Since the times of slavery, African Americans have expressed their spirituality through music. It began as simple folk songs and evolved into the energetic performances that define gospel music today. It's as important to the worship service as the preacher's sermon. We spoke to Thomas Dixon Tyler of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, DC, about gospel's significance to him.
Gospel music is a free express.
It's not just a collection of words thrown together, but it's telling a story. The energy of gospel music comes from history. When they were brought over here, there was a passion in them to keep their history alive. They told their story, and they told it in song because they were a people of music. Some of those hymns adopted by the Black church were written by white composers.