IFR blog > Song analysis
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.

Harmonic analysis of Bye Bye Blackbird

Despite the almost child-like simplicity of this popular song written by Ray Henderson, Bye Bye Blackbird has become one of the most important jazz standards of all time. In this lesson we analyze the complete chord progression.

Ear training with Summertime

This is an ear training practice video for Improvise for Real students who are studying the song Summertime from IFR Standards Workout 2. In this video we will explore not only the chord notes to this song but also some very beautiful melodic notes outside the chords.

Blue Monk

In this free video lesson we will break down the melody to this beautiful composition. We'll study each phrase in detail and notice many interesting things that we can learn about composition, harmony and the tonal map.

Hey Jude

This beloved Beatles anthem uses just one chord from outside the major scale.

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.

Best way to analyze standards in a minor key

I understand that you always want us to see where we are in the overall key of the music. So you have us think of the relative minor as note 6. But over the years I learned to think of the root of each harmonic environment as its own “note 1”. Do you think it's better to always connect back to the parent key?

Take Five

To most people, Paul Desmond's classic jazz standard in 5/4 represents the height of intellectual sophistication. But aside from the turnaround that appears at the very end of the song, the entire chord progression comes directly from the major scale.

Minor blues ear training

In this video we will train our ear with the beautiful chords of the minor blues.

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?