- Improvise for Real: The Complete Method for All Instruments

This book should be a must-read for every music student on the planet. If you've ever felt frustrated or discouraged with music lessons in the past, this book will show you another path. Learning music can and should be a natural and fun process from the beginning. Yes, it's about improvising, but it's a lot more than that too. It's about how to play the songs you love by ear (rather than relying on painstaking memory, or having to use sheet music & charts). Sheet music & charts have an important role, but if you can't make music without them, you'll never have the satisfaction that comes from expressing your own ideas in music. With Improvise for Real, you'll learn how to play the sounds you hear, both in your own imagination and in music you love. Connecting with music in this way will give you a lifetime of pleasure and enjoyment. Perhaps you think it won't work for you because you aren't a creative or musical person. But I promise you that this gradual & systematic approach works for everyone, and it can work for you too if you are willing to give it a chance. David Reed presents the theory behind his approach, along with a systematic set of instructions and activities that anyone can follow. There are instrument-specific suggestions as well, but the overall approach is geared to musicians of all instruments. Of all the music books I own (and there are quite a few), this is the only one I revisit on a regular basis. I can't recommend it highly enough. And if you want support for the ideas in the book, be sure to visit their website and check out the workshops, resources, and courses that are available to support you on your journey. Don't let this life-changing opportunity pass you by.

I was lucky enough to discover David's book a few years ago, when I was just beginning my Music Learning journey. Brilliant book! Brilliant, unique way to understand how music works, that opens up the musical landscape in such a way that frees a musician from dependence on written music. David has developed a way to present this unique approach to new music learners like myself, as well as classically trained and accomplished musicians who can play written music beautifully but don't have a clue how to improvise! I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

This was a great book for deviating from pure music theory. There is theory present, but it is not presented in the typical format. This makes the book an approachable, seemingly less technical guide that supplements more rigorous theory based books. I recommend it as a complement to sight reading studies, theory studies, and unguided free improvisation.

I developed an interest in learning how to play guitar in my 30s. I enjoyed the struggle for years before concluding that I had fallen into a completely mechanical approach to playing music, and that I was working around what I knew was a big weakness for me: ear training. Once I acknowledged this to myself, I started looking for materials that would help me reset my approach and emphasize the musical experience, not the mechanics of playing a guitar. (As someone with a strong background in science and math, I love studying music theory, which was also distracting me from really experiencing the music and enhancing my ear.) This book was exactly what I needed. It encouraged me to embrace my current abilities and not to get ahead of myself. It encouraged me to calm my hands and focus on musical sensations, and encouraged me that my inability to audiate might not be hopeless. The author offers a variety of useful related materials to help with ear training and improvising at the Improvise for Real website. I've been using these materials for over a year and a half now and am enjoying the journey of exploring and growing musically in ways that were completely foreign to me 18 months ago. I am extremely satisfied with the progress I have made. I can audiate now, and recognize many chord progressions and parts of melodies by ear. If someone told me they were interested in learning music but unsure where to start, or feeling like they can play but not improvise, or feel tone deaf, I would recommend Improvise for Real without any reservations. (I would also recommend watching The Musical Mind of Bill Evans, which communicates a similar philosophy about how to approach the study of music without getting ahead of yourself.)

