 |
| Gospel Music |
First of all, gospel music is usually believed to be religious music but that is not always true. It does not always relate to a specific religion, though it does have a Christian base or background. It is usually interpretative, and its performance can be dependent on the musician. Gospel is founded mostly by African roots. African music was traditionally sung about for basic principles of life including, war, love/sexuality, religious and agricultural and was not secular. Secular music was a foreign concept to Africans and existed mainly in European countries. This is why gospel is typically spiritual but not pertaining to a specific religion. This makes gospel more universal as well.
Traditional Background
As mentioned before, traditional gospel music relates to the basic principles of life relating to food, love, war and hunting. These were all subject matters that African tribes would deal with on a day to day basis. In this way, traditional gospel is a lot like music of the Native American tribes. On a more technical note, traditional gospel musicians play a lot of major, minor, and diminished triads. There is also a huge reliance on the primary chords. Like any genre of music, it is not for everyone. It may sound basic or simple to some but to others, it may be a wonderfully peaceful or calming sound. Much of the music within this genre was developed during the slave era as well. It can be classified as traditional gospel music. To learn a traditional style you can visit sites like.
Contemporary
Contemporary gospel can be nicknamed as urban style music and is believed to either have taken over the gospel music world or in the process of taking over. The point of this style is to actually sound different and try to push the boundaries and get away with it. This style of music combines parts of rhythm, blues, jazz, traditional gospel to create its unique sound. The chords are much more complex and can be doubled or mixed with other notes. This style is not easily categorized by a textbook.
Gospel music is often left to interpretation and can be taught in a variety of ways. Once you have found the best studio for you to learn your musical instrument at, explore the many types and have fun!
