Yea I need ptsd counseling from all those “smooth transitions” into their ads I can’t hear about anything mental health without bracing myself for it 😂
I get so saddened when I read comments like, "well I'm sorry for ever touching an instrument", "no matter how good you are, there's a Chinese kid who's better". I know they're jokes but many people do feel that way deep down and I wish they'd learn to love the music regardless of skill
@@DylanWOWilliams- This is actually a good point. I used to know a pianist who now teaches college music in Vermont, whose education made her too elitist to write anything with soul, and too neurotic to be around.
@@Bikewithlove I knew someone like that growing up who seemed to be forcing himself into blues and jazz because that was considered the "pinnacle" of guitar. He clearly had no love for it, but he wanted to be the best
I'm 31, I've taught drums for 9 years, and I'm finally shedding (no pun intended, seriously) the discouragement and mental paralysis that's been holding me back.
Recording kind of changed my life. Late last year I started writing and recording 1 short piece of music a week, without the pressure of it needing to be good. Sometimes it's just a riff, other times it's more fleshed out. The feeling of setting out to record anything at all, and sometimes stumbling on something beautiful that genuinely resonates with you is incredible. It's also kind of cool having a piece of music to represent each week of my life now, like a weird musical journal that captures how I was feeling.
Thanks for sharing this! I've recorded off and on for 40 yrs, and will be reconfiguring my studio shortly for, perhaps, doing what you describe. I have so many quick sketches recorded on my phone to develop...
I was a hotshot “whizz kid” and over-practiced throughout my teens and early 20’- it’s taken me 2 decades to unlearn a lot of the psychological and physical tension i unwittingly habituated. For me now, as an older musician, relaxation is paramount to optimal practice- the more chilled out I am the better. Your insights here resonated with me a great deal. Thank you.
Someone I know once had a successful music career as a young person and then decided to play jazz. Very soon he abandoned electric guitar for piano, took a degree in composition, studying all styles of classical music and jazz, apparently mastered all of them woodshedding for the last 40+ years. But none of us have heard a note of his music in all this time. I suppose Heaven will be the place where we can hear all the fruits of his solo labors for my entire adult life, but not this world.
@@MisterWade74 no it was all reported to me through my sister. I don’t doubt that he was excellent at whatever he was working on. I heard a little of his later compositions that he wrote ‘on spec’ and never got paid for.
I heard you say at the end that you don’t think this video “will do well” but if your goal here is to help people just know that I run a small nonprofit organization that focuses on musicians’ mental health in my local community. Fully intend on sharing this with my leadership team, including it as a piece of research in our general lit review, as well as sharing it with my music students. Great stuff, mate and I am so glad you took the time to put this together. A lot of people need this
@@philipconradmusic This is the first video of yours I’ve seen as it just randomly popped up on my UA-cam and it’s incredibly inspiring. I’ve been feeling a burn out recently and this just came at the perfect time and I’d like to say thank you for making this
It’s really nice to hear someone else say they’re a slow but thorough learner. That’s something I know about myself and at times I feel embarrassed learning something new publicly.
You might as well have saved my career as a musician. People say things come when you need them the most, and I came in contact with this video. Been struggling with the constant battle with myself during my shed practice. Thank you
Me learning that I'm not a "bassist" or a "guitarist" was the best realization ever for me. I realized I'm a musician and songwriter, not an instrumentlist. I have this whole new love of music and it's like a world of possibilities now. I've been in the woodshed for a while now with the violin, and I'm really getting results now
Whatever I am labeled is puffery. My goal through mastery of instrument (never accomplished) is to realize the power of the music. I have the power to realize the music but the power of music is not mine, thank heaven. That keeps me going.
I recently started an Ozzy tribute band and I think what keeps me going is feeling honored to play the band's music and to play it well and do it justice. Randy Rhoads is my favorite guitar player of all time and the sound he created feels much bigger than me in the best possible sense. Same goes for Jake and Zakk. I started playing guitar again a few years ago and I think what keeps me motivated is simply just playing the sort of music I want to play. Not just that, but finding songs I love that are within my skill level, and then pushing myself with songs that are somewhere beyond it. Playing the easier songs makes me feel like a rock star, the harder songs remind me that I constantly want to grow as a player and that I'll nail those songs in due time.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and those of your friends. Recently, I had a lesson with my violin/viola teacher where I was expressing despair over feeling like I had stagnated over the year after graduating from school, where I thought I would have all this time to get better. She helped me through it by showing me that although my chops did not blow up as I thought, she had seen me make huge strides in my musicianship and that I had learned things about being a musician that took her decades. It helped me shift my perspective away from feeling bad that I am not some virtuoso but more toward just enjoying and sharing the music with others. Thank you.
6:05 one of the best investments you can have for an electric guitar is a looper pedal. Quick recordings that you can listen to, play over to practice consistancy, and the recordings arent things that stick around long enough for you to beat yourself up over them well after youve progessed past that skill level, like regular recordings do.
Loops make me go absolutely batshit insane.. one reason I record slow.. once I hear a section of drums or another instrument or take a few times...I need a break. Pattern recognition is built into us and it makes me go crazy if i don't pace things out and take breaks. I own a very expensive looper and it is collecting dust. People who can use them effortlessly are something else. I cant use one without loosing my mind.
"You can't win music" can also even be contextualized as "you can't beat the shed". Treating a song like a finished product rather than a changing piece of life. Of course you should absolutely record, soon, and often, and be mindful that you can always change it. Some of the most moving music I've heard is a live version or genuine rerecording of a song i already liked. The shed has no goal. You need to set goals in the shed. Attainable, like, you know you can achieve it in a month's time, goals.
This video hits hard especially since I just came back from a 3 year hiatus from my trombone. I had lost the passion that made music fun for me near the end of my last gig 3 years ago. I didn't really have any will or want to express myself with music anymore so I took a break. In those three years I've done a lot of growing, but also felt shame that I hadn't picked up my trombone in so long. I felt as though I was doing myself, and by extension, my community and fellow musicians a disservice by not playing. But what you quoted really helped me, that we shouldn't feel bad or ashamed to want to take a break. It's our journey and we should take it at our own pace. I found a new vigor when I returned to it and am even more inspired than ever. Sometimes you just need a break to realize how important it really is and to give yourself room to grow in other aspects of your life. The wisdom you gained will translate through your musical expression.
It's easy to look at your peers and get discouraged. It's easy to forget all the work you have put in, all the progress you made. When we surround ourselves with other musicians, we thrive, but we also forget that we are a small group of weirdos, we quickly think the whole world is seeing right through us, seeing us for the fraud we perceive ourselves to be. Music is truly one of the most beautiful things the human experience has to offer, and we get to make it. And when someone is better than us at it, we should be thrilled and inspired instead of discouraged like we often do. Someone on tumblr once wrote "Whenever you're doubting your abilities, just remember that you are literally making an inanimate object sing". You're giving a voice to a piece of wood, or a piece of brass, or whatever else. You're making magic
I agree with you , I grew up gigging with people who looked at it as a competition (they were true narcissists). I hated it and I feel like it discouraged me. When I finally got away from people like that I realized i’m playing to make myself happy and not somebody else happy that I am relying on to play with for money that I need to survive.. who were truly terrible human beings. With that mind set gone, I started getting better exactly how I wanted to much faster (and still am) because now I’m having fun doing what I did originally when I decided to pick up and learn an instrument, playing with cool people and different genres. Now I’m comfortable without that toxic pressure and I’ve learned this is key to appreciate music and have fun, playing with like minded people. Everyone every once in a while might hit a wrong note or mis place a note.. play with people who will look at you and smile or laugh instead of people who cut dirty looks at you in front of a crowd (when most likely they make more mistakes)
Man, that comment from your friend Colin. That’s is so accurate and inspiring. I’m currently shedding, trying to unlearn years of bad technique while also learning new repertoire. At times it feels something approaching self harm. The focus of playing, even while practicing, is so simple yet so vital. Also the thought that your expression might be a source of joy for people? It’s all the validation I need. A happy accident coming upon your video! Thanks a million, as we say in Ireland!
A couple ways to avoid burnout and arrogance: when you feel like you’re starting to master things but potentially burning out, switch it up-genre, style, or even a new instrument. It will humble you, challenge you and improve your overall musicality and reinvigorate your curiosity and creativity. The skills that seep into your listening and playing life greatly broaden your horizons and versatility. I wholeheartedly agree about the equal importance of time spent both practicing and reacting.
Thanks for this uplifting upload. I’ve been studying music since I was 3 yrs old. I will be 49 in a few days time. I have never wanted a formal education in music, having chosen the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle afforded by an education in pure mathematics, but for the past 46 years it has been like an oasis of calm, running in the background all day, every day. Forever the padawan, never the master. Stellar content, good sir. 🫡
Really glad you made this video. It is where I am right now. Practicing, but not gigging, and I started to wonder why I am practicing. This gives me a reason to keep going.
