Sister Rosetta Tharpe Revolutionized Christian Music

“All this new stuff they call rock ’n’ roll, why, I’ve been playing that for years now . . . Ninety percent of rock-and-roll artists came out of the church, their foundation is the church.” This is a quote Rosetta Tharpe stated when talking about rock and roll, and she is not wrong. She has been cited as an influence by many pioneers of rock music such as the great Elvis. If Elvis was the father of rock and roll, then Sister Rosetta Tharpe was its godmother. Sister Rosetta Tharpe grew up in a highly musical family playing guitar at the ripe age of six for her mother who played the mandolin. In the 1920s her family would move to Chicago and there she would develop her love for blues and jazz music. A love that would influence her playing style
Christian music was at the time simply that, Christian music. It was almost a genre of its own, with songs that would be to us be considered hymns, or gospel music. The reason for this was that nobody wanted to have “worldly” music due to the stigma of it being “the devil’s music”. As I have previously stated Sister Rosetta Tharpe developed her love for jazz and blues when her family moved to Chicago in the 1920s. She and her mother would perform religious concerts at COGIC (Church of God in Christ) and on occasion would perform at church conventions throughout the country. This would cause her to gain growing fame as she was a black woman playing the guitar, a very rare feat for that time period. The way she fused gospel and blues music together helped her gain national
However, these arguments do not make sense as music has changed so much over time. If you are to look at The Bible, such as Psalm 150: 3-5 stated, “‘Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.’ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.’ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.’” Blues music was played using all three of those, the trumpets spoke,the strings sung, and drums held it all together with an even beat. Worship is meant to be a joyous song, as stated in Psalms 98:4 it states, “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises,” with those things in mind as long as she had the right heart as stated in John 4:24, then that’s all that truly matters. Another thing is that not everyone liked the style of music played in the churches. Sister Rosetta Tharpe played music that bridged Christian music and secular music allowing for people from both walks of life to like the music and enjoy it. They could hear God’s word and it would be fun and thrilling. Then, on top of all that, music in the 1600s was different than music in the 1900s, even in the church. Music and art has expressed itself in so many different ways from hymnal,to classical, and then to gospel. Along with today we