IFR blog > Practice tips
Demo of exercise from Understanding Begins with Listening

This is a demonstration of the singing activity from the chapter ‘Understanding Begins with Listening’ from Improvise for Real. It's the first step to learning to recognize both chords and melodies by ear.

There is always time to practice!

Even with just a few minutes per day you can still have a deep and meaningful connection with music. Your pleasure and satisfaction aren't necessarily about “how long you practice” but about how completely you allow yourself to get lost in the experience.

Be yourself and discover your own music!

In IFR, we believe that the musicians who follow their own imagination are the ones who change the world. And we want to help you discover your musical voice and to share it with the world.

Animation Video - How Music Works, part 1

This animated video for beginners teaches you the single most important key to understanding how all songs work. Whether your passion is improvising, composing or just playing the songs you love, this insight will help you see songs and chord progressions in a much simpler way.

Hopeless at ear training

I have always had a terrible ear and I feel that it's preventing me from making the most of your method. There seem to be just two sorts of musicians: the ones who can play by ear and the ones who just can't. Can you help me?

The relationship between technique and creativity

Instrument technique and improvisation are two practices that feed one another: we need technical skills to be able to express ourselves creatively, and when we improvise we put into practice and consolidate our technical skills.

Melody Paths with chords 1, 6-, 2-, 5D

This is a practice video for Improvise for Real students who want to understand and internalize the chord progression 1, 6-, 2-, 5D. First, we will understand the role of each chord in the progression, and then we will practice ear training with the Melody Paths exercise.

IFR video lesson: Always be composing

In this video we demonstrate several examples of one of our favorite musical principles, which is to use every musical exercise as an opportunity to practice the art of musical storytelling.

How to recognize melodies by ear using the key of the music

In this video you'll learn the most important technique for recognizing songs and melodies by ear. The technique is to focus on the path that the melody traces through the overall key of the music.

Q&A - Are the IFR harmonic environments the modes?

Are the seven harmonic environments that we're studying in IFR Exercise 2 the same thing as the “modes”?