You are like my new favorite channel. Words of wisdom for sure. Being neurodivergent, the ADHD side of me makes it real hard to focus and regiment my practice time. I can noodle on a pad for hours, or get on the kit with the intention to practice a 3/4/5/7 polyrythm, but I end up getting frustrated and saying Fkit i'm going to noodle to some tunes instead. If I can get myself into hyperfocus with a click and a particular pattern, I can lock it in rather easily, but getting to that point without having an ' ouu look something shiny' moment is often daunting. I find playing and grooving to tracks is far better for me, because I can focus on feel and let the rest melt away. I'd rather develop my pocket then my chops. I've been playing 30 years now, taking a bit of a hiatus in the middle where having drums was not possible, and raising a familiy took all my energy. I started recording myself last year, and I have noticed huge strides. My frustration is that I have so much recorded that I don't have the time or energy to upload. I do watch it all though. Often noodling to a song, I'll get lost in the music, but I have realized that getting lost, means I am not LISTENING to what is playing, but rather just paying over it. Not exactly Ideal. I believe that your video just unlocked something powerful for me, that can solve this for me, and give me a leg up.. Let me explain. WHY this happens to me: As someone with AudiHD, I find comport in repetition. I find myself listening and jamming to the same stuff, over and over and over ...'ad nauseum' some might say. This is very common for people with ADHD. While it is awesome to be able to pull out the little intricacies in the back of the mix, It has a halting effect on my practice. Due to the repetitive nature of my listening, any patterns I play off hand, tend to be one of a few, having to actively think, 'hrm, what is coming up, and what can I play there. " So getting lost in a farmiliar song, means I am limited to what I can play. The solution, is to jam to unfamiliar music as often as possible. never heard this track? jam to it...Don't really listen to this type of music..Jam to it.... Can't get lost in the song if you don't know it. It forces me to listen and be present, and engage with the track and adapt playing accordingly. The second part of this, is that I have a hard time finding and connecting with other musicians. For me, the Shed (quite literally where I spend 90% of my practice time) . In 30 years, I can count on 1 hand how many times I have engaged with other musicians to play and create in this craft which is such a big part of my life. I've never been able to find friends to make, let alone ones that want to get together and play and create. Autism makes it hard to find and insert ones self into those situations. Autistics are by their very nature, used to being put on the sidelines. This is particularly sad,for me because music, especially playing and interacting with it, gives me 100% unadulterated 'autistic joy'. So so sit on the sidelines, watching other do what you would love to do, but never being invited to participate, hurts more then you know. I was also lost to my biological family for 40 odd years, just to find my biological fam, are quite skilled musically. Can you believe that I have only ever been asked to join in them once in the last 10 years. Ad that was at a birthday party where it was rock band themed. I apologize if this drags anyone down here, not my intention. I just ... idk. I'm a musical soul at heart, lost, absent and invisible to musicians around me. Atleast that is what it fells like. And on that note, please go have a listen to Burbon House. Despite all this, I am still hella proud of her.
Wow! "This is your journey and your music, and you'll be doing the world a service by being sincere with it," --Justin Powell I must frame that and hang it on the wall of my shed! Thank you for posting this! Great vid!
I was stuck in the shed for a long time until I realized how I was holding myself back through inadvertent elitism about my songwriting and never ever showing it to anyone, so at the behest of a co-worker I started my channel in 2019 for the sake of having SOMETHING to show people and since then it's been a journey to get out of the shed.
Many times, woodshed sessions for me end up feeling like the movie Whiplash. Being super hard on myself, no grace for mistakes, etc. But I know better, and you’ve reaffirmed the power of practicing with positivity, focus and patience. Julian Lage also had some wonderful advice on this topic at a recent show. Thanks Philip! Great video.
That film is an awesome depiction of all the negatives of woodshedding, especially when hes hands are cut up and hes putting ice on them! I know its hyperbole using film language but its a powerful image. I had a friend who i used to jam with when I first started playing guitar who ended up with a RSI on his wrist from practcing too long with bad technique. It actually makes you progress backwards as you jave to rest ot up for months at time. Losing any gains you made to begin with.
People forget that this is supposed to be fun and nothing else. If it isn't fun, you're doing it all wrong. I've been a career artist for most of my adult life but there came a time when I had drawn or painted everything I cared to. It stopped challenging me and became paint by number boring, so it was time to hand down my brushes and move on...and take on a new artform - - - the guitar. It's been an awesome challenge. I feel young again.
Thanks Dude! I play some but mostly working on my self right now. I find it amazing that the better I feel the more I want to play and the more creative I am. Thank you for posting your videos!!
This video is unbelievably great and I'm glad that a lot of the concepts I've come across on my own are covered extensively; I really hope this video explodes so that more people can see this and understand these ideas, or at least put words to something they may already know. The shed is absolutely dangerous for your mental AND physical health if you go into it with a mindset that isn't improving/learning; if you go in expecting to match something exactly, you'll end up destroying yourself on the way there. I started playing piano in May of 2022 when I was 19, I had absolutely no musical experience prior (even throughout High School), so I was going in completely blind. I started by getting to know my chosen instrument: playing random chords, trying stuff like full chord shapes in both hands, different rhythms/styles, anything that I could to get an intuitive sense of the keyboard itself. Then in late 2022 I came across a UA-camr "Devin Lawrence", who has top down videos of the piano parts of songs, a lot of those being from my favorite band: "The Beach Boys". I started with "California Girls", then "Wouldn't It Be Nice", then "God Only Knows"; each ramped up in difficulty and introduced me to different ideas and ways of playing. In between those I would compose songs, introducing things I had picked up from the pieces I was learning and attempting to master, and sometimes those compositions were more ambitious or difficult than the pieces I was currently learning. I couldn't possibly express how much he accelerated my learning process because of the content he made available for FREE. I was doing it out of the joy for the instrument and out of the joy for learning. I was most definitely in the shed, with nobody I could share my journey with or let personally influence my own. Was I hard on myself at times? Absolutely, extremely hard, and sometimes that's ok as long as you are able to temper that and come back when you may be able to do better; but, it's when you prolong that hardship that it becomes damaging. It's just like a muscle, working it and getting it sore is ok - that's growth - but overworking it to the point you stretch something too far is not. I then got into Bass guitar to ease my transition into Guitar, and I did the same process as I did with piano. I learned the walking line from "Surfin' Safari" by The Beach Boys which was simple, then I learned the more complex lead line from "Dance, Dance, Dance" which was a great fast line to improve my hand movement. I then learned "Good Vibrations" which was a great introduction to Jazz bass lines and had me doing large octave jumps and large hand movements. But more important than that, was improvisation and being able to adapt to what you're hearing; and what Chad had to say was exactly spot on. If you play along to your favorite songs, and try to add to them or improvise with them, you are already improving. Then when you start going outside of what you typically listen to, and try to play along with different genres, that's where you really start to hone your specific craft; that specifically, helped me a lot in understanding where I should be going to and predicting the next set of notes. Just like anything, if you don't go in with love, it'll break you down because you're trying to reach something out of ingenuity. But, if you go into the shed out of the love of what you're doing and with the mindset of improvement, you'll come out significantly sharper than you did going in.
That was a really warm, compassionate video. Damn! Have legit been thinking about quitting an instrument I’ve been playing for a long time. This, along with some advice from good friends has inspired me to try again. Much love!
At this point, I do believe in balancing comparison with others and not getting sucked into just "copying" something/someone. Thank you for this! I'm at the point of copying something and not being my true self in shed.
When I'm noodling around with guitar and find something popular by accident, I stop immediately and find somewhere else to play on the neck. I dig classic rock but where would we all be with a thousand David Gilmour's or a thousand SRVs.?? BORING. I would rather play my own mediocre stuff than classic Led Zep because at least It came from me, and real art is SELF expression...not expressing someone else's vision.
Man this is exactly what I needed to hear, I've been struggling with an RSI I've developed from guitar and find it really hard to just put the instrument down. Thank you for this extra push to look after myself!
Some seriously valuable reminders from career musicians summed up in a digestible video. Definitely saving this for subsequent watches when I need some advice. It’s so insanely easy to fall into the comparison and chops trap… but obvious that the main enjoyment comes from following your preferences and connecting with the instrument on an individual level! Thank you!!
My first listen to you. This is awesome!!! Please offer more coaching like this. I've only played music for over 50 years ;) and you're saying things I greatly find beneficial and wish I'd heard long ago. I'll pass it along to others.
While it may not hit the algorithm hard, please know it's appreciate. Having a plan and focusing on what you want out of your time in the shed is so important.
Great stuff! You and your friends are wise! Allow me to add: Get a metronome. Use it regularly, but not too long. Use it to push your tempos on stuff, and also to slow down tempos but keep them rock steady. Being able to keep strict tempo at any tempo is a great skill to have. You can always throw in all the rubato and accelerando you want when you switch it off. And remember that music is part of your birthright as a human being. We all get to make music in whatever way we can. Some of us just get more obsessive about it.
I had a great time during my shed years. I still revisit my practice habits and it helped shape my determination in other areas of my life. Environment and mindset are important. It doesn't have to be grueling punishment.
This a really great video. My teenage kids are learning to play and I'm showing them this to help them understand that they both learn differently and shouldn't compare themselves to each other, or the other kids they play with. It's easy to get discouraged. Thanks for posting this!
