Definition

Noun: 1. A genre of religious folk music: Gospel singing is a style of a cappella (unaccompanied) vocal music that originated with African American slaves in the United States. It is characterized by powerful, emotive delivery and often features a call-and-response structure between a lead singer and a choir. This music has been profoundly influential on other genres of popular music, especially soul.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The church service was filled with the powerful sound of gospel singing.
  • She grew up listening to and performing traditional gospel singing.
  • The history of gospel singing is deeply connected to the African American spiritual tradition.

Advanced Usage

• "to perform gospel singing": to sing in this specific musical style.
  • The choir traveled nationally to perform gospel singing.
• "the tradition of gospel singing": referring to the historical and cultural practice of this music.
  • He is a scholar studying the tradition of gospel singing in the American South.

Variants and Related Words

• Gospel (n): Often used as a shorter form to refer to the genre of gospel music, which can include instrumental accompaniment. "Gospel singing" specifically emphasizes the vocal, a cappella origins.
  • She loves listening to gospel.
• Gospel music (n): A more common, general term for the genre, encompassing both a cappella and accompanied forms.
  • The festival featured many great gospel music artists.

Synonyms

• Spirituals (n): Religious folk songs of African American origin, which are the direct precursors to gospel music. Spirituals are often considered an earlier, closely related form.
• A cappella (adj/n): Music performed without instrumental accompaniment. This describes a key characteristic of traditional gospel singing.

Related Phrases

• Call and response (n): A musical pattern where a lead singer's phrase (the call) is answered by a group (the response). This is a defining structural feature of gospel singing.
  • The call and response in that song made the performance very energetic.

Noun

1. folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)