I am a person that was serious about a music career from the age of 10 to 16 (where I spent several hours a day playing the violin where I was naturally gifted in the field), but then at the age of 17 worked full time in medical science and then law. I taught myself how to play the piano at age 4, and then fully converted to violin as my main instrument from age 10, while learning the basics of guitar and drums. While working in other careers, primarily law, from the age of 17 I have performed music on and off, mostly on the violin and as a singer (soprano) in choirs. Now, later in life, after I have reached full satisfaction in law in both Australia and New York, I am on the journey again to consider music seriously. To accomplish this after so many years of focusing on law where I have not been immersed in hours of musical technique, I knew I could not rely on the technical aspects of music taught traditionally in music schools. I understood that somehow, I would have to make a shift from performance and the literacy of sheet music to creativity and music composition. I sought a number of resources for this purpose, and I was very fortunate that one of the resources I happened to have randomly purchased in 2024 would give me the tools and mindset that I would need. This resource was Improvise for Real by David Reed, which I have just completed studying. After studying this resource, I feel I now have the mentality to pursue the journey of music composition seriously, where the focus is on translating sounds imagined, where the sounds imagined are the original source, through the physical command of your musical instrument(s). The focus is on how to orient all sounds imagined on a tonal map of music. This resource is not written primarily for commercial purposes in the arts and is a genuine resource to set yourself on the journey towards true improvisation and music composition. I feel enriched just completing my studies of David Reed's text, to such an extent, that I no longer need the other resources I have in my possession, which are endless chord charts, to pursue my focus on music composition. This text also teaches you a lot about the origins of improvisation with jazz standards, and if you have a tendency to love jazz music, this resource will draw out that love.

I don’t even play an instrument, the underlying principles in this book can be adapted to any sport, skill, or activity if you read it as a metaphor. One of the most useful books I’ve ever read. Kudos to the author for developing such an amazing perspective of developing skill AND writing it in such a fun, clear, entertaining, and accessible way.

One of the Better books about improvisation but more:….. much much more it gave me an intuitive comprehensive understanding music theory,and a new way to relate to music. I cannot recommend this book enough and their website is incredibly helpful learning tool.

I've only read 25% of this book & find it extremely disappointing. I doubt I will read the rest. The writer will have us believe that most if not all musical instruction is flawed & he has the answers. He states we must learn to play by ear & complains bitterley about music theory & notation (the notes A through G) & then proceeds to replace this with his own notation for notes labelled 1-7! He quickly strays from "playing by ear" to "teaching" us the structure of a major scale using his 1-7 notation. Sounds like theory to me! He only proceeds in this direction because he makes the outrageous claim that nearly all music is based on 7 relative notes, the 7 he picks being those of the major scale (while this relative combination is workable, to claim that nearly all music uses this combination not only demonstrates his lack of knowledge, but also how poor his musical ear is). He somehow fails to recognize other scale combinations, not to mention atonal music, etc. Admittedly, this may come later in the book, but so far all the author has done is to replace the criticised music theory with his own. A book that claims to teach by ear should do just that, not impose his own theory & structure, no matter how simplistic.

I've been using this method for around the past two months, and practicing Exercises One and Two as laid out in the book. So far, this method has allowed me to internalise and improvise with the first 6 notes of the Major Scale, in a way that is simple to understand and fun to practice. I have also been focusing on 'Sing the Numbers' #1 course for about a month now, and I've internalised the first 6 notes of the Major Scale to the degree that I can confidently reproduce those sounds in my head and improvise with them with ease. Such is the level of depth and understanding that one can attain after having tried the IFR method for a short period of time. I'm confident that this is only the beginning... I'm sure that my musical improvement will be expedited after I explore the other exercises and resources in David's method. Overall, a highly recommended book that will change your relationship with music forever. It certainly did for me.

To chyba nie dla mnie. W tej książce jest może z 20 stron czegoś przydatnego. Możliwe, że miałem inne oczekiwania, sam nie wiem

The explanations are very clear and make total sense. I've been working with the method for some weeks and I already feel some improvement. Although full mastery will definitely be a long distance run, I have the impression it's going to be really helpful. The approach is very natural, oriented to exploiting and developing your built-in capabilities instead of learning very abstract stuff which don't stick easily.

After many years of trying to marry chord theory to moving around the fret-board on a guitar - I have found David Reed's book an exciting new way of visualizing exactly what needs to be practiced and learnt. David leads the player on a journey from a basic understanding of the Major chord in Western music - right through to soloing in all the seven modes. Numbers are used instead of note names which enables the student to move effortlessly between any key on the fretboard. This book is all about improvising freely on any instrument but is not about specific technique. Other books will teach the latter. The author has studied music making in many parts of the world and has spent many years perfecting these ideas with his students. I cannot compare it with other guitar tuition books - it is simply the most interesting way to understand the chords and scales that I have ever come across in forty years of playing and studying the guitar. Highly recommended.

