You Can Whoop in Your Sermons
Many people contact me wanting a step by step method to learn to whoop, here is the outline of a method.
The first thing you must do is listen to other preachers who whoop. But not just listen, you need to closely analyze the preacher to seek to understand what and how the preacher is doing what she or he does. Listen for changes in volume. Listen for changes in pitch. Listen for changes in the rate of speech. All of these things will help you get a deep understanding of what happens in the whoop.
Along with the critical analysis, the budding whooper should listen to a wide variety of whoopers. Listen to the traditional C. L. Franklin, Caeser Clark, and Jerry Black. Listen to the Harvard Whooper. Listen to the young whoopers like Marcus Cosby or Rudoloph Mckissick Jr. And listen to the whoopers who have a style totally their own like Leory Elliot. Listening to a wide variety of whoopers will help you find who you are as a whooper.
The next thing to do is to sing. There is a connection between singing and whooping. Listen to Jerry Black as he sings and then listen to how he whoops. There is a connection. Now you may not ever sing a solo, but you need to sing as a member of the congregation and as you go along. Sing spirituals, sing the great hymns of the Christian faith, and sing the Gospel Songs. Sing Andre' Crouch and Fanny Crosby.
You cannot separate whooping from singing. Great whooping makes use of many of the same components as great singing. I would encourage you to listen to the pauses and rests of the great singers. Listen to the emotion. Listen to the improvisation. Now note how all of these things are evident in great preaching. They are both connected.
Ok, you have begun singing and have gotten a feel for how your voice works, and you have listened to other whoopers. Now you need to practice. Don't censor yourself. Just practice. Take a paragraph of sermon and just start playing around. When I used to play the trumpet, I practiced for at least 30 minutes a day. However, many preachers don't practice at all. While you practice, I encourage you to listen to yourself carefully to see how it sounds.
Finally, we should look for opportunities to incorporate "whooping" into our preaching. Without forcing, slowly put some musicality in your preaching. Add rhythm to the way you say some things. Explicitly hit a note when preaching. Don't force it. Do all your forcing in the practice room, but when you get out in front of the congregation, just preach and let it happen.
Please to succumb to the temptation of using whooping to cover up a lack of preparation. Perhaps we all have heard whoopers who obviously haven't done the preparation necessary to preach an effective sermon to the people of God. Then these preacher simply start whooping and the people go wild. However, during the week when pain and trouble come the people haven't been given the tools to deal with the world because the preacher decided to serve slop and then try to put cream over it. We as preachers have been called to give the word that is needed, a sweet whoop does not discharge us of this duty. If you whoop, please whoop with integrity!
The first thing you must do is listen to other preachers who whoop. But not just listen, you need to closely analyze the preacher to seek to understand what and how the preacher is doing what she or he does. Listen for changes in volume. Listen for changes in pitch. Listen for changes in the rate of speech. All of these things will help you get a deep understanding of what happens in the whoop.
Along with the critical analysis, the budding whooper should listen to a wide variety of whoopers. Listen to the traditional C. L. Franklin, Caeser Clark, and Jerry Black. Listen to the Harvard Whooper. Listen to the young whoopers like Marcus Cosby or Rudoloph Mckissick Jr. And listen to the whoopers who have a style totally their own like Leory Elliot. Listening to a wide variety of whoopers will help you find who you are as a whooper.
The next thing to do is to sing. There is a connection between singing and whooping. Listen to Jerry Black as he sings and then listen to how he whoops. There is a connection. Now you may not ever sing a solo, but you need to sing as a member of the congregation and as you go along. Sing spirituals, sing the great hymns of the Christian faith, and sing the Gospel Songs. Sing Andre' Crouch and Fanny Crosby.
You cannot separate whooping from singing. Great whooping makes use of many of the same components as great singing. I would encourage you to listen to the pauses and rests of the great singers. Listen to the emotion. Listen to the improvisation. Now note how all of these things are evident in great preaching. They are both connected.
Ok, you have begun singing and have gotten a feel for how your voice works, and you have listened to other whoopers. Now you need to practice. Don't censor yourself. Just practice. Take a paragraph of sermon and just start playing around. When I used to play the trumpet, I practiced for at least 30 minutes a day. However, many preachers don't practice at all. While you practice, I encourage you to listen to yourself carefully to see how it sounds.
Finally, we should look for opportunities to incorporate "whooping" into our preaching. Without forcing, slowly put some musicality in your preaching. Add rhythm to the way you say some things. Explicitly hit a note when preaching. Don't force it. Do all your forcing in the practice room, but when you get out in front of the congregation, just preach and let it happen.
Please to succumb to the temptation of using whooping to cover up a lack of preparation. Perhaps we all have heard whoopers who obviously haven't done the preparation necessary to preach an effective sermon to the people of God. Then these preacher simply start whooping and the people go wild. However, during the week when pain and trouble come the people haven't been given the tools to deal with the world because the preacher decided to serve slop and then try to put cream over it. We as preachers have been called to give the word that is needed, a sweet whoop does not discharge us of this duty. If you whoop, please whoop with integrity!