Woodshedding: Lingo for Musicians, magic for Language Learners

"Practice makes perfect" may sound like a big cliché, but it proves to be a safe bet when it comes to mastering a musical instrument. In truth, when aspiring Jazz musicians want to master their craft, they usually pick their favorite player and focus all their efforts on learning all the common patterns and sounds they produce in their music. Eventually, they use them to create their own sound. If language learners take advantage of this same approach while acquiring a new language, it can prove to be an exceptional way to become an effective foreign language user and even come close enough to native speakers.

People who enjoy Jazz and other music genres that use improvisation as their flagship might think about it as a "random" and "free" act; however, it couldn't be farther from the truth. Actually, the ability of improvisation comes from organizing and using melodies and phrases relevant to the musical context, and all of these were previously learned during practice hours. The same process occurs when you have verbal interaction. Participants in a verbal exchange organize strings of phrases and words they have learned throughout their lives depending on the ideas they need to express relevant to the conversation.

Woodshedding is, in fact, the thorough and repeated practice and breakdown of licks (short musical melodies), musical cliches, or entire musical passages until the musician is able to perform them flawlessly. Therefore, when you listen to those incredible improvisation runs played by the greats such as Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, or Miles Davis; there were countless hours of work behind them. This does not mean that they memorized entire passages of improvisation, but instead they had the tools in their brains and fingers to play incredible unique musical pieces. The same process occurs while learning a language. If you practice common words and phrases and acquire the necessary muscle memory to position your tongue correctly, use your lips and place your voice in the right places, you won't have to do the mental process of translating from your native language; instead, your response time will become as close to instantaneous.

Let's take for example "the lick". This is a short musical melody that has been used countless times in various musical situations, but the beauty of it is that it sounds completely relevant in various contexts and even different genres. The same could be said of an extremely common English phrase such as: "I'll call you back". This is a phrase that most likely will be used or heard in social, professional or entertainment (in a movie or TV show) scenarios. Thus, it is a good idea to learn it by heart because you will probably need it someday.

"The lick"

"I'll call you back"

Instead of obsessing over grammar structures, try fitting at least 30 min of your day where you physically utter words or phrases in your target language. Whether you are a beginner and you want to learn how to order coffee, become one with phrases such as: "could I have___?", "I would like ____?", or "How much is it?", or you are a more advanced user, take longer and more difficult phrases. Try them slowly first and then work your way up until you have them down. When it is time to have a conversation, you will be able to use them without even thinking about them. Also, voice assistants such as "google now" or "siri" are also great ways of woodshedding phrases such as "what's the weather today", "wake me up at 6", etc. As a matter of fact, it has worked wonders with my French learning process when I uttered almost daily phrases like: "Va-t-il pleuvoir aujourd'hui?" or "Réveille-moi à 6h".

So, stop wasting time and start using what musicians have used to learn and perform their language for decades. Go on and get Woodshedding.