Very glad you brought up injury because that's the easy one to overlook. I was victim to this while just grinding super fast 16th notes and ended up tweaking my hand and it started swelling. After some doctors visits that sent me to PT I'm all good now but it definitely changed my perspective on music a lot. It also taught me not to break my body just so I can attempt to sound like Joe Dart 🙃. You live and you learn and now I'm really leaning into my own style instead. I feel like that's healthier for my hands lol. Thanks for sharing Philip.
Yeah I hate to break it to you but Joe Dart isn't real. He's just a rubber doll that Jack does some editing tricks on to make it look like he's playing an instrument. If you were to watch the raw(er) footage of him playing it's just Mr. Goss in a greensuit shaking the living hell out of that floppy man's neck
Thanks for the tough talk dude! every girl musician needs to hear this. EVERY song or video i’ve ever posted gets random dudes negging me and every other girl that makes music. Makes it so easy to turn into a noodling hermit.
Wow this little 17 minutes changed my life for true, now when im going to improvise I just try to feel what im feeling nd play it like I mean it. Its so easy to spend a lifetime trying to play like somebody else and forget about yourself.
Bro why does this make me wanna cry Hearing a lot of this reminds of the reason I actually bought and picked up any instrument and it was at first out of curiosity and out of eagerness, but now I think for me it's a lot more about love and the passion of every note of every chord.
I used to be a burnt out arrogant musician, but then I started making those UA-cam videos where you put neon paint on the drumheads but instead of paint i use my own diarrhea
Some absolute gold in here - great video! I'm nearly 40, so I'm pretty far along in my journey, but so much of this advice would have been incredibly helpful to have heard as a developing player. I was a bit of a late bloomer and like you, I took a bit of time to pick up on certain concepts. For years, I would go to a gig and feel like I absolutely got my ass kicked by the musicians I was sharing the stage with. I would really beat myself up over it, but after a while I started thinking "yeah, maybe you weren't the best player on the stage, but they keep calling you to come back". I've learned that I will never have the chops of a lot of my favorite players but I have my own thing that I bring to the table, and there are always going to be people that appreciate "my thing".
Thank you for making this video!!! Even though I’ve been playing for a long time already it’s always nice to hear how someone else’s experience compares to your own and I wish I would have seen this video a lot sooner it would have saved me a lot of headaches
Chuck Lorre famously gave up on being a full-time musician after hearing a young Pat Metheny play. He did give us the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles theme song on his way out, but imagine a world where he had the emotional maturity to realize that the journey takes time instead of giving up, going into television production and giving us The Big Bang Theory
Man, you have such a wonderful group of friends, their words are so so inspiring. It resonates with a thing my father said to me: A few years ago, I was so upset about my playing that my father saw that I was truly frustrated; I told him that I wasn't getting any better and he said "so? You have your whole life to practice and try new things and try to get better. Then, why hurry?". It also reminds me to some concepts of zen buddhism (well, Suzuki's concept of zen), including the idea of developing a technique (could it be in some kind of art or not) not just to dominate a thing, not to impose your force or your will, but to clear the mind and get a better undestanding of the world that surrounds us. The technique as a medium of being in the world. Thanks!
Having recordings of 11 and 12 year old me learning to play is such a great reminder for me when it feels like I'm not getting anywhere with practice. I've been at it for 10+ years at this point, and it doesn't always feel linear, but progress is happening and it's visible from recording to recording.
It’s all about learning how to express something to the people listening or to yourself. It’s not about intense, skill, speed, and pyrotechnics. It seems like an easy thing to understand but it’s hard to really get a handle on performing properly which only comes from performing a lot and being honest with yourself.
This was the best advice I’ve ever gotten especially the part about the shed and compression as a self taught guitarist for 3-5 years I’ve been told I’m really good. But I talk to other kids a bit younger than me on instagram…….. blah blah the point is I love this video and it added a lot more of motivation, thank you
This came at a good time for me. I started playing music 3 years ago at 36 years old. I’ve always felt I’m at a disadvantage from other people because I don’t know anyone else that didn’t start playing as a kid. I used to feel pride around this point but just lately I’ve been feeling discouraged. All the people I play with have been playing for much, much longer than me. I feel like I will never be able to do the things that people that started playing as a teenager can do. It takes me so much longer to learn simple things and I’ve been getting frustrated. Yesterday at a jam session I just hid in the back occasionally hitting notes on a steel drum, feeling like I don’t belong and should sell my stuff and move on to something else.
Stick it out man. All in good time. I learned at 16 which I had always thought was quite late. But I’ve improved more in the last five years than my first 20. Follow the guidance of this video. I started to keep tabs of where I was at with certain practice exercises with the metronome and over time I got faster and more accurate. And that was the goal. I always told myself I’ll never be fast. It was all bs. Be kind to yourself, allow yourself to suck with no judgment.
Loved this video! It really spoke to me, and how I’ve been feeling these past few months. Was so upset that I haven’t written anything in months, but I realized that I haven’t taken the time to even experiment. And I was so busy comparing myself to my influences than actually taking the steps to just play and write.
Superb.✔️ Vital.✔️ Spot On.✔️ Finally❤ An intelligent, informed, thoughtful , approachable, applicable, philosophical, humanistic mini-class on all things Wood-Shedding. Kit Drum Musician and lifelong/lifetime explorer of Space & Time fortunate to have the guidance of many great (patient) musicians. Singer Songwriters and Bandleaders who expanded my vocabulary across genre zones. Play for the song. Even some of my Rock n Roll heroes , the vinyl in my ears and the posters on my wall. growing up.
The way I ran into this video immediately after a 3 hour long practice session where I got so little done 😓 thank you for posting this, it came into my life at the perfect time ❤
The biggest advice I can say is hum or sing your lines if you can while improvising in practice and sometimes live. I got this from jazz guys and it REALLY helps with playing melodic lines and feeling connected to your instrument.
"healing everyone around you" is quite profound. think you did some of that in this video. feel a little less alone in the world. "pure ,honest expression" is a great reminder of the whole point......just got to be careful when certain songs get beaten to death from rote repetition to the point of sleepwalking.
I Been in the shed with my DIY synth for 3 years. This is good advice. Haven't made a song or recorded a lot. Been slowly chipping away crafting hardware. Really got to play more and not worry about what I want to make next. I finally finished my first own proper hardware project now though. It makes it feel worth it in some way.
one thing that I have learned is to divide the intellectual and physical parts of shedding up in to two. So i collect ideas, licks, exercises and theory on my laptop while i am working and living. then i prioiritise the ones i want to check out based on what projects i am working on and I am super focussed on these when i get round to shedding. this also has the benefit of not pissing off neighbours and family by playing for ages and not really getting anywhere. I also knew someone who developed lifelong injuries to his tendons from overpractice of the drums so the threat of injury is real
There are no dangers in my shed because I let Music come in anytime she wants. With her there I'm free to follow. I often think to practice slow, methodical stuff, but within 30 seconds I'm shredding through chord changes at first familiar, then unfamiliar, from where I draw material for new compositions as well as practical understanding of theory. When I emerge from a "practice" I'm pretty much guaranteed that I feel like I've been to the other side of the universe without any of the concerning things presented in this video. And I do myofascial release (stretches) often. I respect musicians who respect Music and I avoid those enemies of Music as she has shown. She has called her elect to serve in the celebration of life, none of them sound like each other but they all have her voice 🙏
The best thing I ever did to improve was to join a weekly gypsy jazz jam session with some very good musicians. Over the past 6 or 7 years, we have built up a list of around 80 or 90 tunes to call from in the session. Learning all these tunes gave me a structure and a framework for practice and a playground for improvisation. Also, learning most of the tunes and chords by ear not just solos has forced me to develop and I can learn and remember things a lot quicker. I get bored practicing scales and arpeggios so I rarely do that anymore. I just play along to records and acquire repertoire and vocabulary! Thanks for the cool video. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts and those of your musician friends. ❤
Back in the late seventies my dad used to put led Zeppelin in the headphones and sing on to tape only recording his voice and then he would go back and listen to only his voice and this was really helpful. It was helpful enough that he told me all about it.
On Robert Johnson: He got laughed out of a club by Sun Seals or Leadbelly. He vanished. He went to Winterhaven,MS and worked as a gravedigger. Another Undertaker happened to be a local blues savant. He learned from him after midnight in a cemetery with no lights. He learned it blind. His woodshed was a graveyard. He went back to the same place 2 years later and introduced the world to Hill Country Blues. He played crossroads. That same musician, Lead or Seals, remembered him and said "Boy, did you sell your soul? You are not the same player." Thats where the legend began.
Well done, man. Ive been playing guitar since around 1992 but only recently have had the chance to really pursue playing. I've been in the woodshed every day for the last 2 years. For the first couple of months, I spent around 16 hours a day practicing guitar. I ended up cutting my fingers through the rawhide callouses I had developed. I would superglue and tape them and keep going until I basically turned them into mushroom shaped scabs. I had a brain tumor at that time, so that greatly contributed to the level of insanity it took to practice that much. I dialed the hours back after that, but I still play 7 days a week for about 3 hours a day. I can identify with all the advice you gave here, and I learned some stuff also. Thank you for the video.
