I've been using 'chops', 'woodshedding' 'axe' and 'gig' since I was a kid, because that's what the older musicians who made a living playing music used. I figured it was just the jargon of the profession.

As a sax player, I assumed chops came from the mouth but knew it applied to guitar players too.

I knew 'woodshed' came from practicing in the woodshed so nobody else could hear it. When I was young, we used to take care of the neighbors house when they spent summers 'up north', and when I drove my mom crazy playing the same things over and over and over again, she would send me next door to practice.

I just always assumed 'axe' came from the tool you used in the 'woodshed'.

Was always curious about 'gig' but never found a satisfactory etymology to figure out where that one came from.

The English language is very interesting at times.

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