polyphony occurs when several meters are played simultaneously

Many persons of faith in the first African diaspora to the Western Hemisphere experienced God via music. Some use music for motivation, well-being, or for entertainment. Music acts as a catalyst of creativity, empowerment, inspiration, and celebration. Music is incredibly important in diverse lives of African Americans, who have used a variety of music to do many things. Keywords: African American music, blues, Gospel music, hip-hop, hymnody, jazz, racism, sacred, secular, spirituals

Using themes of poetry, praise, power, protest, philosophy, and politics, this analysis of African American sacred and secular music: (1) introduces the socio-historical, cultural, cosmological origins and terminology of this music (2) examines selected musical typologies, from antebellum Spirituals to hip-hop and contemporary classical African American music that foregrounds tenets of so-called sacred and secular music (3) explores a religious/spiritual impact of these cultural artifacts and (4) concludes with a literature review of scholarship regarding African American sacred and secular music. This music shares common traditions and attributes. Rooted within African traditions, where sacred and secular are one, some African American musical genres are more fluid, engaging a tension between how people label and use music. Music, a source of motivation, well-being, entertainment, and survival in diverse lives of African Americans, has afforded them experiences of signifying their humanity amidst horrific oppression, while engaging in creativity, worship, and rituals of celebration.

Sacred and Secular in African American Music.

Art, Material Culture, and Lived Religion.

Gender, Imagery, and Religious Imagination.

Artistry and Aesthetics in Modern and Postmodern Worship.

Hinduism-Aesthetics, Drama, and Poetics.

Film and Video as Ways of Being Religious.

Architectural Expression and Ways of Being Religious.

Creativity at the Intersection of art and Religion.

Artistic Imagination and Religious Faith.

Introduction: Mapping the Terrain of Religion and the Arts.

Polyphony occurs when several meters are played simultaneously