Abstract
Approximately 6,000 spirituals in 500 original collections of spirituals have already been catalogued; the list is not complete. With such a staggering number of African-American Spirituals, how does one begin a comprehensive study? How does one “do justice” in researching this body of Black folk song? The student of the Spirituals, on the one hand, may feel overwhelmed by the scope and complexity of such a vast body of music. The researcher, on the other hand, may feel beleaguered by such variance in research on the African- American Spiritual. In either case, the answer to the above two questions may be found in the approach one uses to become acquainted with the Spirituals and the methodology
one uses to identify, record, and interpret the Spirituals. Both the approach and the methodology are necessary for a thorough study and understanding.