Pbs: American Roots Music: Lesson Three: Gospel Music Meets a Wide Audience

The third instructional activity deals with the emergence of gospel as a form of popular music among a general public. Gospel is a musical genre with roots in the African American church, particularly in the South. Between the 1940s and the 1960s, musicians such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson and the Staple Singers brought gospel to the attention of a broad, secular audience. Students identify some of the leading figures in post-war gospel music, compare the differences in style and approach of several gospel musicians, and analyze and discuss how music has different meanings in different social contexts.