Comparing yourself to others isn't negative; it gives you context for what you're doing. You learn a lot by seeing what others do. The problem is when comparison makes you insecure. But feeling insecure can actually push you to get better. The real enemy is pessimism because it can kill your creativity. Then again, pessimism might also shape your unique sound. Problems in art can be a catalyst for creativity. Facing challenges can lead to new ideas and directions in your music. Embrace these challenges; they can help you grow. By tackling these problems you can definitely win, against yourself. Aim to be better than you were yesterday. What truly matters is that you don't give up ♥
My friend's older cousin had a tiny shed that they started their first band in. Whenever I hear about shedding it brings me back to when I first started learning guitar as a kid. I used to watch them practice in the shed all the time. 3 piece band & there was barely enough room for me to fit in there to watch. I thought it was the coolest thing & I wanted to be in a band so bad. The shed is very sentimental to me because I kinda started off in an actual shed
The hurting yourself part is real, I gave myself tendonitis when I was 17 for over practicing!!! I did not feel like I was doing it at the time, but looking back on it I was.
What a powerful video! I’m new to playing music, I’ve only been playing bass since December. My youngest son (already an adult) is even newer to guitar, he’s been playing about a month. This video is so important I shared it with him and when I see him again this weekend, we will discuss it. Thank you for sharing!
i been in the shed for 7 years on drums but all around (cuz i mess with synths and guitar... and daws), maybe longer. Dude, Im even stuck in sheds with other, non-musical activities!! Anyow, Im all over the place in terms of coming up with excuses for other things to practice or improve on FIRST... before just getting the heck "out there." This was an insanely informative and helpful video. I had no idea I was in a "shed" let alone it was something to navigate. The social stuff one dude mentioned... WOW.... wow. You have helped me in terms of mental health Philip. Comparing!!?? and joy!!?? I do that with just everyday life!! Or like I've experienced countless Friday nights that I bummed myself out of, simply cuz I imagined there's prolly "cooler" or more "fun" places to be partying at. Recipe for complete spirit/soul death!! Great therapy sesh. Have great day! Cheers!!
I love playing in my shed. It has improved my playing tremedously. If I never play with another band, Im happy just turning on my tablet, bluetoothing it to my stack amp and playing along just like I was in another band. The problem I have experienced is getting along with band members. It seems theres always some people that just cant share as a group. I think it might be jealousy, but it could be just a dominating personality. And that was before I started shedding. I quit the band and experienced the same thing in another band. So, I just started playing alone in a shed. And Im glad I did. I can play what I want, when I want and learn so much more than what others would not tell me. I just discovered how to play better without the help of others. On rare ocassions when I do play out now, people have asked me where I have been and want me to play their favorite songs. I do and they thank me. People tell me that I need to go to Nashville, but I dont care to. Im content for now, just to play in my shed to the songs like Give me love by George Harrison, Hotel California by the Eagles, Seminole Wind by John Anderson. Or Columbus by Jimmy Buffet. I have for years been my own worst critic. But I figure one can never get too good at playing. A typical practice useually last about six hours, but on ocassions, when Im really into the music, I have played for 12 hours. Of course, I have to skip a day after a 12 hour session, but Ive recently realized that playing long hours has really improved my ability. Just this last year, a friend that use to come over and pick with me died and he left me an electric guitar. It was my first electric guitar and its so much easier than my acoustic guitar to play. I just love to play guitar and my fiddle. It doesnt matter to me if I never play in another band except for the fact that more players just enhances the musical experience. My looper works well enough, but I cant seem to get my timing of when to push the button down. At least not yet. Im not very good at the slow blues though. Guess I spent too much time playing bluegrass, rock, country, and a little gospel. I find it difficult to play that slow, although I do have to admire the use of minor tones in blues. I was playing "I dreamed there was no war", the Eagles version just last night and thought, "If I can play this, why cant I play slow blues?" I have yet to answer that question for myself. If I had to estimate my hours I play each week, I'd have to guess between forty to sixty hours. I play with the intent on getting better and not planning on playing for the public any time soon. If I get asked, I might consider it only because my wife wants me to. For myself, Im content to play right by myself. No moving equipment. No putting up with drunken patrons. No fellow band members dictating to me about where my hierarchy position in the band is. Its just me, my guitar and amp, and endless enjoyment and satisfaction of getting a musical piece right. To me, its shear bliss simply because I love playing. And thats what playing is all about.
One thing about music is to always remember it is a art medium where you channel your emotions. I have heard people at the beginning of their musical journey who are able to create beautiful sounds with their limitations through focusing and enjoying the process a sensitivity is expressed.
This was a great video. I'm planning to take some time in shed and master what I've been learning in my guitar lessons. I had the privilege to make an Indy rock album, recorded at home with some friends a few years ago. It was far from perfect but it was genuine and authentic. Going to the shed will help me make more music and do it better than before, allowing me to play the things I feel and hear in my head. When listening to your own recordings it's bets to use constructive criticism; using positive and corrective feedback. The main thing is to keep the joy for the music, express yourself and play/share with others when you can.
I use to want to be a famous musician and eventually gave up. However, I've found in recent years that I just enjoy the process of woodshedding. I'm totally content with just focusing on my chops and being stoked about the cool stuff I can play because of it. Honestly, some people would scoff at this but I enjoy treating it both as an art, AND a sport. I could play for the rest of my life without ever getting anything out of it just because I love it
Something I want to say is if you don't have a very portable instrument get one (like a clarinet or a little flute or something) and when you have the urge to play, play! Don't worry it too much about it being good since it's not your main instrument anyway. But when you play in the moment you get the fleeting urge to do so you can really ride that wave of inspiration and remember why you love music
Thank you for the video, this is very inspiring! I've been playing for almost a decade at this point but have kinda lost my focus when it comes to practicing, and while I still have fun playing with friends I don't feel like I'm at the skill level I want to be at quite yet. I'm going to uni this year and they have a very competitive jazz band, so I likely won't make it in this year. But now I'm motivated, and I'll be entering the shed for the next couple years. I'll make sure to use all these great insights you've given us to help me in the shed, and hopefully in a couple years I'll have achieved my goals and have come out as a better musician.
I’m prioritizing having a shed / garage space for my first house, looking forward to having the space to setup my instruments and mics and stuff to where I can walk in and play without moving stuff or setting up
I have a separate place just for music (My channel is a one-man recording studio of mostly cover songs), but I take long breaks. I once quit playing every instrument for four years. I'm on hiatus from recording right now, have been for over a year. This way it's never work. When I do record, I go eyeballs deep. Then when I don't feel like it anymore, I don't do it anymore. Can't wait for the next channel comeback though, because every iteration of the channel evolves and improves. And right now my videos have gotten really cool already. These long breaks are my secret weapon. They even seem to have a way of breaking my through my plateaus. The best way to overcome a plateau, for me, seems to be time off. The brain plasticity and muscle memory, who knows why, but it works.
![He told me how to Find the Pocket with ANY Band [ft. Tim Pierce]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/walos4a-6Yw/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for talking about mental health without immediately transitioning into a better help ad 😂
@AdamFontenet-k8jor perhaps there is a genuine problem that businesses are looking to exploit
Yea I need ptsd counseling from all those “smooth transitions” into their ads I can’t hear about anything mental health without bracing myself for it 😂
I get so saddened when I read comments like, "well I'm sorry for ever touching an instrument", "no matter how good you are, there's a Chinese kid who's better". I know they're jokes but many people do feel that way deep down and I wish they'd learn to love the music regardless of skill
I celebrate the Asian kid. Haha good on them, but I do feel bad for the amount of therapy they’ll need to heal from their Tiger moms.
@@DylanWOWilliams- This is actually a good point. I used to know a pianist who now teaches college music in Vermont, whose education made her too elitist to write anything with soul, and too neurotic to be around.
I call those people ‘the audience.’
@@Bikewithlove I knew someone like that growing up who seemed to be forcing himself into blues and jazz because that was considered the "pinnacle" of guitar. He clearly had no love for it, but he wanted to be the best
I'm 31, I've taught drums for 9 years, and I'm finally shedding (no pun intended, seriously) the discouragement and mental paralysis that's been holding me back.
Recording kind of changed my life. Late last year I started writing and recording 1 short piece of music a week, without the pressure of it needing to be good. Sometimes it's just a riff, other times it's more fleshed out. The feeling of setting out to record anything at all, and sometimes stumbling on something beautiful that genuinely resonates with you is incredible. It's also kind of cool having a piece of music to represent each week of my life now, like a weird musical journal that captures how I was feeling.
That is way cool!
Thanks for sharing this! I've recorded off and on for 40 yrs, and will be reconfiguring my studio shortly for, perhaps, doing what you describe. I have so many quick sketches recorded on my phone to develop...
The key to beating resistance! It’s kind of a miracle we even have that option, to do that in our own homes or even anywhere electricity can be found
nice job staying consistent and sticking with it too! that's awesome
recording yourself is priceless and very uncomfortable to start with BUT DO IT
I was a hotshot “whizz kid” and over-practiced throughout my teens and early 20’- it’s taken me 2 decades to unlearn a lot of the psychological and physical tension i unwittingly habituated. For me now, as an older musician, relaxation is paramount to optimal practice- the more chilled out I am the better. Your insights here resonated with me a great deal. Thank you.
