Gospel Music for The General Music Classroom

1. Gospel Music for The General MusicClassroom Dr. Donna M. Cox University of Dayton Department of Music Minnesota Music Education Association In-service, February 15, 2008 9:00 a.m. Donna.Cox@notes.udayton.edu www.academic.udayton.edu/donnacox

2. Overview of the session • What is gospel music? • What elements make gospel music “gospel?” • Three areas of aesthetic significance in the performance of black music • We explore rhythm & sing

3. What is gospel music ? • Rooted in the blues - born in northern urban America vs. southern rural America of the spiritual • Post Civil War - created by a people in different circumstances than black people in pre-war American (freed people instead of slaves). Represents a recapturing of / celebration of their roots. Two distinct churches developed - those emulating white worship and spurning the music and distinctively African nature of the worship services and those who drew into culture for strength - (high church/low church) • Huge umbrella - a form of gospel music to parallel most popular musics. From its inception there has been a constant influence back and forth • Both a repertoire of music and a style of singing - can be appropriated from a hymn or spiritual or can be a new composition ex. Blessed Assurance

4. Gospel 2 • Oral transmission - written score is often just a skeleton • Sacred text separates it from the secular counterpart • Accompanied by drums, organ (Hammond with Leslie Speaker), keyboards, piano, bass, guitar, tambourine, hand claps, foot stomping etc.

5. Gospel • Often uses call and response - between choir/solo, solo/piano, choir/audience • Term “gospel” coined by Thomas A. Dorsey in the 1920s

6. 3 aspects of gospel music • Musical aspects timbre instrumentation improvisation - textual, melodic, rhythmic form rhythm • Cultural aspects audience participation full body participation • Religious aspects proclamation of the Word

7. Three Areas of Aesthetic Significancein African American music • Style of Delivery • Mechanics of Delivery • Sound Quality

8. Style of Deliveryphysical mode of presentation, expresses vitality • Body movements • Clothing within the performance context • Physical expressions intense emotions, total physical involvement (clapping, swaying or rocking)

9. Sound Quality - timbre as the primary distinguishing feature • Translate everyday life into sound • Manipulation of timbre, texture • Hollering, raspy, lyrical, grunts, slides etc

10. Mechanics of Delivery • Audience expectations • Time manipulated • Density of textures - layering • Pitch altered

11. Gospel music as transformative • Wide range of vocal techniques and coloring to make music emotionally compelling • Expressive range is preferred over tonal purity • Individual creativity highlighted through improvisation/spontaneous creation • Musicians seek to reach listeners on an immediate emotional level • Gospel singers try to close gap between performers and listeners • Essence of the music is participatory- an African retention

12. Sample artists • Kirk Franklin • Israel Houghton • Fred Hammond • Kurt Carr • John P. Kee

13. Let’s have some fun! Kirk Franklin My Desire My desire is to please you To be more and more like you Jesus Each and every day I lift my hands and say I want to be more like you I give you my heart, take me in your arms and hold me Jesus I give you my life. I know that you can mend each broken pieces I’m totally, totally, totally committed to you.

14. Conducting gospel music – an overview of some of the standard signals useful in conducting gospel music.