quartets-to-bluegrass · wolfe2008-gospel-music-white

To many southerners, though, white gospel is associated with vocal quartets or family groups, singing in three- or four-part harmony, accompanied by a piano, guitar, or other stringed instruments. ... After the war, as the older four-shape systems lost favor, Kieffer began his company in 1866 with an old friend, Ephriam Reubusch ... and began a 50-year campaign to popularize the seven-shape note system. ... Most important of all, though, he used quartets made up of his singing teachers to tour the South, giving free concerts of Vaughan's music. ... The classic southern gospel quartet—four men and a piano—comes from Vaughan's innovations. ... while the newly emerging bluegrass bands often borrowed gospel repertoire and quartet singing styles.