Book of Gospel Piano Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series: The Complete Guide

If you flip through the AM radio dial in any large city in the U.S., you can almost always find a station that plays gospel music. You recognize it as soon as you hear it. The band is cookin'; there's a lead singer going ail-out, and the choir is responding in three-part harmony, with what sounds like at least a hundred voices! You might not even need to hear the lyrics to know that it's gospel music. l'm talking about the gospel music found in many African-American churches today: the gospel music that started way back with the 19th and early 20th century hymns by Charles A. Tindley and later Thomas A. Dorsey
(who added the blues influence). lt came through the era of the great gospel quartets and solo artists of the mid-twentieth century, and in the 1980s emerged into the era of the "mass choir." Combining it with R&B, funk, and jazz has expanded it even more in the last decade.
Gospel music marked a radical change in church music. The lyrics were more about persona! everyday struggles, triumphs, and encouragement that demonstrated faith and forgiveness, rather than about pure theologicàl concepts. In the same way, the melodies, harmonies, and rhythms needed to be catchy and easily remembered by everyone (not just by those who could read music). Gospel music, like jazz and blues, is one of the true American art forms.
This book is geared toward a musician who has had some formai music training, is familiar with chord symbols, and perhaps plays in their church, but who hasn't had much exposure to gospel music.