Improvise for Real – Introduction to Melodic Improvising

This 12 lesson video course is designed to give you the best possible start in the IFR method. You will learn to improvise your own spontaneous melodies over jam tracks and with other musicians, and you’ll learn how to practice in a way that develops your musical creativity.

Introduction to Melodic Improvising

Would you like to be able to improvise spontaneously whenever you hear music? Would you like to be able to play music with others the same way you have a conversation: naturally, effortless, full of fun? Would you like to break out of your habitual routines and create new music every time you play?

In this 12 lesson video course you will learn to improvise your own spontaneous melodies over jam tracks and with other musicians, and you’ll learn how to practice in a way that develops your musical creativity. This course is designed to give you the best possible start in the Improvise for Real method.

Open to all instruments and improvisation levels. Beginners welcome!

This video course is open to all instruments and improvisation levels. Our focus will be on improvising melodic solos over jam tracks and also creating unaccompanied melodic improvisations on your own. We won’t be talking about comping chords (for guitar players and pianists), but all instruments are invited to take this course for a deep dive into the art of playing beautiful solos.

Other materials you will need

To follow this course, you will need to have the IFR E-book Package which you can purchase

Immediate benefits to your playing:

• Learn to orient yourself by ear in the key of the music when you are jamming with friends.
• Understand how harmony flows through chord progressions and weave your own melodies through the chords.
• Master all the notes of our musical system so you can go beyond pentatonic scales and other patterns.
• Learn how to create melodic tension and release when you improvise.
• Learn how to build chords and create harmony on your melodic instrument so you can improvise without a jam track.
• Learn how to break through your musical routines and change your improvisation each time you play.
• Play directly from your musical imagination when you are improvising, expressing the sounds you hear in your mind on your instrument.
• Create a solid foundation to continue your IFR practice with more advanced courses on jazz improvisation.

How is this course different from other improvisation courses?

Learn through your own direct experience. Instead of telling you what to play to sound good, in this course you’ll be learning through your own direct experience. The sounds are presented in a step by step, progressive order so that you can master each one and add it to your personal vocabulary. You will be improvising your own music with these sounds right from the start, using your ears and developing your inner voice.

Learn in a creative, musical context. In IFR, we always practice in the context of real music. We use very simple but very effective exercises to play in different harmonic contexts. We will use jam tracks that are fun to practice with, and the course includes many musical examples to illustrate each harmonic concept.

Learn to tell musical stories in your improvising. Improvising is a very personal way of making music. You can recognize great improvisors immediately by their personal style. How did they develop that? I will teach you how to tell powerful musical stories with just a few notes. Instead of overwhelming you with a lot of musical material, we will use simple harmonic situations so that you can focus on your own creative expression. In this course you will learn how to add creative exercises to your practice that will strengthen your creative muscles and deepen your artistic awareness.

Also available as a group workshop!

Would you prefer to take “Introduction to Melodic Improvising” along with other IFR students in a 12 week workshop?

Testimonials from past students

“I have loved and enjoyed it immensely, and it has enabled me to think and more importantly to feel about my music making in a new and exciting way.  It has been a musical transformation for me. Even my wife and daughter have commented how much my playing has changed and improved. Praise indeed!” – Martin Vincent (saxophone, United Kingdom)

“Jelske is a great teacher. I would definitely recommend this course to others who are seeking to acquire the skills of jazz improv. The tonal approach, among other things, opens up great possibilities and changes one’s perspective to improv.” – Larry Silberstein (clarinet, United States)

“I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn the art of improvisation. I am now more connected to how harmony flows through the major scale and I am making progress on my instrument as far as hearing ideas in my head and executing them on the guitar.” – Mark Margolies (guitar, United States)

“This is the only course about improvisation that really gets you to improvise from the start. Using your ears and developing your inner voice, without music theory interfering. I can honestly say that Jelske is the best teacher I have come across.” – Eef van der Burg (saxophone, Netherlands)