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#thewoodshedobserver
AllAboutMusic BLOG

THE WOODSHED OBSERVER is a Blog for musicians & music enthusiasts I mainly publish on Instagram.

• Musical wisdom, tips, observations and practical advise on how to improve as a musician for all levels and genres
• Stories & Insights from daily Musicians Life
• Gained by experience working as a professional Live & Studio Guitarist, Composer & Educator as well as from fellow Musicians & renowned Teachers

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channel @christophneuhaus_guitar
hashtag #thewoodshedobserver 
SHARE YOUR OWN MUSIC WISDOM via #thewoodshedobserver 

Send recommendations for topics, questions and share your thoughts via Email !
mail@christophneuhaus.com
https://www.instagram.com/christophneuhaus_guitar/

Mobirise

CONTEXT
That’s seemingly simple wisdom but one of the most crucial mindsets in order to make meaningful and „good“ music.
Things have to be properly prepared and followed up - aka put in context - in order to achieve a desired effect.
Some practical examples:
• Ex. 1 Chordprogression
C / Am / Fadd9 / G.
The Fadd9 creates interest in harmonic color.
Cmaj7 / Am9 / Fadd9 / G7sus4.
The Fadd9 doesn’t create any more interest since the contexting harmonies are already in the same color range
• Ex. 2 A melody consisting only of the minor Pentatonic Scale will appear very exciting when you throw in a 9 or 6 as a colornote.
• Ex. 3 twenty consecutive whole notes followed by a burst of 16th notes is
OUT OF CONTEXT, not prepared properly... 

Mobirise

BOOKS
The best way to really make progress is this:
1. Take regular lessons from a decent teacher in person or at a certain level also via Skype. Yet alone a weekly or monthly fix date is worth a lot !
2. First watch out and study what kind of practice routine is the best for your personality.

If you still would prefer Books or online channels, here are my 2 favorite ones coming from experience:
BOOK: How to improvise by Hal Crook
YT Channel: @rickbeato1 (starting from intermediate to professional level)

Happy to discuss, what are your book and channel tips and experiences ?

Mobirise

PLAYING FAST
#thewoodshedobserver
#musicblog #musicwisdom #musicadvice #musiclessons #improvisation #jazz #groove #blues #pop #rock #technique #virtuosity #guitarist #guitar #guitaristsofinstagram #guitarsofinstagram #musician #musicians #musicianslife #musiciansofinstagram #practice #progressnotperfection #gitarre #learning #jazzingermany @jazzingermany #stuttgartgermany

Mobirise

MUSICIANSLIFE
This does not mean the hurdles artists face don’t need to be addressed and working conditions need to be improved because hard work deserves appropriate financial compensation too. But as always in life, it seems to be a compromise in order to receive the right amount of all the benefits we strive for emotionally, cognitively and financially.
Happy to discuss, what do you think ?
#thewoodshedobserver#column #blog #musicblog#musicwisdom #musicadvice#knowledge #improvisation #jazz#groove #blues #pop #rock #technique#virtuosity #guitarist #guitar#guitaristsofinstagram#guitarsofinstagram #musician#musicians #musicianslife#musiciansofinstagram #practice#progressnotperfection #gitarre#learning

Mobirise

RESPONSIBILITY
#thewoodshedobserver#column #blog #musicblog#musicwisdom #musicadvice#knowledge #improvisation #jazz#groove #blues #pop #rock #technique#virtuosity #guitarist #guitar#guitaristsofinstagram#guitarsofinstagram #musician#musicians #musicianslife#musiciansofinstagram #practice#progressnotperfection #gitarre#learning

Mobirise

CREATE MUSIC
We are easily trapped by the impulse to play fast and fancy for the purpose of gaining certain reactions instead of seeing a bigger picture that needs a more subtle yet very confident and mature virtuosity...to realize that the HOW & WHERE again is much more important than the WHAT. This basic insight is assimilated by almost all of our heroes and that’s the actual skill we admire often times unconsciously. It’s not the fast and perfectly played lick in the first place but more the whole context in which it is embedded, the placement of it creates the „wohoo“ effect. Happy to discuss, what do you think ? #thewoodshedobserver #column #blog #musicblog #musicwisdom #musicadvice #knowledge #improvisation #jazz #groove #blues #pop #rock #technique #virtuosity #guitarist #guitar #guitaristsofinstagram #guitarsofinstagram #musician #musicians #musicianslife #musiciansofinstagram #practice #progressnotperfection #gitarre #learning @christophneuhaus_guitar

Mobirise

MUSICAL PARAMETERS
Let me explicate.
With PERCEPTION I basically mean the mindset, taste, perspective, way of judgement and overall perspective a musician approaches the further parameters. Of course this is very individual and there are many „right“ perceptions, but first one has to have an idea where to go. Perception derives mostly from listening carefully to music and observing in order to be able to classify at all. For example what sounds „good“ and „bad“ and why ? The quality of SOUND is the first thing our ear recognizes. It sets up a big frame that is filled with everything else. TIME is often way too much underrated but it is responsible for the whole flow and the „fitting in or not“ and so a part of the big frame as well. PHRASING is the way the content is presented and decorated, it also brings the content to life. For me, the „HOW“ is much more important and has a much bigger impact than the „WHAT“. We often overlook that hierarchy and concentrate a lot on content. What you think ?

Mobirise

SCALES
Happy to start a little music column series called - THE WOODSHED OBSERVER - to share some musical observations, insights and wisdom I gained over the last years as a professional guitarist & composer through experience, fellow musicians & teachers. Content will be all about #howmusicworks #practiceadvise, #difficultiesandchallengesexperienced along the way, #improvisation, #improvement on guitar and other instruments, #eartraining #harmonyandmelody, stories from musicians life, different genres etc.. Please feel free to send recommendations for topics, questions and share your thoughts in the comments.

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