Define "Woodshedding"

Matt Till · #1 10-26-2006, 01:38 PM

Huh?

Is it practicing... that's what I gather. Why is it called woodshedding... when it could be called practicing? Is it just secret musician code to make us sound fancier than we are?

**MAJOR METAL** · #2 10-26-2006, 01:41 PM

It is a place you are thrown beatings as a youth by a parent.

Matt Till · #3 10-26-2006, 01:43 PM

Whoa, so is it like the movie Slingblade?

**MAJOR METAL** · #4 10-26-2006, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Whoa, so is it like the movie Slingblade?

I am not fimilar with that.

Matt Till · #5 10-26-2006, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

I am not fimilar with that.

You should rent it... it's actually genius.

Billy Bob Thorton plays a mentally retarded/insane fella, it's very dark, but well done.

Matt Till · #6 10-26-2006, 01:51 PM

So is woodshedding practicing? In the woods... cuz that's kinda Zen. I seriously don't get it.

BadMonk · #7 10-26-2006, 01:53 PM

Slingblade is awesome!!

Weird how I was wondering about this very topic this morning...why woodshed??

peteroberts · #8 10-26-2006, 01:53 PM

no, it just basically means practicing your butt off...

e.g. Man, I just saw Jimmy Haslip and he sent me back to the 'shed.

Has something to do with the fact that the woodshed out back of the house was where all the heavy work was done, or something like that.

Matt Till · #9 10-26-2006, 01:56 PM

ahhh right on. Still a bit weird, I think I'd just say practice... but that's for the info.

**baba** · #10 10-26-2006, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteroberts

e.g. Man, I just saw Jimmy Haslip and he sent me back to the 'shed.

.

Funny you say that! He's playing a BART ride away on Saturday.

pointbass · #11 10-26-2006, 01:58 PM

There is a ton of "myth" stuff about why the term "woodshedding" is used ..... Charlie Parker used to practice in the woodshed, or you'd get taken to the woodshed for a spanking to make you learn your lesson (lesson = music lesson), or you need an axe to chop wood in the shed therefore you take your axe to the shed to practice, etc, etc.

All of it basically has old school jazz & blues roots, don't know if there is an actual truth to where and when it started ...

RLT · #12 10-26-2006, 02:15 PM

Hmm Grandpappy told me it was because you went out behing the woodshed to practice. Pretending to be cutting wood but really playing whatever.

Jazzdogg · #13 10-26-2006, 03:17 PM

I think of "woodshedding" as a series of discrete, yet related, processes that make one competent through repetition and thoughful practice.

When I was a wee lad, I spent several hours each week at the woodshed, crosscutting logs, splitting them into quarters with wedges and a sledge hammer, using a club and froe to further split the quartered billets into thick, long-burning, pieces and fast-burning kindling: this series pf discrete, but related, routines provided a firm foundation which enabled me to cut firewood quickly and efficiently and, later, prepared me to successfully make chairs from green wood.

When I think of "woodshedding," I also think of the story about the two woodsmen, one a novice, the other a seasoned veteran, who were sent out into the woods to harvest trees. Both woodcutters were equipped with the same tools and were aware of the quota and timeframe for completion. The novice worked non-stop and by lunch he'd harvested two trees and worn himself to a frazzle. The veteran, on the other hand, stopped frequently to re-sharpen his tools, and emerged at lunchtime having harvested six trees and looking none the worse for wear: he know that harvesting trees was really a series of interrelated activities, and that taking the time to "sharpen the saw" periodically, would pay hug dividends in the long run.

Now, when I send myself to the musical woodshed, I practice several interrelated skills that, collectively, make me a better bassist than any I could have become by practicing those same skills in isolation.

Anyway, that's the way this old fart thinks of "woodshedding."

markjazzbassist · #14 10-26-2006, 04:55 PM

yes, woodshedding in the basic form means practicing. i thought it came from the fact that some musicians would lock themselves in the woodshed (so they wouldn't be disturbed) and practice all day long.

Bruce Lindfield · #15 10-27-2006, 02:18 AM

Yes - it's the name for a kind of really focused practice where you shut everything else out and just concentrate on the music - usually applied to Jazz musicians.

I've talked to a few Jazz pros in the UK and they talk about how, when they are setting out on a tour - they will shut themselves away for many hours a day - getting their proficiency on their instrument up to a different level.