African rhythms, ideas of sin and the Hammond organ: A brief history of gospel music’s evolution

For the enslaved Africans, music – rhythm in particular – became a tool of communication about their conditions. Later, it laid the foundation for spirituals and gospel songs.

By: Robert Stephens, University of Connecticut, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 7, 2026

Words: 1,301

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

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By Robert Stephens, University of Connecticut

The enslaved Africans who first arrived in the British colony of Virginia in 1619 after being forcefully removed from their natural environments left much behind, but their rhythms associated with music-making journeyed with them across the Atlantic.

Many of those Africans came from cultures where the mother tongue was a tonal language. That is, ideas were conveyed as much by the inflection of a word as …

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