I walk the same path.
I can relate 100%
Someone I know once had a successful music career as a young person and then decided to play jazz. Very soon he abandoned electric guitar for piano, took a degree in composition, studying all styles of classical music and jazz, apparently mastered all of them woodshedding for the last 40+ years. But none of us have heard a note of his music in all this time. I suppose Heaven will be the place where we can hear all the fruits of his solo labors for my entire adult life, but not this world.
Oh. The spirit world is infinite with music and other things. Im sure we'll have a great time listening to all the music in the universe one day :)
It was sarcasm, dummy.
@@BrunoGarciaMusic then maybe I’ll be able to play everything I could not in this life! Like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Summer Tempest A TEMPO!
So, did any of your hear any of this person’s music when they were a young person? Live or recordings?
@@MisterWade74 no it was all reported to me through my sister. I don’t doubt that he was excellent at whatever he was working on. I heard a little of his later compositions that he wrote ‘on spec’ and never got paid for.
I heard you say at the end that you don’t think this video “will do well” but if your goal here is to help people just know that I run a small nonprofit organization that focuses on musicians’ mental health in my local community. Fully intend on sharing this with my leadership team, including it as a piece of research in our general lit review, as well as sharing it with my music students. Great stuff, mate and I am so glad you took the time to put this together. A lot of people need this
Thank you so much for the kind words and for what you do!
@@philipconradmusic This is the first video of yours I’ve seen as it just randomly popped up on my UA-cam and it’s incredibly inspiring. I’ve been feeling a burn out recently and this just came at the perfect time and I’d like to say thank you for making this
Hey man, sounds like a great organization that you run. If you have a link I'd love to donate
It’s really nice to hear someone else say they’re a slow but thorough learner. That’s something I know about myself and at times I feel embarrassed learning something new publicly.
You might as well have saved my career as a musician.
People say things come when you need them the most, and I came in contact with this video. Been struggling with the constant battle with myself during my shed practice.
Thank you
same man :(((
Me learning that I'm not a "bassist" or a "guitarist" was the best realization ever for me. I realized I'm a musician and songwriter, not an instrumentlist. I have this whole new love of music and it's like a world of possibilities now. I've been in the woodshed for a while now with the violin, and I'm really getting results now
Whatever I am labeled is puffery. My goal through mastery of instrument (never accomplished) is to realize the power of the music. I have the power to realize the music but the power of music is not mine, thank heaven. That keeps me going.
That makes no sense. If you play a specific instrument there is a term for that. That’s it. Don’t overthink it.
I recently started an Ozzy tribute band and I think what keeps me going is feeling honored to play the band's music and to play it well and do it justice. Randy Rhoads is my favorite guitar player of all time and the sound he created feels much bigger than me in the best possible sense. Same goes for Jake and Zakk. I started playing guitar again a few years ago and I think what keeps me motivated is simply just playing the sort of music I want to play. Not just that, but finding songs I love that are within my skill level, and then pushing myself with songs that are somewhere beyond it. Playing the easier songs makes me feel like a rock star, the harder songs remind me that I constantly want to grow as a player and that I'll nail those songs in due time.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and those of your friends. Recently, I had a lesson with my violin/viola teacher where I was expressing despair over feeling like I had stagnated over the year after graduating from school, where I thought I would have all this time to get better. She helped me through it by showing me that although my chops did not blow up as I thought, she had seen me make huge strides in my musicianship and that I had learned things about being a musician that took her decades. It helped me shift my perspective away from feeling bad that I am not some virtuoso but more toward just enjoying and sharing the music with others. Thank you.
"The world doesn't need more monsters." YES! Exactly what I needed to hear. Great advice. Great video. Thanks for making this for us.
My response as a musician would be "how many Chinese kids sell albums in America or sell merch or sell out shows."
@@Your_friendly_racist_neighbor Chinese kids sell computers and smartphones in America, not albums!
@@devilsoffspring5519 no they steal cellphones and computers to sell. Big difference.
@@devilsoffspring5519
don’t forget the bootleg vapes ;)
@@CantTellYou I've gotten counterfeit shaving razors from Amazon too :) hehehehe
Fuckers.
6:05 one of the best investments you can have for an electric guitar is a looper pedal. Quick recordings that you can listen to, play over to practice consistancy, and the recordings arent things that stick around long enough for you to beat yourself up over them well after youve progessed past that skill level, like regular recordings do.
Loops make me go absolutely batshit insane.. one reason I record slow.. once I hear a section of drums or another instrument or take a few times...I need a break. Pattern recognition is built into us and it makes me go crazy if i don't pace things out and take breaks. I own a very expensive looper and it is collecting dust. People who can use them effortlessly are something else. I cant use one without loosing my mind.
I had one 20 years ago and I miss it.
I usually create loops in GarageBand for that purpose because I'm useless with a looper pedal.
"You can't win music" can also even be contextualized as "you can't beat the shed". Treating a song like a finished product rather than a changing piece of life. Of course you should absolutely record, soon, and often, and be mindful that you can always change it. Some of the most moving music I've heard is a live version or genuine rerecording of a song i already liked.
The shed has no goal. You need to set goals in the shed. Attainable, like, you know you can achieve it in a month's time, goals.
I have no goal but to let Music discover to me the secret of the day.
This video hits hard especially since I just came back from a 3 year hiatus from my trombone. I had lost the passion that made music fun for me near the end of my last gig 3 years ago. I didn't really have any will or want to express myself with music anymore so I took a break. In those three years I've done a lot of growing, but also felt shame that I hadn't picked up my trombone in so long. I felt as though I was doing myself, and by extension, my community and fellow musicians a disservice by not playing. But what you quoted really helped me, that we shouldn't feel bad or ashamed to want to take a break. It's our journey and we should take it at our own pace. I found a new vigor when I returned to it and am even more inspired than ever. Sometimes you just need a break to realize how important it really is and to give yourself room to grow in other aspects of your life. The wisdom you gained will translate through your musical expression.
@@tommybinson Thanks Tommy, Best to you as well.
This was so much the right video at the right time for me. Thanks!
It's easy to look at your peers and get discouraged. It's easy to forget all the work you have put in, all the progress you made. When we surround ourselves with other musicians, we thrive, but we also forget that we are a small group of weirdos, we quickly think the whole world is seeing right through us, seeing us for the fraud we perceive ourselves to be.
Music is truly one of the most beautiful things the human experience has to offer, and we get to make it. And when someone is better than us at it, we should be thrilled and inspired instead of discouraged like we often do.
Someone on tumblr once wrote "Whenever you're doubting your abilities, just remember that you are literally making an inanimate object sing". You're giving a voice to a piece of wood, or a piece of brass, or whatever else. You're making magic
I agree with you , I grew up gigging with people who looked at it as a competition (they were true narcissists). I hated it and I feel like it discouraged me. When I finally got away from people like that I realized i’m playing to make myself happy and not somebody else happy that I am relying on to play with for money that I need to survive.. who were truly terrible human beings. With that mind set gone, I started getting better exactly how I wanted to much faster (and still am) because now I’m having fun doing what I did originally when I decided to pick up and learn an instrument, playing with cool people and different genres. Now I’m comfortable without that toxic pressure and I’ve learned this is key to appreciate music and have fun, playing with like minded people. Everyone every once in a while might hit a wrong note or mis place a note.. play with people who will look at you and smile or laugh instead of people who cut dirty looks at you in front of a crowd (when most likely they make more mistakes)
Music has called her elect to serve in the celebration of life.
Man, that comment from your friend Colin. That’s is so accurate and inspiring. I’m currently shedding, trying to unlearn years of bad technique while also learning new repertoire. At times it feels something approaching self harm. The focus of playing, even while practicing, is so simple yet so vital. Also the thought that your expression might be a source of joy for people? It’s all the validation I need. A happy accident coming upon your video! Thanks a million, as we say in Ireland!
A couple ways to avoid burnout and arrogance: when you feel like you’re starting to master things but potentially burning out, switch it up-genre, style, or even a new instrument. It will humble you, challenge you and improve your overall musicality and reinvigorate your curiosity and creativity. The skills that seep into your listening and playing life greatly broaden your horizons and versatility. I wholeheartedly agree about the equal importance of time spent both practicing and reacting.
Thanks for this uplifting upload. I’ve been studying music since I was 3 yrs old. I will be 49 in a few days time. I have never wanted a formal education in music, having chosen the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle afforded by an education in pure mathematics, but for the past 46 years it has been like an oasis of calm, running in the background all day, every day. Forever the padawan, never the master. Stellar content, good sir. 🫡
Really glad you made this video. It is where I am right now. Practicing, but not gigging, and I started to wonder why I am practicing. This gives me a reason to keep going.
You are like my new favorite channel. Words of wisdom for sure. Being neurodivergent, the ADHD side of me makes it real hard to focus and regiment my practice time. I can noodle on a pad for hours, or get on the kit with the intention to practice a 3/4/5/7 polyrythm, but I end up getting frustrated and saying Fkit i'm going to noodle to some tunes instead. If I can get myself into hyperfocus with a click and a particular pattern, I can lock it in rather easily, but getting to that point without having an ' ouu look something shiny' moment is often daunting. I find playing and grooving to tracks is far better for me, because I can focus on feel and let the rest melt away. I'd rather develop my pocket then my chops.
