IFR blog > Practice tips
2-5-1 ear training workout

In this video we are going to train our ear together, singing the tonal numbers over the famous 2-5-1 chord progression. This is the most important chord progression in jazz music and it also appears in pop, rock, blues and other styles. Sing along and explore these beautiful sounds creatively with me!

Listening activity: Recognizing the chords in popular songs

This listening activity will help you learn to recognize chord progressions by ear. We have put together a list of beautiful popular songs that use the exact same chords that you're studying in IFR Jam Tracks Levels 2 and 3.

IFR video lesson: Demystifying chord extensions

In this video we will demystify 9th chords, 11th chords and 13th chords and you'll see how simple these chords really are. I'll also try to show you that you are actually already producing these sounds in your music all the time, even if you don't realize it.

IFR video lesson: Improvising with notes outside the key of the music

In this excerpt from the IFR video course "Introduction to Melodic Improvising", IFR coach Jelske offers ideas about how to begin experimenting with outside notes in your improvisations.

Learning to see your entire musical range at once

In Exercise 1 you describe "...looking down on this musical terrain from above..." Does this mean visualizing fingerings on your horn, notes on a staff, letters on a page or something else?

IFR Exercise 1 Daily Meditation with half steps on tenor sax

For IFR students practicing Exercise 1: Landscape, this is a demonstration of the Exercise 1 Daily Meditation. Miguel 'Pintxo' Villar demonstrates the exercise on the tenor saxophone using the interval of a half step.

IFR Playalong: chords 1 and 4

Grab your instrument and practice improvising over chords 1 and 4 with me!

Melody Paths with chords 6-, 4, 1, 5D

In this video we are going to train our ear together with the famous chord progression 6-, 4, 1, 5D. First, we'll sing the roots to make sure we can feel the chord changes. Then we'll practice the ear training exercise Melody Paths, singing melodies connecting chord notes across the chord progression.

Improvising with the blues scale

In this video Jelske explores improvising with the blues scale and shows how this scale relates to blues chord changes.

Q&A - How music should I practice?

An IFR student asks how much he needs to practice to be successful with the IFR method.