The term Gospel quartet refers to several different traditions of harmony

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

 singing. Its origins are varied, including 4-part hymn singing, shapenote singing, barbershop quartets, jubilee songs, spirituals

Spiritual (music)

Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...

, and other Gospel songs

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

.

Gospel quartets sing in four-part harmony

Four-part harmony

The term "four-part harmony" refers to music written for 4 voices, or 4 musical instruments, where the various parts give a different note of each chord of the music. Typically, the 1st of the 4 parts will sing the melody, with the other 3 parts providing the supporting harmonies...

, with parts given to a tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

, or highest part; lead, which usually takes the melody

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

; baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

, which blends the sounds and adds richness; and the bass, or lowest part. It is not uncommon for some quartets to switch parts between members for given songs.

In the 1980s, Gospel quartet music was somewhat overshadowed by contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 and Urban contemporary gospel

Urban contemporary gospel

Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

, but saw something of a revival in the 1990s.