THE HARMONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE BLACK RELIGIOUS QUARTET SINGING TRADITION
THE HARMONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE BLACK RELIGIOUS QUARTET SINGING TRADITION
Files
Publication or External Link
Date
1997
Authors
Dent, Cedric Carl
Advisor
Gibson, Robert L.
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
The development of folk music in the United States includes many distinct styles
of quartet singing. This study examines the harmonic development of black religious
quartet singing, a subgenre of black gospel music. This community-based, church-oriented
style of quartet singing became popular in the early 1920s and continues to thrive
today.
This study applies traditional tonal theory, jazz theory and Schenkerian analysis to
quartet performances, and through these methods of analysis, identifies and traces threads
of harmonic development through the genre, which define stylistic epochs. Threads of
development include use of meter and rhythm, call-and-response techniques, function of
the bass voice, chord structures and use of added dissonance, number and function of
voice parts, and variation techniques in repetitive song structures. The investigation
identifies three styles of black religious quartet singing: folk, jubilee, and gospel. The
performances examined include "I'm Praying Humble" (1937) by Mitchell's Christian
Singers, "One Day When the Lord Will Call Me" (1942) by the Southern Sons and "Mary
Don't You Weep" (1959) by the Swan Silvertones. Additionally, a recent trend of
development is identified and labeled neo-jubilee, and a performance of ''Mary" (1988) by
the vocal group TAKE 6 represents this trend. Complete transcriptions of these
performances arc provided for musical analysis.
The influence of big band music on the development of black religious quartet
singing is also examined. The course of development in quartet singing is strikingly
similar to that of big band music and is observable in the aforementioned threads of
harmonic development.
Finally, group singing is the focus of this study, and only styles that are a cappella
or harmonically independent of instrumental accompaniment are examined. Styles where
instrumental accompaniment is a part of the fundamental structure of the performance are
not examined.