I've been playing 30 years now, taking a bit of a hiatus in the middle where having drums was not possible, and raising a familiy took all my energy. I started recording myself last year, and I have noticed huge strides. My frustration is that I have so much recorded that I don't have the time or energy to upload. I do watch it all though. Often noodling to a song, I'll get lost in the music, but I have realized that getting lost, means I am not LISTENING to what is playing, but rather just paying over it. Not exactly Ideal.
I believe that your video just unlocked something powerful for me, that can solve this for me, and give me a leg up.. Let me explain.
WHY this happens to me: As someone with AudiHD, I find comport in repetition. I find myself listening and jamming to the same stuff, over and over and over ...'ad nauseum' some might say. This is very common for people with ADHD. While it is awesome to be able to pull out the little intricacies in the back of the mix, It has a halting effect on my practice. Due to the repetitive nature of my listening, any patterns I play off hand, tend to be one of a few, having to actively think, 'hrm, what is coming up, and what can I play there. " So getting lost in a farmiliar song, means I am limited to what I can play. The solution, is to jam to unfamiliar music as often as possible. never heard this track? jam to it...Don't really listen to this type of music..Jam to it.... Can't get lost in the song if you don't know it. It forces me to listen and be present, and engage with the track and adapt playing accordingly.
The second part of this, is that I have a hard time finding and connecting with other musicians. For me, the Shed (quite literally where I spend 90% of my practice time) . In 30 years, I can count on 1 hand how many times I have engaged with other musicians to play and create in this craft which is such a big part of my life. I've never been able to find friends to make, let alone ones that want to get together and play and create. Autism makes it hard to find and insert ones self into those situations. Autistics are by their very nature, used to being put on the sidelines. This is particularly sad,for me because music, especially playing and interacting with it, gives me 100% unadulterated 'autistic joy'. So so sit on the sidelines, watching other do what you would love to do, but never being invited to participate, hurts more then you know. I was also lost to my biological family for 40 odd years, just to find my biological fam, are quite skilled musically. Can you believe that I have only ever been asked to join in them once in the last 10 years. Ad that was at a birthday party where it was rock band themed.
I apologize if this drags anyone down here, not my intention. I just ... idk. I'm a musical soul at heart, lost, absent and invisible to musicians around me. Atleast that is what it fells like. And on that note, please go have a listen to Burbon House. Despite all this, I am still hella proud of her.
Wow!
"This is your journey and your music, and you'll be doing the world a service by being sincere with it," --Justin Powell
I must frame that and hang it on the wall of my shed! Thank you for posting this! Great vid!
For the record, one of the best videos I've seen in awhile, it's just what I needed to hear. Thank you
The shed isn’t a toxic place, the relationship a musician can form with the shed is what can be toxic.
I was stuck in the shed for a long time until I realized how I was holding myself back through inadvertent elitism about my songwriting and never ever showing it to anyone, so at the behest of a co-worker I started my channel in 2019 for the sake of having SOMETHING to show people and since then it's been a journey to get out of the shed.
Many times, woodshed sessions for me end up feeling like the movie Whiplash. Being super hard on myself, no grace for mistakes, etc. But I know better, and you’ve reaffirmed the power of practicing with positivity, focus and patience. Julian Lage also had some wonderful advice on this topic at a recent show. Thanks Philip! Great video.
That film is an awesome depiction of all the negatives of woodshedding, especially when hes hands are cut up and hes putting ice on them!
I know its hyperbole using film language but its a powerful image. I had a friend who i used to jam with when I first started playing guitar who ended up with a RSI on his wrist from practcing too long with bad technique. It actually makes you progress backwards as you jave to rest ot up for months at time. Losing any gains you made to begin with.
RSI = Repetitive Strain Injury
fyi 😊
People forget that this is supposed to be fun and nothing else. If it isn't fun, you're doing it all wrong. I've been a career artist for most of my adult life but there came a time when I had drawn or painted everything I cared to. It stopped challenging me and became paint by number boring, so it was time to hand down my brushes and move on...and take on a new artform - - - the guitar. It's been an awesome challenge. I feel young again.
Justin & Colin really hit the nail with our relationship with music and our chosen instrument(s), and selves.
Thanks Dude! I play some but mostly working on my self right now. I find it amazing that the better I feel the more I want to play and the more creative I am. Thank you for posting your videos!!
This video is unbelievably great and I'm glad that a lot of the concepts I've come across on my own are covered extensively; I really hope this video explodes so that more people can see this and understand these ideas, or at least put words to something they may already know.
The shed is absolutely dangerous for your mental AND physical health if you go into it with a mindset that isn't improving/learning; if you go in expecting to match something exactly, you'll end up destroying yourself on the way there.
I started playing piano in May of 2022 when I was 19, I had absolutely no musical experience prior (even throughout High School), so I was going in completely blind. I started by getting to know my chosen instrument: playing random chords, trying stuff like full chord shapes in both hands, different rhythms/styles, anything that I could to get an intuitive sense of the keyboard itself. Then in late 2022 I came across a UA-camr "Devin Lawrence", who has top down videos of the piano parts of songs, a lot of those being from my favorite band: "The Beach Boys". I started with "California Girls", then "Wouldn't It Be Nice", then "God Only Knows"; each ramped up in difficulty and introduced me to different ideas and ways of playing. In between those I would compose songs, introducing things I had picked up from the pieces I was learning and attempting to master, and sometimes those compositions were more ambitious or difficult than the pieces I was currently learning. I couldn't possibly express how much he accelerated my learning process because of the content he made available for FREE.
I was doing it out of the joy for the instrument and out of the joy for learning. I was most definitely in the shed, with nobody I could share my journey with or let personally influence my own. Was I hard on myself at times? Absolutely, extremely hard, and sometimes that's ok as long as you are able to temper that and come back when you may be able to do better; but, it's when you prolong that hardship that it becomes damaging. It's just like a muscle, working it and getting it sore is ok - that's growth - but overworking it to the point you stretch something too far is not.
I then got into Bass guitar to ease my transition into Guitar, and I did the same process as I did with piano. I learned the walking line from "Surfin' Safari" by The Beach Boys which was simple, then I learned the more complex lead line from "Dance, Dance, Dance" which was a great fast line to improve my hand movement. I then learned "Good Vibrations" which was a great introduction to Jazz bass lines and had me doing large octave jumps and large hand movements. But more important than that, was improvisation and being able to adapt to what you're hearing; and what Chad had to say was exactly spot on. If you play along to your favorite songs, and try to add to them or improvise with them, you are already improving. Then when you start going outside of what you typically listen to, and try to play along with different genres, that's where you really start to hone your specific craft; that specifically, helped me a lot in understanding where I should be going to and predicting the next set of notes.
Just like anything, if you don't go in with love, it'll break you down because you're trying to reach something out of ingenuity. But, if you go into the shed out of the love of what you're doing and with the mindset of improvement, you'll come out significantly sharper than you did going in.
That was a really warm, compassionate video. Damn! Have legit been thinking about quitting an instrument I’ve been playing for a long time. This, along with some advice from good friends has inspired me to try again. Much love!
Dude this video is FANTASTIC! Totally needed this atm, love it!
THIS IS THE GREATEST DOSE OF WISDOM IVE SEEN/HEARD IN YEARS !!! Thank you bass brother !
At this point, I do believe in balancing comparison with others and not getting sucked into just "copying" something/someone. Thank you for this! I'm at the point of copying something and not being my true self in shed.
When I'm noodling around with guitar and find something popular by accident, I stop immediately and find somewhere else to play on the neck. I dig classic rock but where would we all be with a thousand David Gilmour's or a thousand SRVs.?? BORING. I would rather play my own mediocre stuff than classic Led Zep because at least It came from me, and real art is SELF expression...not expressing someone else's vision.
@@randallmccoy8581 love this!
Thank you for taking the time to create this video and the channel in general. The world's a better place for it!
Man this is exactly what I needed to hear, I've been struggling with an RSI I've developed from guitar and find it really hard to just put the instrument down. Thank you for this extra push to look after myself!
Some seriously valuable reminders from career musicians summed up in a digestible video. Definitely saving this for subsequent watches when I need some advice. It’s so insanely easy to fall into the comparison and chops trap… but obvious that the main enjoyment comes from following your preferences and connecting with the instrument on an individual level! Thank you!!
My first listen to you. This is awesome!!! Please offer more coaching like this. I've only played music for over 50 years ;) and you're saying things I greatly find beneficial and wish I'd heard long ago. I'll pass it along to others.
While it may not hit the algorithm hard, please know it's appreciate. Having a plan and focusing on what you want out of your time in the shed is so important.
25k views isnt chopped liver, its top 1%
Great stuff! You and your friends are wise!
Allow me to add: Get a metronome. Use it regularly, but not too long. Use it to push your tempos on stuff, and also to slow down tempos but keep them rock steady. Being able to keep strict tempo at any tempo is a great skill to have. You can always throw in all the rubato and accelerando you want when you switch it off.
