What We’re About
At Apostolic Praise School of Music (APSOM), our goal is simple: help you become the church musician God has called you to be—faster than you ever thought possible.
Most music lessons spend months teaching exercises and theory before you ever play a real song. We believe that’s backwards.
From your very first lesson, you’ll start learning practical chords you can actually use in church. By Lesson 2, you’ll already be playing familiar worship songs while learning the “why” behind what you’re playing.
Our step-by-step approach has helped students around the world go from complete beginners to confidently serving in their churches. Whether you’ve never touched a keyboard or you’ve played for years and feel stuck, APSOM gives you a clear path forward.
We’re so confident in our teaching that every course includes two free lessons. Try them for yourself before spending a penny. No pressure. No guesswork. We think you’ll quickly understand why thousands of church musicians have trusted APSOM to help them grow.
Today APSOM offers training in:
- Piano
- Bass Guitar
- Organ
- Guitar
- Drums
- Choir & Vocal Parts
with a strong emphasis on:
- Gospel, Contemporary, Pentecostal, Southern, Gospel Blues and many other genres of church music
- Playing by ear with confidence
- Understanding chord charts and number systems
- Learning the principles behind the music—not just memorizing songs
These are skills you’ll use in virtually every church setting for years to come.
Our Mission
To glorify Jesus Christ by equipping church musicians to serve with excellence through practical, Christ-centered music education.
Our desire is to remove unnecessary frustration from the learning process so students can spend less time wondering what to practice and more time leading people into the presence of God through worship.
Psalm 33:3
“Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.”
Meet the instructor
Richard W. Smith has been involved in church music for most of his life. He began playing piano around six years old and has spent decades serving as a pianist, organist, bassist, worship leader, choir director, minister of music, songwriter, recording artist, and teacher.
His musical background includes black gospel, southern gospel, contemporary worship, jazz, blues, classical, and Latin styles (he speaks Spanish). More importantly, he has spent years helping everyday church musicians overcome the same frustrations he once faced.
That experience shaped the teaching style APSOM is known for today—clear, practical, encouraging, and easy to understand.
In the beginning…
As a young man interested in learning how to play music in church, Richard had a very long and difficult journey. He started out by taking classical music lessons and soon learned that he would never learn how to play church piano that way. His mother taught him some basic major and minor chords, and he could play several church songs, but he always had to have sheet music and play it EXACTLY THE SAME WAY every time. How boring!
Culture Shock
Richard was raised in a United Pentecostal Church in Oklahoma City, OK pastored by Bro. Robert D. Whalen (now pastored by Mark Parker). He grew up listening to their incredible choir and the sounds of the songs sung from the Hymnal. At the age of nine, his family moved to First Pentecostal Church in Buford, GA (pastored by Timothy Copeland). And at the age of 16, his family temporarily moved to New Life Tabernacle, (pastored by the Bro. & Sis. Davy), which was a large, predominantly black United Pentecostal Church (UPC) in Tampa, Florida. He played bass guitar there and took several “piano by ear” lessons from their incredible organist. During this time, he also studied a variety of other popular piano books. What he came to realize was that most of the stuff he was learning from these “popular piano books” was not useful for church.
That Midnight Train To Georgia
Upon moving back to Georgia, he began playing piano regularly for a small home missions church (First Pentecostal Church of Cumming, GA) where there were really no other musicians (besides an occasional drummer), so everything depended on him! If he messed up, everybody knew it! However, it was an excellent training ground, without the normal pressures of learning how to play in a bigger church.
After playing faithfully at this church for several years, he began to play for the church choir in Buford, GA at First Pentecostal Church (choir leader Devon Mills). He also attended workshops in various places, including one put on by Mark Condon and another put on by Atlanta West Pentecostal Church, one of which was taught by Brandon Frazier. After playing mainly piano and organ for the choir in Buford, GA, he was called to assist at The East Bay Pentecostals (Pastor Joel Bryant) in Brentwood, CA, where he was the minister of music for his duration there (almost two years). From March 2010 to September 2015, he was the minister of music at Sanctuary of Pentecost in Northeast Georgia.
He currently ministers at The Sanctuary United Pentecostal Church in Bessemer, AL – (Pastor Todd Bertram). Richard also currently has three CD Albums he has published (Taking It Back to the Altar, Christmas Time, and Just Piano).
OK, SO WHAT’S THE POINT?!
The point we are trying to make is this: Richard’s journey from the time he began learning to play until the time he was actually able to play in church was very long! In fact, it took over ten years of lessons and learning before he ever played in church.
OUR MISSION
The Mission of Apostolic Praise School of Music is to shorten this path for other aspiring church musicians. Richard says ” I wish I could have had access to something like Apostolic Praise School of Music in the beginning stages of my music ministry.” The point of APSOM is to teach how to play church music as quickly and skillfully as possible!
EXAMPLES
APSOM students regularly accomplish in months what once took years.
Some students have begun playing in church within just a couple of months.
Others—like one six-year-old student—completed the first three courses in about six months. When asked if ninth chords were difficult, his response was simply:
“Those are easy.”
Stories like these are exciting, but Richard is quick to point to the true source of every success.
Every lesson begins with prayer.
Because while good teaching matters, the greatest Teacher is still the Holy Spirit.
Our prayer is that every lesson not only helps you become a better musician—but also a more effective servant in God’s Kingdom.
We would be honored to be part of your musical journey.