Analytical Study of Harmonic Structures in Contemporary Nigerian Gospel Music: 2019 to 2024

This study presents a systematic analytical examination of harmonic structures in contemporary Nigerian gospel music released between 2019 and 2024. Nigerian gospel music has undergone significant stylistic evolution in recent years, incorporating jazz harmony, Afrobeats chord progressions, neo-soul voicings, and modal interchange alongside traditional hymn-influenced tonal frameworks. Despite this evolution, formal musicological analysis of harmonic language in Nigerian gospel remains underdeveloped. This research purposively selects 30 commercially successful Nigerian gospel recordings from artists including those from South West, South East, and South South backgrounds, applying functional harmonic analysis, Roman numeral notation, and chord vocabulary cataloguing to identify dominant harmonic patterns, genre-specific progressions, and points of deviation from Western common practice tonality. Secondary chord usage, extended harmonies, borrowings from parallel modes, and genre crossover influences are specifically examined. The analytical framework integrates Schenkerian reduction principles with African music theory scholarship. Comparative analysis situates findings within the broader gospel music traditions of the African diaspora and Pentecostal worship music globally. Findings will produce a harmonic profile of contemporary Nigerian gospel music and identify the theoretical innovations that distinguish it from earlier Nigerian church music traditions. This study fills a gap in African popular music analysis and contributes to music theory scholarship. Keywords: Harmonic analysis, Nigerian gospel music, music theory, contemporary gospel, chord structure.