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gospel singing

gospel singing

1 3.1
Vocal music from Black church services with strong feeling and call and response
  • noun
  • /ˈɡɑːspəl ˈsɪŋɪŋ/
translation icon : canto gospel
  • She loves participating in gospel singing because it connects her to her heritage.
  • gospel singing group

Examples

  • Every Sunday, we gather at the church for gospel singing and fellowship.

  • [ gospel singing ]

  • It was going to be their last time singing in a nightclub; Bic had started gospel singing at revivals and then preaching in upstate New York.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The choir's gospel singing filled the room with joy during the service.

Synonyms

gospel
vsgospel singing
57 3.6

A type of Christian music with strong, emotional singing often heard in churches

is the vocal style rooted in those songs often sung a cappella
spiritual
vsgospel singing
10 6.3

A religious song from the American South often sung with strong feeling

is the wider vocal style that shaped later secular genres
Negro spiritual
vsgospel singing
  • NSFW
4 8.6

A religious song made by Black people in the southern United States during slavery

is the broader vocal tradition influencing later music beyond historical origins

How Religious

spiritual
10 6.3
gospel singing
1 3.1
folk singing
1 3.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

gospel + singing

The meaning is directly compositional: 'gospel' names a musical/religious genre and 'singing' names the vocal activity, so together they denote singing in the gospel style. This is a straightforward genre + activity noun phrase with no idiomatic shift, and learners who know both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Gospel singing comes from church music in Black communities where people shared songs about faith. The word gospel means 'good news', and singing often had a leader with the group answering in a 'call and response' way. That's why gospel singing now means a strong, emotional style of singing from church.