| How to Whoop Like a Black Preacher |
| Written by Sherman Haywood Cox II | |
| Thursday, 05 November 2009 | |
|
How do you whoop like a Black Preacher? Many have looked at the power and effectiveness of this art form and have wished to learn how to do it. However, there are no schools for this so you must learn like everyone else did. Here is a process to help you.
How do you whoop like a Black Preacher? Many have looked at the power and effectiveness of this art form and have wished to learn how to do it. However, there are no schools for this so you must learn like everyone else did. Here is a process to help you. The first thing that one should do if you want to learn how to whoop is listen to other whoopers. Just like if you want to learn how to play jazz, you must listen to others who do it well. Please note that there are different levels of listening. The first level is merely for enjoyment. Here you simply listen for things that you enjoy or that "speak to you" on some level. Another level of listening however is critical analysis. Here you seek to understand what is happening. You listen to the whooper trying to hear the pitch changes. When does the whooper change pitch. When does the whooper change the volume? Does the whooper only get loud at the end? Does the whooper get loud and soft? Another question one might listen for is a sequence of pitches. Does the whooper make use of a sequence (sometimes called a riff in music)? What about rhythm? Does the whooper change his or her rhythm? 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. Yes whooping and singing are not totally separate endevors. Listen to how the singer and the preacher both make use of dynamics. Listen to how they both make use of pitch change. I even hear preachers making key changes. Singing and Whooping has so much in common, you need to look at them both. You have sung and you have listened to other preachers, now it is time to do it! In the practice room, just start playing around. No one is listening to your. Practice whooping. You need practice if you are to do this effectively. 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. Finally, never whoop to overcome a lack of preparation. Too many preachers whoop and leave the people shouting, but then the people wonder what they are shouting about later. Remember to construct a good sermon and then present it to the best of your ability before starting your whoop. At that point, you will have the people shouting about something that is worth something. Whooping is too powerful an art form to use incorrectly. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
