Tiffany Halsell EDU P&L 863 African American Music History: From Spirituals to Gospel

Overview The purpose of this unit is to provide an opportunity for students to examine Negro spirituals and gospel music to develop the ability to recognize each style and the role each form of music has played in the lives of African Americans. This unit will involve a study of the development of spirituals and gospel music from historical perspective along with activities to support the listed objectives. This unit provides a list of resources and activities that can be used to personalize the unit for use within any classroom in grades

K-12. Hands-on activities, games, take home and in-class projects along with suggested readings are included as resources.

Course Objectives:

1. Explain the creation of spirituals. (Who, when, why)

2. Discuss messages found in spiritual songs.

3. Explain the term “gospel music”.

4. Differentiate between spiritual and gospel music styles.

5. Discuss messages found in gospel songs.

6. Identify instruments used when performing spiritual songs.

7. Identify instruments used when performing gospel songs.

8. Explain the impact of assimilation on spirituals.

9. List the names of three spirituals.

10. List the names of three gospel songs.

1 Tiffany Halsell EDU P&L 863 African American Music History: From Spirituals to Gospel

People often confuse Negro spirituals with traditional gospel music because both are

related to religious worship in the black community and few have had the opportunity to

learn the difference. What a world of difference awaits the student who is exposed to this

unit of study. Spirituals were the precursor of traditional gospel music and were

considered black folk songs. Although popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s,

spirituals lost their popularity once emancipation occurred and more ex-slaves moved north and attempted integration with Whites. Former slaves and other blacks were embarrassed by the humble songs and words of the spirituals and did not want whites using them in jest, as they had done with the minstrel shows. In the early 1870s the Fisk

Jubilee Singers from Fisk University in Nashville, TN began touring the world singing the spirituals as a means to raise money for the college. The success of their tours sparked a new revival of the spirituals and launched several more college groups. Some people argued that the spirituals that were sung by Fisk Jubilee Singers were watered down and not performed in the manner they were written, to appease the white crowds. The disagreements occurred because the original spirituals were sung by slaves with a bend towards improvisation and with a spirit of despair, while the performances by the non- slaves (which included the Fisk Jubilee Singers and other black performers) were arranged with European musically influence with little room for improvisation. In the early 1900s interest in spirituals began to wane as a new style of music was created:

Gospel.

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There are major three periods in gospel music history: PreGospel 1900-1920;

Traditional 1930-1969; and Contemporary 1969-present. These periods were marked by distinct differences in the musical composition with the PreGospel period dominated by the compositions of Charles Albert Tindley and Charles Price Jones and represented by gospel hymns. The Traditional or Classic gospel period was dominated by Baptists and the compositions of Thomas A. Dorsey. The Contemporary or Modern period was started in 1969 by Edwin Hawkins recording ‘Oh Happy Day” in a new arrangements and having it played on popular music stations. For purposes of our unit we will study

PreGospel and Traditional periods and their development from spirituals.

Slaves were brought into America and stripped of their religion and anything related to Africa by Whites with the idea that if slaves were forbidden to hold onto any reminders of their homeland they would be more obedient, less likely to rebel and easier to indoctrinate into the American way of life. Although slaves were stripped of all outward

African reminders they still retained some customs from their homeland. One of these customs was the use of song and rhythm as a means of expression. As a result of

Christianity being forced upon the slaves, some developed a deep religious conviction and belief in Jesus because they found similarities in their suffering and his. Some slaves found comfort in the European hymns, primarily the words in the hymns. These hymns were the basis for the creation of spirituals.

Spirituals were created by slaves in America as a result of the slave experience and were used to communicate a variety of things but often had their foundation in the stories

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of the Bible. Slaves adapted the words to fit their condition, added African rhythm and beats to the words and thus the creation of Negro spirituals. Slave owners had outlawed drums on many plantations for fear that the drums would be used to signal rebellion and out of lack of understanding the African customs of drumming; as a result slaves used their feet and bodies as instruments to provide accompaniment to their spirituals.

Sometimes pots, pans and spoons were used if they were available but the simplicity of the song, unadorned by instrumentation is what made the spirituals unique. Spirituals were created initially to reflect the slaves’ identification with African culture but morphed into expressing new found religious beliefs and a deep longing for freedom. The songs were used to express the victimization of slavery but the belief the Jesus was watching over the slaves and soon they would all be free, either on earth or in Heaven.

Slaves sang in the fields as they worked, they sang after regular church services and in secret gatherings away from their masters. Although the songs may have had a happy tune, the slaves were not happy with their lives but used songs as a way to cope and provide some type of relief from their long, hard days. The songs were used to convey messages amongst the slaves and to strengthen community ties. The songs created often used a technique named “call and response” where a song leader sings a line and the audience responds. Popular spirituals include, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, “Kum Ba Ya”, “Wade in the Water”, and “Steal Away to Jesus”. Some of these spirituals have been reworked into gospel songs adding musical accompaniment and different arrangements to suit the period.

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Different history books will tell you different origins of black gospel music but most agree on two things: one, gospel hymns were first composed by Charles Albert Tindley and were the immediate transitions from spirituals to gospel music; and two, Thomas

Dorsey changed Tindley’s hymns into what was known as Traditional gospel by blending

Tindley’s hymns, blues and Holiness church instrumentation. Gospel songs written by

Tindley were not syncopated but based upon European hymns. The songs avoided the third and seventh scale degrees to allow for improvisation but did include the call and response technique found in spirituals. Two other key differences in Tindley’s songs as compared to spirituals were the absence of black dialect and the inclusion of musical instruments others than drums. Dorsey changed Tindley’s hymns into gospel songs by adding in blues rhythmic styles and using a solo artist as opposed to a group; the artist was usually accompanied by a harmonica, guitar or piano. Mahalia Jackson and Rosetta

Tharpe are two singers who performed Dorsey’s style of gospel. During the 1920s and

1930s gospel quartets became popular which included a cappella singing and rhythmic hand clapping along with Dorsey’s song arrangements. The rise in the popularity of traditional gospel music continued until 1969 when Contemporary gospel took over.

Many black churches continue to use Traditional gospel songs and arrangements in during their services.

There is much to discover about the history of black music in reference to spirituals and the evolution of black gospel music. The information presented here should

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provide background data and when used in conjunction with the activities offer unlimited opportunities for further discovery. It would be helpful to offer students the opportunity to listen to both styles of music to develop their appreciation for the differences. This unit may also be used as an introduction to a study of modern gospel music by using sources in the bibliography.

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