LJS 98: How to Beat the Brain Game for Musical Freedom (feat. Matt Vaartstra)

Welcome to episode 98 of the LJS Podcast where today we are joined by sports and performance psychologist Matt Vaartstra to talk about how to channel your mindset towards musical freedom. At the end of the day, music is a brain game. There are so many negative voices that hinder our progress, and Matt teaches us how to train your brain for optimal performance. Listen in!
Listen to episode 98







When it comes to becoming a better jazz musician, or any musician for that matter, your mindset plays a huge role in your success. The brain game is of equal or greater value than the actual physical side of practicing or playing.
I have experienced this time and time again in my own musical development as well as observed it in my peers. I have walked into gigs with negative thoughts of my own playing or ability, and suffered. I've also approached my playing with confidence and positivity, and come out on top.
Being a musician is a brain game, and it's up to us to control it so that ultimately we can achieve musical freedom and enjoyment.
Joining me on the show today is a very special guest. Even more special than normal because it's my brother, sports and performance psychologist, Matt Vaartstra. I've mentioned him on the podcast before as a great example of someone who sets personal goals vs. viewing things as outside competition. Though we talk about this, we talk about so much more.
Here are some of things discussed in today's show:
1. The power of mindset over musical performance.
2. How to train a positive mindset with a Self-Talk Script.
3. Using the "Three D's" to cut off your negative thoughts.

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4. Honing in on musical personal records vs. competition.
5. Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets.
6. How to measure your personal progress.
Today's episode is so important. I can't stress this enough. If we truly want to achieve musical freedom and become the best jazz musicians we can be, we have to train our brain.
My challenge for you is to write your Self-Talk Script this week and utilize the "Three D's" to disrupt your negative voice. I'm in this with you, and I believe we'll be better musicians because of it.






Important Links
The 5 Minute Journal
"Mindset" by Carol Dweck







Read the Transcript
Brent: All right, what's up everybody? My name is Brent. I am the jazz musician behind the website, learnjazzstandards.com, which is a blog and a podcast all geared towards helping you become a better jazz musician. Welcome. If this is your first time ever listening to this show, and if you are a regular listener I want to thank you for being here week after week, listening to me talk, hanging out with me, and to return the favor I just want to give you as much value as I possibly can today. So, for today's episode 98 I've got an incredibly special guest on the show.
We haven't had a guest on for the last several episodes, and so I'm excited to bring on someone who means a lot to me and I'll tell you why in a second, but I'm really excited because this episode offers a lot of value. I mean, this is a really value-packed episode that I think is one of my favorite episodes that we've had in a while,