most important part of musical performances . The last instrument I will be talking about that is a part of creating gospel music is the bass guitar. The bass guitar is used in the same way the drums are used to create a strong rhythm. Hand clapping and foot stomping are also considered instruments because this would help with percussion background.

A picture of a drum set that will be used in the church

    The last thing I'm going to talk about in this blog is my favorite gospel artist and favorite songs by them. The first artist I'm going to talk about is Deitrick Haddon. Haddon is a pastor, song writer, producer and singer. He is known for his contemporary gospel music. My favorite song by him would be “He’s Able”. This is my favorite song because he talks about not giving up on God. My second artist I will be talking about is Jada Redmond. Jada is a close friend to me, we grew up together running track and we went to the same church. My favorite song by Jada would be “ Back to the Basics”. In this song she talks about going back to when she first found god and what it means to be an Christian.

" Deitrick Haddon He's Able"

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mahalia Jackson". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Jan. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahalia-Jackson. Accessed 29 March 2022

Booth, Lasaundra. “Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers.” Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers, https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-gospel-music-definition-history-artists.html. 

Twinkl.com, https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/gospel-music.