IFR blog
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.

Exploring the 3rd harmonic environment

In this excerpt from the IFR video course "Introduction to Melodic Improvising", IFR coach Jelske demonstrates a series of creative activities that we use to study each harmonic environment of the major scale.

Improvise for Real in print

I'm excited to try the IFR method but I would prefer to have a hard copy of your book. Is Improvise for Real available in print?

How to master interval jumps in your IFR singing practice

I am practicing the IFR exercise ‘Sing the Map’ and I can move up and down the scale but I cannot yet make interval jumps and “wander freely”. Should I just keep practicing moving through the scale? Will this bring about the ability to sing the notes freely one day?

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.

Creating the diminished scale with the IFR Staircase exercise

An interesting variation on the Staircase exercise is to alternate between half steps and whole steps. This produces what jazz improvisers call the diminished scale.

IFR improvisation exercise 'Seven Worlds' on cello

For IFR students practicing Exercise 2: Melody, this is a demonstration of Seven Worlds on the cello. Leticia Aparicio builds the 6th harmonic environment note by note, visualizing each step along the way using the IFR Tonal Map.

Mobility, part 2 (whole steps)

In this lesson, I show you how just a small alteration to the Mobility technique allows you to move all over the neck of your bass by whole steps. Once you've mastered both half steps and whole steps, you're ready to jump into IFR Exercise 2: Melody.