Chapter 23: Kirk Franklin: Lessons From Gospel Music for Transformational Educational Leadership

Music is a common expression documented in many societies, cultures, and peoples (Garfias, 2004). In fact, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1835) declared music the “universal language of mankind” (p. 197). However, Longfellow’s statement is both problematic and misleading. While it is true that all societies and cultures use music as an expression, all societies and cultures do not organize, perform, or interpret music in the same way (Harris, 2016). Each culture employs a variety of timbres, rhythms, tonal and melodic structures, harmonies, and instruments that are unique in their music making (Garfias, 2004). The function of music varies between and within cultural and social contexts. As a result, one musical expression does not communicate the same message or story within or across every culture (Garfias, 2004; Meeker, 2008).