The Facts About Igbo Gospel Music

The Igbo culture, commonly referred to as Igboland, is rich in Igbo praise and worship music. The Igbo Gospel Music people speak Igbo, a historic dialect of the Niger-Congo language family, and they are located in southeast Nigeria. The Igbo praise and worship songs are often performed at festivals and sung in churches during worship sessions. The songs are often composed in the Igbo Gospel Music people’s native tongue. These songs differ from other genres of music in addition to the fact that they are composed in the original tongue of the singers. For instance, they frequently employ call-and-response structures, in which one person sings a phrase, followed by another person singing back what they heard.

What is Igbo Gospel Music?

Initially, Igbo Gospel Music was a phrase used to describe the spiritual songs sung by white and black Christians. Although the two groups’ modes of worship were similar, throughout time, certain distinctions emerged. Gospel music may be characterised as Christian music from the African-American community. Hymns and other songs from the oral traditions of the African-American culture made up gospel music. The enslaved people (during the American slavery era) sang this genre of music while laboring on the plantations to boost morale and find comfort from the agony and suffering of slavery. By the end of the 19th century, the word “gospel music” was well known and often used.

Latin and Greek had an impact on the word “gospel.” It has two Germanic roots and is known as God spell when it is translated into Old English. The word “god” implies “good,” while “spell” refers to news or a report. The first four New Testament writings as well as any other literature cited in Christian teaching were referred to by this title. In the 18th century, the word was later spelt as gospel. Gospel is short for “good news.”

The History of Igbo Gospel Music

In the United States, gospel music has a long history that dates back more than a century. Thomas Dorsey first used the word “gospel” in 1921 at the National Baptist Convention. He is credited with founding gospel music and writing several songs, including “Precious Lord.” Psalm singing predominated in the 17th century, followed by the introduction of hymns in the 18th, and the development of sectarian songs in the 19th.