Ce livre est une révolution. Il change de manière radicale de la manière occidentale d'approcher la musique. Les deux principales caractéristiques qui font la réussite de la pédagogie de ce livre sont : D'une part, l'abandon du système de nommage absolutiste occidental. Absolutiste dans le sens où un Do sera toujours un Do peu importe sa place dans la tonalité... Cela au profit d'une approche relativiste des notes - Chaque note est nommée relativement à sa position dans la tonalité (Exactement comme dans le système de musique classique indienne). Cela peut paraitre négligeable... Mais en fait, cette approche relativiste va facilité la connexion cognitive entre chaque note de la tonalité (et même hors tonalité) et notre esprit. En d'autre terme, cela devient aussi évident d'entendre plusieurs notes d'un morceau et de distinguer la quinte, la tierce et la septième, que de voir plusieurs animaux et de distinguer un chien, un chat et un oiseau ! Au final, c'est même beaucoup plus utile et plus puissant que l'oreille absolue... Par extension, avec un peu (vraiment un peu) d'entrainement, on peut reconnaitre la nature d'un accord (les notes qui le compose). Ou même, avec un peu plus d'entrainement, on peut écouter un morceau prendre son instrument, jouer une seule note, écouter l’interaction entre la note jouée et le morceau et déterminer immédiatement la position de la note jouée dans la tonalité du morceau, et donc improviser dans la tonalité sans même avoir regardé une partition ou une grille d'accord auparavant ! D'autre part, et c'est dans la continuité, l'approche modale se fait en associant chaque mode à l'ambiance, à l'état d'esprit qu'il dégage (là aussi, un peu comme le système des ragas de la musique classique indienne où chaque raga (mode d'une gamme) est associé à un état d'esprit et à un moment de la journée). Cette connexion cognitive est si puissante finalement qu'on peut reconnaitre à l'oreille, avec un peu d'entrainement, dans quel mode est tel morceau... Le plus fou dans tout ça, c'est que toute cette connaissance est déjà inconsciemment en nous ! En effet, les milliers d'heures de musique que nous avons écoutés depuis notre enfance jusqu'à maintenant ont façonnés notre esprit et l'ont habitué aux notes, gammes, modes, accords, etc. Il suffit juste d'arriver à le sentir ! Aussi et attention ! C'est un livre dont le but est l'improvisation. L'improvisation, c'est jouer ce qu'on a à l'esprit, ce qu'on imagine. Cela vient vient de nous. Aussi, la plupart des livres ou des vidéos sur l'improvisation nous apprennent des modèles pré-établis : Jouer jazz, jouer rock, jouer blues, sonner comme Georges Benson ou comme Jimmy Hendricks... Or, là il s'agit de jouer comme vous le voulez ! Vous êtes libres de créer la musique que vous avez en vous. C'est un peu déroutant au début parce que cela sonnera sûrement très différemment de ce que vous aviez l'habitude de jouer... Mais peu à peu vous allez vous laisser aller à imaginer et à jouer pleins de styles et d'ambiances : Oriental, jazzy, blues, classique... Et cela avec votre propre imagination et votre propre style. Bon, le mauvais côté est que si comme moi vous avez passé des centaines d'heures auparavant à apprendre la théorie musicale, des gammes spécifiques jazz ou blues ou rock, des positions d'accords, des doigtés de gammes... Vous allait comprendre que tout cela n'a servi presque à rien :) Donc, réfléchissez bien à ce que vous voulez : Véritablement improviser VOTRE musique ou continuer à jouer des styles pré-établis ? Si improviser est ce que vous voulez, alors ce livre est fait pour vous. Pas d'hésitation. Le livre est en anglais, mais c'est plutôt simple. En espérant que cet avis vous sera utile.