IFR blog > Practice tips > Unlocking your creativity > IFR playalong chords 1 and 4
What makes IFR different?

Improvise for Real is now being used by both students and teachers in more than 20 countries. The method has been described as a totally different way to learn about music and improvisation. But what makes it so different?

Visualizing the tonal map on the trumpet

"I have been practicing IFR for half a year and it's great how I am progressing! One of my obstacles is that I still imagine notes on a music staff instead of the tonal numbers. Is there any way to switch from one image to the other?"

How to visualize musical intervals on the flute

I just purchased your book from Amazon and would like to clarify a point. When the exercise says to visualize all five notes at once on my flute, does this mean the sound or the letter name of the note?

Should I start IFR on the clarinet or the piano?

"I have more experience on the piano but now my main interest is the clarinet. Do you think I should practice your method on the clarinet, on the piano or both?"

How does the IFR method apply to the bass?

I am a bass player with about 15 years of rock band experience whose first love has always been smooth jazz. I want to know if your book would help this bass player realize his goals of being able to improvise at will and gather a much better musical understanding.

Should I start with the video course or the e-book?

I'm debating whether I should buy the IFR e-book or the Deep Foundations for Guitar video course. Can you tell me what is included in each one, and what are the pros and cons of each?

Free sample lesson 2

In this free sample lesson from Deep Foundations for Piano, we will master moving around our instrument by whole steps. Once we have mastered both the half step and the whole step, we can use these intervals to build the notes of any key on our instrument.

Which ear training course should I choose?

"I love the IFR approach to ear training! I would like to purchase one of your ear training video courses, but how can I decide which course might be more appropriate for me: Ear Training for Musical Creativity or Recognizing Chords by Ear? And can I take them both at once?"

Autumn Leaves ear training

This is a practice video for Improvise for Real students who are studying the song Autumn Leaves from IFR Standards Workout 1. In this video we will practice together the ear training exercise Melody Paths over the A section of Autumn Leaves.

IFR video lesson: How to master harmony

In this video I'll teach you an organized system for mastering harmony using our three integrated creative practices: improvising, composing and listening.