LJS 176: Leveling Up Your Jazz Improvisation by Thinking Slow (feat. Nick Mainella)




Welcome to episode 176 of the LJS Podcast where today our special guest Nick Mainella from the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast discusses how we can improve our jazz improv by thinking slow. To be a great jazz improviser you need to think fast and effectively, and in order to do that you need to start by doing the opposite.
Listen to episode 176







Have you ever felt stuck in your jazz playing? You've reached this certain level but you're really not sure how to get to the next one above that?
Maybe it's a particular jazz standard you are working on right now and you are not able to play the chord changes the way you want.
Or maybe it's too fast of a tempo, and you're not able to create great musical ideas at that speed.
Whatever it happens to be for you in your playing right now, it could be that you just need to rethink how you approach the practice room and the things that you actually do. It could just be a shift of mindset that will help you.
To help us with that today is a special guest, Nick Mainella from the 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast, who is going to lay down the value and help us get over these hurdles.







In this episode:
1. Understanding how thinking fast means we first need to think slow.
2. System 1: Thinking on your feet and in the moment
3. System 2: Deeper, higher-level thinking
4. How to apply these systems to your jazz improv practice
5. How to improve your jazz solos simply by thinking about them







Thanks for listening to this episode of the Learn Jazz Standards Podcast. If you aren't already, make sure you are subscribed on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
I look forward to having you join me in the next episode!
Important Links
Nick Mainella's 10 Minute Jazz Lesson Podcast
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (affiliate link)



Om Podcasten

The LJS Podcast is the podcast where you get weekly jazz tips, interviews, stories and advice for becoming a better jazz musician! Hosting the show is the jazz musician behind learnjazzstandards.com, author, and entrepreneur Brent Vaartstra, who’s one goal is to answer any question about playing jazz music you may have. Jazz can be a challenging music to learn and play, but it doesn’t have to be so hard. Each episode features a specific musical challenge that jazz students may come across, where it is discussed and answered. Special jazz guests frequent the show, sharing their expertise on an array of different musical subject matter. Listeners are invited to call in with their jazz questions to the podcast hotline, where it could get answered on a future LJS Podcast episode. Join thousands of other listeners getting free jazz education every week!