- Spread and popularized musical traditions of various cultural groups like European immigrants and former slaves or marginalized individuals; these included hymns to spirituals sung on plantations.
- Sacred Harp (or shape-note) singing arose through rural musical culture, involving square notation; these books spread widely throughout America, introducing diverse influences into rural congregations.
- Black spirituals also incorporated aspects of call-and-response structure, along with polyrhythms influenced by African musical roots, contributing to American religious and secular music forms that evolved during and beyond 19th century.
- Protestant revivals and camp meetings played an important role in spreading early church hymnody, characterized by the singing of sacred music. Music in religious rituals contributed to religious identity while shaping American spiritual values with the integration of hymns, folk tunes, religious poetry, or traditional melodies within spiritual practices.