And remember that music is part of your birthright as a human being. We all get to make music in whatever way we can. Some of us just get more obsessive about it.
_“Remember that music is part of your birthright as a human being.”_
@@siamsasean *Amen.*
I can attest to recording and listening back to every. Single. Practice. And. Performance.
I had a great time during my shed years. I still revisit my practice habits and it helped shape my determination in other areas of my life. Environment and mindset are important. It doesn't have to be grueling punishment.
I come back to this video every time I get a new instrument cause it’s so well put together it really helps center and guide my practice
This a really great video. My teenage kids are learning to play and I'm showing them this to help them understand that they both learn differently and shouldn't compare themselves to each other, or the other kids they play with. It's easy to get discouraged. Thanks for posting this!
Very glad you brought up injury because that's the easy one to overlook. I was victim to this while just grinding super fast 16th notes and ended up tweaking my hand and it started swelling. After some doctors visits that sent me to PT I'm all good now but it definitely changed my perspective on music a lot. It also taught me not to break my body just so I can attempt to sound like Joe Dart 🙃. You live and you learn and now I'm really leaning into my own style instead. I feel like that's healthier for my hands lol. Thanks for sharing Philip.
Yeah I hate to break it to you but Joe Dart isn't real. He's just a rubber doll that Jack does some editing tricks on to make it look like he's playing an instrument.
If you were to watch the raw(er) footage of him playing it's just Mr. Goss in a greensuit shaking the living hell out of that floppy man's neck
Thanks for the tough talk dude!
every girl musician needs to hear this. EVERY song or video i’ve ever posted gets random dudes negging me and every other girl that makes music. Makes it so easy to turn into a noodling hermit.
Wow this little 17 minutes changed my life for true, now when im going to improvise I just try to feel what im feeling nd play it like I mean it. Its so easy to spend a lifetime trying to play like somebody else and forget about yourself.
Bro why does this make me wanna cry
Hearing a lot of this reminds of the reason I actually bought and picked up any instrument
and it was at first out of curiosity and out of eagerness, but now I think for me it's a lot more about love and the passion of every note of every chord.
I’m a burnt out arrogant musician
I used to be a burnt out arrogant musician, but then I started making those UA-cam videos where you put neon paint on the drumheads but instead of paint i use my own diarrhea
Gimme your fingers
@@PostInquiry Inspiring
I'm just burnt, not good enough to be arrogant 😂
@@PostInquiry polyphonic poopoo
Some absolute gold in here - great video! I'm nearly 40, so I'm pretty far along in my journey, but so much of this advice would have been incredibly helpful to have heard as a developing player. I was a bit of a late bloomer and like you, I took a bit of time to pick up on certain concepts. For years, I would go to a gig and feel like I absolutely got my ass kicked by the musicians I was sharing the stage with. I would really beat myself up over it, but after a while I started thinking "yeah, maybe you weren't the best player on the stage, but they keep calling you to come back". I've learned that I will never have the chops of a lot of my favorite players but I have my own thing that I bring to the table, and there are always going to be people that appreciate "my thing".
Thank you for making this video!!! Even though I’ve been playing for a long time already it’s always nice to hear how someone else’s experience compares to your own and I wish I would have seen this video a lot sooner it would have saved me a lot of headaches
Chuck Lorre famously gave up on being a full-time musician after hearing a young Pat Metheny play. He did give us the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles theme song on his way out, but imagine a world where he had the emotional maturity to realize that the journey takes time instead of giving up, going into television production and giving us The Big Bang Theory
This comment was an emotional rollercoaster.
Man, you have such a wonderful group of friends, their words are so so inspiring. It resonates with a thing my father said to me: A few years ago, I was so upset about my playing that my father saw that I was truly frustrated; I told him that I wasn't getting any better and he said "so? You have your whole life to practice and try new things and try to get better. Then, why hurry?".
It also reminds me to some concepts of zen buddhism (well, Suzuki's concept of zen), including the idea of developing a technique (could it be in some kind of art or not) not just to dominate a thing, not to impose your force or your will, but to clear the mind and get a better undestanding of the world that surrounds us. The technique as a medium of being in the world. Thanks!
Having recordings of 11 and 12 year old me learning to play is such a great reminder for me when it feels like I'm not getting anywhere with practice. I've been at it for 10+ years at this point, and it doesn't always feel linear, but progress is happening and it's visible from recording to recording.
It’s all about learning how to express something to the people listening or to yourself. It’s not about intense, skill, speed, and pyrotechnics. It seems like an easy thing to understand but it’s hard to really get a handle on performing properly which only comes from performing a lot and being honest with yourself.
This was the best advice I’ve ever gotten especially the part about the shed and compression as a self taught guitarist for 3-5 years I’ve been told I’m really good. But I talk to other kids a bit younger than me on instagram…….. blah blah the point is I love this video and it added a lot more of motivation, thank you
Outstanding video. I appreciate the calm and slow vibe which contrasts much of the information overload videos we're bombarded with.
This came at a good time for me. I started playing music 3 years ago at 36 years old. I’ve always felt I’m at a disadvantage from other people because I don’t know anyone else that didn’t start playing as a kid. I used to feel pride around this point but just lately I’ve been feeling discouraged. All the people I play with have been playing for much, much longer than me. I feel like I will never be able to do the things that people that started playing as a teenager can do. It takes me so much longer to learn simple things and I’ve been getting frustrated. Yesterday at a jam session I just hid in the back occasionally hitting notes on a steel drum, feeling like I don’t belong and should sell my stuff and move on to something else.
Stick it out man. All in good time. I learned at 16 which I had always thought was quite late. But I’ve improved more in the last five years than my first 20. Follow the guidance of this video. I started to keep tabs of where I was at with certain practice exercises with the metronome and over time I got faster and more accurate. And that was the goal. I always told myself I’ll never be fast. It was all bs.
Be kind to yourself, allow yourself to suck with no judgment.
@@amremorsethanks for the encouragement
Loved this video! It really spoke to me, and how I’ve been feeling these past few months. Was so upset that I haven’t written anything in months, but I realized that I haven’t taken the time to even experiment. And I was so busy comparing myself to my influences than actually taking the steps to just play and write.
Superb.✔️
Vital.✔️
Spot On.✔️
Finally❤
An intelligent, informed, thoughtful , approachable, applicable, philosophical, humanistic mini-class on all things Wood-Shedding.
Kit Drum Musician and lifelong/lifetime explorer of Space & Time fortunate to have the guidance of many great (patient) musicians.
Singer Songwriters and Bandleaders who expanded my vocabulary across genre zones.
Play for the song.
Even some of my Rock n Roll heroes , the vinyl in my ears and the posters on my wall. growing up.
This is a beautiful video and I am so grateful you chose to share this. Thank you!
The way I ran into this video immediately after a 3 hour long practice session where I got so little done 😓 thank you for posting this, it came into my life at the perfect time ❤
The biggest advice I can say is hum or sing your lines if you can while improvising in practice and sometimes live. I got this from jazz guys and it REALLY helps with playing melodic lines and feeling connected to your instrument.
Really encouraging video. You seem like a genuine dude, and a caring one. 🙏🏻 Thank you for taking the time to make this
"healing everyone around you" is quite profound. think you did some of that in this video. feel a little less alone in the world. "pure ,honest expression" is a great reminder of the whole point......just got to be careful when certain songs get beaten to death from rote repetition to the point of sleepwalking.
I Been in the shed with my DIY synth for 3 years. This is good advice. Haven't made a song or recorded a lot. Been slowly chipping away crafting hardware. Really got to play more and not worry about what I want to make next. I finally finished my first own proper hardware project now though. It makes it feel worth it in some way.
one thing that I have learned is to divide the intellectual and physical parts of shedding up in to two. So i collect ideas, licks, exercises and theory on my laptop while i am working and living. then i prioiritise the ones i want to check out based on what projects i am working on and I am super focussed on these when i get round to shedding. this also has the benefit of not pissing off neighbours and family by playing for ages and not really getting anywhere. I also knew someone who developed lifelong injuries to his tendons from overpractice of the drums so the threat of injury is real
There are no dangers in my shed because I let Music come in anytime she wants. With her there I'm free to follow. I often think to practice slow, methodical stuff, but within 30 seconds I'm shredding through chord changes at first familiar, then unfamiliar, from where I draw material for new compositions as well as practical understanding of theory. When I emerge from a "practice" I'm pretty much guaranteed that I feel like I've been to the other side of the universe without any of the concerning things presented in this video. And I do myofascial release (stretches) often. I respect musicians who respect Music and I avoid those enemies of Music as she has shown. She has called her elect to serve in the celebration of life, none of them sound like each other but they all have her voice 🙏
Thank you for this! I always appreciate when great musicians share this kind of advice.
The best thing I ever did to improve was to join a weekly gypsy jazz jam session with some very good musicians.
Over the past 6 or 7 years, we have built up a list of around 80 or 90 tunes to call from in the session.
Learning all these tunes gave me a structure and a framework for practice and a playground for improvisation.
Also, learning most of the tunes and chords by ear not just solos has forced me to develop and I can learn and remember things a lot quicker.
