call-response
Leader-follower vocal pattern
Call-response is a pattern of communication where one party offers a statement or phrase and another answers it.
The form is fundamental to African American musical and religious traditions—a preacher calls out and the congregation responds, a lead singer phrases and the chorus answers.
The pattern appears in work songs, gospel, blues, and hip-hop.
More broadly, any back-and-forth exchange can be described as call-response: The protest had a call-response energy, with the leader shouting slogans and the crowd echoing them.
Alternating musical replies
- refrainAbstain from acting
- chorusSingers performing together
- gospelSacred choral tradition
- bluesMournful American music genre
jazz · chant · spiritual · folk · shanty · improvisation · ensemble · rhythm
Mutual giving and receiving
- interactionReciprocal action between parties
- reciprocityMutual exchange of actions
- feedbackReturned response data
- dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
interplay · back-and-forth · alternation · turn-taking · engagement · participatory · audience · prompt
antiphony
Alternating musical replies
blues · jazz · chant · spiritual · folk · shanty · improvisation · ensemble · rhythm · cadence
exchange
Mutual giving and receiving
- interactionReciprocal action between parties
- reciprocityMutual exchange of actions
- feedbackReturned response data
dialogue · interplay · back-and-forth · alternation · turn-taking · engagement · participatory · audience · prompt · reply
liturgy
Formal worship structure
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- preacherReligious sermon deliverer
- sermonClergy's worship address
worship · prayer · amen · litany · versicle · psalmody · cantor · faithful · ritual · invocation