spiritual

spiritual, in North American white and black folk music, an English-language folk hymn. White spirituals include both revival and camp-meeting songs and a smaller number of other hymns. They derived variously, notably from the “lining out” of psalms, dating from at least the mid-17th century. Where congregations could not read, a leader intoned (lined out) the psalm text, one line at a time, alternating with the congregation’s singing of each just-given line to a familiar melody. The tune, sung slowly, was ornamented with passing notes, turns, and other graces, each singer producing his own improvised embellishment at whatever pitch level ...(100 of 730 words)