Gospel Music Appeals to All

Music has a universal language and it can express any emotion and feeling. Music says different things for different people, but the universally acknowledged thing is that music can express anything. Gospel music is a kind of music that is traditionally been sung to express faith, devotion and praise to god. The genre of gospel music is characterized by dominant vocals and strong use of harmony of a religious nature. Gospel music is more particular to Christianity. Gospel music was created by the exponents of African American churches during the 1930s. Gospel music is said to have originated during the enslavement of the African. At that time they were not allowed to pray openly and even if they were permitted they had to do it with their masters. It is due to this, that they started to pray secretly, for organizing meetings unknown to others. Here they developed their own hymns and music for the prayers and later this came to be known as Gospel Music.

In Gospel Music, the instrument most commonly used is drum, electric guitar and electric bass guitar. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the most popular gospel singers. She was extremely popular and remained so till the 40s when she drew huge number of fans from all walks of life to see her perform live the gospel songs for them. She performed live across several venues in the United States, so the reach of her music was huge and confined to some particular territories. Though gospel music was started by African Americans, but the hymns spread worldwide. Now you can find this music being played and sung all over the world. Gospel music has several genres which were developed by the lovers of this music in the last few years. The reach of music has always been world wide and Gospel Music is no exception to this.

The first category under gospel music is urban contemporary gospel music and this genre was popularized by the southern slaves who sang the song to praise their gods. In the20s artists like Arizona Danes and other prevailing preachers of Christianity made huge contributions towards making Gospel Music popular. They started making a record of gospel music in a style that molded traditional hymns with blues and boogie woogie style with the inclusion of drums and other musical instruments. Southern gospel is another category under gospel music which is also huge popular. Like all other forms of music Gospel Music has also evolved a lot over the years. Today many new instruments and sounds have been added to this form of music, and the basic idea behind this being to make the music popular.

Some bands like The Mike and Kelly Bowling group, the Crabb family, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and the Three Brides have incorporated the new beats and style to this song. They perform regularly and that too to sell out crowds. A number of radio stations also broadcast Gospel Music making this a popular form of music among the younger generation of today.