I’ve just signed up for the Popmatics Campfire Challenge, has anyone else?
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Have you not received the emails from David @ImproviseForReal?
It is something organised by popMatics which @Angela is involved with and David is helping to promote it.
Check your emails (or maybe your spam), if not I can forward something to you.
Hey @mem we have a fantastic group of IFR people in our challenge this time, thanks to the generosity of David sharing this opportunity in his newsletter. We are a new program so have been really appreciative of his support.
If anyone else sees this and wants to join, we offer the challenge each month (starting on the first working Monday). Here is our info page: 10 Free Piano Lessons/Campfire Challenge • popMATICS
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Ah yes. That. I did see the email, but I quickly realised it wasn’t a thing I’d be interested in any time soon so I didn’t pay much attention to the name & it had slipped my mind.
I’m far from short of things to do right now (work as well as play[1]) so the idea of a 10 day challenge to add to that doesn’t have much appeal at the moment.
I hope you enjoy it & I’ll be interested to hear how it went if you have time.
[1] I’m in the IFR Jazz Study Group, and am a member of Musical-U where there’s more going on than I already have time to keep up with!
I’m in but i’ll miss today’s zoom as I’ll be driving to a band practice an hour away. I’m looking forward to the next 2 weeks though.
Sounds like you’ve a lot in your plate right now, but it all sounds like great fun, I’m sure you are enjoying it all.
Well it looks like there are quite a number of IFRers signed up for the challenge, I’m looking forward to playing some piano and seeing how the approach aligns with IFR.
That’s great. I probably won’t get involved with the live chat stuff, not a big fun of Zoom, but will be on the Discord server chat, so maybe see you there.
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@mem There’s so much great stuff that could be done that sometimes I have to remind myself that fundamentally I’m doing this music stuff for relaxation & enjoyment, so better not take too much on at once. LOL!
Keep it fun! 
I’ve been a top level member[1] at Musical-U for several years. That plus IFR gives access to more courses & materials than I could fit in even there were more than 24 hours in a day & I didn’t need to work, or sleep!
[1] The option was called ‘VIP membership’ when I took it; with that I have access to everything that’s already there plus all new on-line resources they come up with. The specific option I took is no longer offered. For new entrants the nearest current equivalent is “Next Generation” Premium Membership.
I have Discord but I’ve never really understood why it is so popular. Maybe it’s an age thing😁.
Yes I know what you mean. I only use it for two groups, the popMatics one and one other. It’s quite good and easy enough to use. For this campfire challenge there is a chat group and its been set up so you store your practice recordings. I thought that sounded like a good idea.
Yes, I like the stuff Musical-U puts out, some interesting conversations and other content. I think I got onto Greg Goodhart from there. I really like his approach and all the cognitive science info.
I’m not working so have plenty of time for lots of music, but not a lot of cash for buying material. All good though.
They have a “30-day Superlearning Challenge” starting today. I’m eligible for it, but won’t be taking part (see above for reasons…). 
Cool, Campfire Challenge is just 10 days and it’s free but gives a good insight into their method, so good for attracting new members. Also the challenge is repeated, so you can do it over or pick it up again later.
Having fun so far, posted my first “homework” and working on Day 2.
There is another activity on popMatics called reChordIt, where they suggest a song to actively listen to and figure out the chords. I’m going to give this one a try to, as it fits into my ear training project.
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BTW the song we’re looking at/analysing is The Way It Is, by Bruce Hornsby. They provide a template that gives you points to consider as you listen. I’m not up to speed with all the terminology yet, but another day anither challenge !
I’m up to Day 7 on the Campfire Challenge and really enjoying it. It feels good to get away from sheet music, chords, notes, progressions, and just have fun making sounds on the keyboard.
There is direction/instructions each day but not too much, and no mention of theory, or even the notes we are playing. But you can easily fit it into the IFR approach, think or sing numbers as you play, so I feel it is enhancing what I’m working on in IFR.
It’s good taster of their method, and I see a few people from IFR signed up for it on David’s recommendation.
No songs in the Campfire Challenge, just a teaching instruction each day which builds on the previous day. We’re exploring the keyboard, hearing the different sounds, and playing around with short and longer melodic phrases. We’re given little visualisations as well, to help you remember whats going on, like circling the campfire, putting logs on the fire, and walking the trail. I’m finding these very useful.
The song/active listening stuff is not part of the Campfire Challenge, but a different activity they offer free, which looks at a pop song, one per week, like a crossword puzzle, to try to work out the chords and melody.
I’d highly recommend both of these to anyone interested in sampling what popMatics is all about.