IFR blog > Practice tips > Developing your ear > Understanding any piece of music by ear
Harmonic analysis of Ain't Misbehavin'

The opening line of Fats Waller's classic Ain't Misbehavin' gives us an opportunity to understand one of the most common uses of diminished chords, and how to create these sounds in our own improvisations.

What are all those circles for?

I'm intrigued by your harmonic analysis with circles around some numbers. I would like to kindly ask why are those numbers put in circles?

Staying in control with Seven Worlds

I get confused and lose my place in Seven Worlds when I try to improvise too freely with the notes. Can you give me some advice on how to tackle this problem?

Is there an IFR app for analyzing sheet music?

Is there an IFR app for reading standard music notation and showing it with the IFR tonal numbers?

Is singing the tonal numbers a crutch?

I play the guitar and in order to avoid getting lost on the fretboard I say the numbers of the scale out loud. So I literally say "1, 2, 3" etc out loud as I'm playing. Will this be like a crutch in the future where I can't move around unless I count the notes?

12-bar blues ear training

This is a practice video where we sing together the exercise Melody Paths from the Improvise for Real method, over a major 12-bar blues chord progression.

Do you see chords vertically or horizontally?

A new IFR student asks, "When you improvise over chord progressions, do you think of the chords vertically or horizontally?"

Composing with a looper pedal

Are you curious about looping? In this video I'll show you how the looper pedal works and how easy it is to create your own loops with what you already know from your IFR practice.

Piano for Non-Pianists 13: Chord inversions (the 1 chord)

In this lesson you will learn to create chord inversions and I'll show you three fantastic exercises that will train your hands to find these chord shapes quickly on the piano keyboard.

Why do you call it note 6?

I’m used to calling the root of a minor key “note 1” but I notice you often call it note 6. Why wouldn’t we just call it note 1?