Woodshedding
There’s no blogging in the woodshed.
As in:
“There’s no basement in the Alamo.” (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure)
“There’s no crying in baseball.” (A League of Their Own)
THERE’S NO BLOGGING IN THE WOODSHED!
Translation: Priority one = practice. (because the concert is next week)
Woodshed: intransitive verb
Definition: practice; especially to practice on a musical instrument
Form(s): woodshed·ded; woodshed·ding
Etymology: probably from the former use of woodsheds for private practicing
Source: Merriam Webster online Dictionary.
Labels: practice
posted by cellodonna @ 8:04 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
That makes me think of my youth symphony conductor, who loves using the word woodshed, like, "That can be a spot for you to go home and woodshed this week." :D
Interesting. I never heard that term. Good luck on your concert!
At first I thought your conductor was hauling you out to the woodshed because you had been "misbehaving in class" :-)
Gee, and I always associated woodsheds with getting spanked. Learn something new every day.
That's a new term for me too! Good luck with the concert!
Thanks for shedding some light on the woodshed. :)
I guess it's a more obscure reference than I'd first thought. Even my son (who majored in music ed. in college) was unfamiliar with the word.
My husband was familiar with the "woodshed/spanking" connotation. And a friend of mine from the midwest brought up a regional, sort of romantic [ahem] meaning.
I first encountered the term about 20 years ago when I was reading an article about Vince Guaraldi (of "Charlie Brown music" fame.)who referred to having to "woodshed" his piano music in order to play in a jazz trio.
I remember that the term intrigued me at the time. I sort of figured out the meaning by context, but looked it up anyway just to see if maybe Guaraldi was simply using some kind of original creative language. I was actually surprised to see it listed as a true meaning in the dictionary.
About a year ago there was an article in Strings Magazine that used the term, however, I think it might be more commonly used by jazz musicians.
Thanks for the good wishes on the upcoming concert. My time in the woodshed seems to be paying off.
"Woodshedding" first came up for me in one of those dreadful corporate training seminars I attended in the early-90s... you know the type: full of special "lingo" and silly "group exercises" that were foisted on us unwitting Dilberts and Wallys by HR consultants trying to capitalize on the latest fad (but primarily making heaps of money boring the heck out of a roomful of indentured employees who spent the mornings thinking about the free donuts on the table in the back of the room).
A more dedicated cellist I have never known, Donna.
Never heard the term "woodshed" before. I'm glad to know it.
XO
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