IFR blog > Preguntas de alumnos
One of Us

The Joan Osborne song "One of Us" (written by Eric Bazilian) is one of countless songs made from just the four foundational chords that we study in IFR Jam Tracks Level 2: Pure Harmony Essentials.

Should you listen to one particular instrument to recognize chords by ear?

To recognize chords by ear, is it helpful to listen to one particular instrument or should we be listening for something else?

Piano for Non-Pianists 12: Tonal triads (part 2)

In this lesson we'll break our triad forms out of their original tonal context and we'll learn to create them anywhere on the piano keyboard.

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?

Jumping strings without getting lost

I am having difficulty keeping my place when I skip strings. I don't want to fall back into just memorizing scale patterns. I know it takes time to break old habits, but what would you recommend I focus on so I don't get lost as much and develop an effortless flow with the scale degrees?

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.