I get bored practicing scales and arpeggios so I rarely do that anymore. I just play along to records and acquire repertoire and vocabulary!
Thanks for the cool video. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts and those of your musician friends. ❤
Back in the late seventies my dad used to put led Zeppelin in the headphones and sing on to tape only recording his voice and then he would go back and listen to only his voice and this was really helpful. It was helpful enough that he told me all about it.
thank you Philip, Chad, Justin, Kevin and Colin
On Robert Johnson:
He got laughed out of a club by Sun Seals or Leadbelly. He vanished. He went to Winterhaven,MS and worked as a gravedigger. Another Undertaker happened to be a local blues savant. He learned from him after midnight in a cemetery with no lights. He learned it blind. His woodshed was a graveyard.
He went back to the same place 2 years later and introduced the world to Hill Country Blues. He played crossroads. That same musician, Lead or Seals, remembered him and said "Boy, did you sell your soul? You are not the same player." Thats where the legend began.
Well done, man. Ive been playing guitar since around 1992 but only recently have had the chance to really pursue playing. I've been in the woodshed every day for the last 2 years. For the first couple of months, I spent around 16 hours a day practicing guitar. I ended up cutting my fingers through the rawhide callouses I had developed. I would superglue and tape them and keep going until I basically turned them into mushroom shaped scabs. I had a brain tumor at that time, so that greatly contributed to the level of insanity it took to practice that much. I dialed the hours back after that, but I still play 7 days a week for about 3 hours a day. I can identify with all the advice you gave here, and I learned some stuff also. Thank you for the video.
Comparing yourself to others isn't negative; it gives you context for what you're doing. You learn a lot by seeing what others do. The problem is when comparison makes you insecure. But feeling insecure can actually push you to get better. The real enemy is pessimism because it can kill your creativity. Then again, pessimism might also shape your unique sound.
Problems in art can be a catalyst for creativity. Facing challenges can lead to new ideas and directions in your music. Embrace these challenges; they can help you grow.
By tackling these problems you can definitely win, against yourself. Aim to be better than you were yesterday. What truly matters is that you don't give up ♥
My friend's older cousin had a tiny shed that they started their first band in. Whenever I hear about shedding it brings me back to when I first started learning guitar as a kid. I used to watch them practice in the shed all the time. 3 piece band & there was barely enough room for me to fit in there to watch. I thought it was the coolest thing & I wanted to be in a band so bad. The shed is very sentimental to me because I kinda started off in an actual shed
Great video brother. Everything was very well said
I really appreciate your takes on a life in music. Thanks, Philip.
Phenomenal video, thank you so much for sharing!
These are the types of videos that need a lot of views. Well done!!
The hurting yourself part is real, I gave myself tendonitis when I was 17 for over practicing!!! I did not feel like I was doing it at the time, but looking back on it I was.
What a powerful video! I’m new to playing music, I’ve only been playing bass since December. My youngest son (already an adult) is even newer to guitar, he’s been playing about a month. This video is so important I shared it with him and when I see him again this weekend, we will discuss it. Thank you for sharing!
Wise and needed words in these times. Thanks for your inspiration and passion.
GREAT stuff. I’ll be sharing this with my students and colleagues. Much obliged for the checkup from the neck up.
i been in the shed for 7 years on drums but all around (cuz i mess with synths and guitar... and daws), maybe longer. Dude, Im even stuck in sheds with other, non-musical activities!! Anyow, Im all over the place in terms of coming up with excuses for other things to practice or improve on FIRST... before just getting the heck "out there."
This was an insanely informative and helpful video. I had no idea I was in a "shed" let alone it was something to navigate. The social stuff one dude mentioned... WOW.... wow. You have helped me in terms of mental health Philip. Comparing!!?? and joy!!?? I do that with just everyday life!! Or like I've experienced countless Friday nights that I bummed myself out of, simply cuz I imagined there's prolly "cooler" or more "fun" places to be partying at. Recipe for complete spirit/soul death!! Great therapy sesh. Have great day! Cheers!!
I love playing in my shed. It has improved my playing tremedously. If I never play with another band, Im happy just turning on my tablet, bluetoothing it to my stack amp and playing along just like I was in another band. The problem I have experienced is getting along with band members. It seems theres always some people that just cant share as a group. I think it might be jealousy, but it could be just a dominating personality. And that was before I started shedding. I quit the band and experienced the same thing in another band. So, I just started playing alone in a shed. And Im glad I did. I can play what I want, when I want and learn so much more than what others would not tell me. I just discovered how to play better without the help of others. On rare ocassions when I do play out now, people have asked me where I have been and want me to play their favorite songs. I do and they thank me. People tell me that I need to go to Nashville, but I dont care to. Im content for now, just to play in my shed to the songs like Give me love by George Harrison, Hotel California by the Eagles, Seminole Wind by John Anderson. Or Columbus by Jimmy Buffet. I have for years been my own worst critic. But I figure one can never get too good at playing. A typical practice useually last about six hours, but on ocassions, when Im really into the music, I have played for 12 hours. Of course, I have to skip a day after a 12 hour session, but Ive recently realized that playing long hours has really improved my ability. Just this last year, a friend that use to come over and pick with me died and he left me an electric guitar. It was my first electric guitar and its so much easier than my acoustic guitar to play. I just love to play guitar and my fiddle. It doesnt matter to me if I never play in another band except for the fact that more players just enhances the musical experience. My looper works well enough, but I cant seem to get my timing of when to push the button down. At least not yet. Im not very good at the slow blues though. Guess I spent too much time playing bluegrass, rock, country, and a little gospel. I find it difficult to play that slow, although I do have to admire the use of minor tones in blues. I was playing "I dreamed there was no war", the Eagles version just last night and thought, "If I can play this, why cant I play slow blues?" I have yet to answer that question for myself. If I had to estimate my hours I play each week, I'd have to guess between forty to sixty hours. I play with the intent on getting better and not planning on playing for the public any time soon. If I get asked, I might consider it only because my wife wants me to. For myself, Im content to play right by myself. No moving equipment. No putting up with drunken patrons. No fellow band members dictating to me about where my hierarchy position in the band is. Its just me, my guitar and amp, and endless enjoyment and satisfaction of getting a musical piece right. To me, its shear bliss simply because I love playing. And thats what playing is all about.
One thing about music is to always remember it is a art medium where you channel your emotions. I have heard people at the beginning of their musical journey who are able to create beautiful sounds with their limitations through focusing and enjoying the process a sensitivity is expressed.
teared up a little at the end
actually incredibly inspiring, thank you for making this
This was a great video. I'm planning to take some time in shed and master what I've been learning in my guitar lessons. I had the privilege to make an Indy rock album, recorded at home with some friends a few years ago. It was far from perfect but it was genuine and authentic. Going to the shed will help me make more music and do it better than before, allowing me to play the things I feel and hear in my head. When listening to your own recordings it's bets to use constructive criticism; using positive and corrective feedback. The main thing is to keep the joy for the music, express yourself and play/share with others when you can.
I use to want to be a famous musician and eventually gave up. However, I've found in recent years that I just enjoy the process of woodshedding. I'm totally content with just focusing on my chops and being stoked about the cool stuff I can play because of it. Honestly, some people would scoff at this but I enjoy treating it both as an art, AND a sport. I could play for the rest of my life without ever getting anything out of it just because I love it
Thank you for this video. This topic has been on my mind a lot because I have so many aspirations, and also two children.
Man this video is full of beautifully expressed wisdom. Thank you
this was an incredible video from the production of it to the knowledge shared.
This video felt like a church sermon. I love it. Music is my favorite religion.
Something I want to say is if you don't have a very portable instrument get one (like a clarinet or a little flute or something) and when you have the urge to play, play! Don't worry it too much about it being good since it's not your main instrument anyway. But when you play in the moment you get the fleeting urge to do so you can really ride that wave of inspiration and remember why you love music
Thank you for the video, this is very inspiring! I've been playing for almost a decade at this point but have kinda lost my focus when it comes to practicing, and while I still have fun playing with friends I don't feel like I'm at the skill level I want to be at quite yet. I'm going to uni this year and they have a very competitive jazz band, so I likely won't make it in this year. But now I'm motivated, and I'll be entering the shed for the next couple years. I'll make sure to use all these great insights you've given us to help me in the shed, and hopefully in a couple years I'll have achieved my goals and have come out as a better musician.
I’m prioritizing having a shed / garage space for my first house, looking forward to having the space to setup my instruments and mics and stuff to where I can walk in and play without moving stuff or setting up
I have a separate place just for music (My channel is a one-man recording studio of mostly cover songs), but I take long breaks. I once quit playing every instrument for four years. I'm on hiatus from recording right now, have been for over a year. This way it's never work. When I do record, I go eyeballs deep. Then when I don't feel like it anymore, I don't do it anymore. Can't wait for the next channel comeback though, because every iteration of the channel evolves and improves. And right now my videos have gotten really cool already. These long breaks are my secret weapon. They even seem to have a way of breaking my through my plateaus. The best way to overcome a plateau, for me, seems to be time off. The brain plasticity and muscle memory, who knows why, but it works.
Yes
Thank you for this, Phil. 😊