福音音乐(gospel music)
源於19世纪五旬节派教会的礼拜仪式、灵歌和蓝调的美国黑人音乐形式。五旬节派教会牧师讲道的唱片在1920年代的美国黑人中流传极广。五旬节派教会以《圣经》的教义「凡有气息的，都要赞美耶和华」（《旧约全书.诗篇》第150篇）为指导，欢迎人们把铃鼓、钢琴、班卓琴、吉他和其他弦乐器以及铜管乐器用於礼拜仪式之中，其合唱常以女声音域两端的声音为特徵，与传教者的讲道作应答式的应对。福音音乐以即兴的朗诵式乐段、一字多音的唱法和过分的表现为特色，其他形式有︰街道巡回传教士的歌唱与不用电扩音的吉他演奏、声音和谐的男声四重唱（演出时伴有舞蹈动作，身穿符合当时风尚的服装）等。主要的作曲家和演奏家有：多尔西（T. A. Dorsey），最早使用这个名称；廷德利（C. A. Tindley, 1851～1933）牧师；戴维斯（G. Davies, 1896～1972）牧师，为盲人巡回布道家；撒普（R. Tharpe）修女，在1930年代把福音引进了夜总会和剧场；以及杰克森（M. Jackson）。福音音乐对节奏蓝调和灵魂乐有重要影响，这两种音乐又转而强烈的影响着当代的福音音乐。
English version：
gospel music
Form of black American music derived from 19th-century Pentecostal church services and from spiritual and blues singing. Recordings of Pentecostal preachers' sermons were immensely popular among American blacks in the 1920s. Taking the scriptural direction “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord” (Psalms, 150), Pentecostal churches welcomed timbrels, pianos, banjos, guitars, other stringed instruments, and even brass into their services. Choirs often featured the extremes of female vocal range in antiphonal counterpoint with the preacher's sermon. Other forms of gospel music have included the singing and acoustic-guitar playing of itinerant street preachers, and harmonizing male quartets, whose acts included dance routines and stylized costumes. Its principal composers and practitioners included Thomas Dorsey, who coined the term; the Rev. C. A. Tindley (1851-1933); the blind wandering preacher Rev. Gary Davis (1896-1972); Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973), whose performances took gospel into nightclubs and theaters in the 1930s; and Mahalia Jackson. Gospel music was a significant influence on rhythm and blues and soul music, which have in turn strongly influenced contemporary gospel music.