The prominent use of African American gospel music outside of the African American church coupled with the implementation of secular or non-African American musical elements has caused many African American gospel listeners, artists, and historians to raise the question, "what is gospel music?" and "what makes a song 'gospel'?" This study examined the historical and musical development of African American gospel music throughout the 20th century in order to define its key components, clarify its identity and account for its expansion and development since its beginnings. The underlying premise of this study was that African American gospel music could not be accurately defined because its history has not been completely documented within one source and a single agreed-upon definition does not consider the music's changing stylistic characteristics from its beginnings to the present. The study began with a review of the literature to document the significant musical and historical developments of African American gospel music throughout the 20th century as evidenced in scholarly and popular sources. The literature review began with the pre-gospel era (ca. 1860 - ca. 1920), moved on to gospel music's beginnings (ca. 1920s), and continued until the year 2000. The literature was examined to answer the questions, what distinguishes African American gospel music from other musical styles also referred to by the name "gospel music?," "what are the core elements of African American gospel music?," and "what is a more comprehensive definition of African American gospel music based upon the music's significant historical and stylistic developments throughout the 20th century.
An analysis of the data revealed that African American gospel music could be distinguished from other sacred musical styles also known by the name gospel based upon its time of origin and core musical and non-musical properties. The data also revealed that African American gospel music was to be distinguished from other African American sacred music styles by its unique stylistic characteristics. The unique stylistic characteristics of African American gospel music have been retained, altered, or expanded over time and have caused musical distinctions within African American gospel music. These distinctions reveal a recurring pattern throughout the history of African American gospel music that allow it to be divided into five Gospel Music Eras and eleven distinct Gospel Musical and Performance Styles. Although stylistic distinctions exist between the various eras and performance styles, the data revealed common musical and textual elements, performance properties, artists, and ministerial functions and purposes that link all 20th century African American gospel songs. A paradigm was formulated based upon these core components to identify African American gospel songs and distinguish them from other songs also known as gospel songs. Finally a comprehensive definition was formulated for African American gospel music based upon its musical and historical development throughout the 20th century.