IFR blog > Practice tips > Creating a new music practice > Special for beginners learning to improvise
Melody Paths with 6-, 5D, 4, -3

In this video we will sing Melody Paths together across the chord progression 6-, 5D, 4, 3-. This progression goes down in scale degrees, using only natural chords from the major scale, so we are not introducing any notes or chords from outside the key.

Video course vs. chord melody workshop

I'm just getting started in IFR. Can you explain the difference between the IFR Video Course for Guitar and the IFR Chord Melody Workshop? Should I take one before the other?

IFR video lesson: Build the Map

In this video I'll show you two fantastic exercises for beginners to the IFR method. These two exercises will greatly accelerate your ability to visualize the notes of any key on your instrument.

Should advanced musicians skip ahead in IFR?

An advanced trumpet player asks if he should skip over the beginning IFR materials and go directly to the IFR Standards Workouts. But for any advanced player who struggles to play by ear, it's in the very first IFR activities that you will learn this ability.

Special message for beginners

This is a special lesson for beginners to musical improvisation. I'll show you how you can begin improvising right now as a creative and exciting part of your daily music practice.

Finding your own voice vs. transcribing solos

I see the importance of knowing the sounds from the tonal map and being able to sing what you play. However, isn’t improvisation also a matter of transcribing other artists’ music to absorb the “feel” and “time” they have?

The power of direct experience

You may have heard that you need to understand a lot of music theory in order to improvise. But what if it's the other way around? That might sound confusing at first, but I believe that getting clear about this could potentially save you YEARS of frustration and wasted time.

Learning to recognize chords by ear

Sometimes I have to listen to a chord progression between 5-10 times before I can recognize the chords. Is this normal? Or should I be able to do this instantly?

Difficulty starting from note 2

"In Exercise 2: Melody, I find it difficult to play a scale starting on note 2 or any other note besides note 1. I can sight read most things, but starting on anything other than note 1 is problematic. Please help."

IFR exercise "Seven Worlds Expanded" on flute

For IFR students practicing Exercise 3: Pure Harmony, this is a demonstration of the exercise Seven Worlds Expanded on the flute. Anna Crusat demonstrates the exercise exploring the 7 chord in the modal range.