ABSTRACT
The history of Christian music in Tanzania from colonialism to post-independence is very complex. It is marked by three factors: first, the introduction in the early days of colonialism of Christian religion alongside Western hymnody and the simultaneous outlawing of indigenous musical traditions in and around the church; second, the vernacularization of the hymnody during the later days of Christianity, followed by gradual and later rapid re-emergence of indigenous musical traditions, especially melodies; and finally, the influx of secular popular musical idioms in the church, especially in the Pentecostal denominations, and much later, Protestant churches.
