One of the coolest things about being an Apostolic Praise Complete Member is that you have over 700 chord sheets written in Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced at your fingertips.
We have them in google drive and dropbox and they are formatted in PDF, RTF and TXT so you can import them into programs like OnSong.
Anyways, it’s a beautiful day! Talk later!
P.S. Running a 10% off sale on everything NOW.
P.S.S. God bless you and your playing!
One thing that is crucial to playing is learning fills and runs. Here’s a free video with one of my favorite fills.
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
I’m 35 years old (young) and I remember growing up we didn’t have cellphones, internet, email, Facebook, Twitter (boy maybe I am old).
There were still distractions but they were things like “playing outside” and “video/computer games” and “girls”. LOL.
So having an active mind and not liking to waste time, I would often play music to pass the time.
I could sit down at the bass guitar or piano or organ (we had an old Hammond) and play for hours – pretty much uninterrupted. – for hours.
When I was in college and had cellphone, one thing that our teachers told us was that if wanted to study to “PUT OUR PHONES IN A DIFFERENT ROOM”.
Why? Because studies have been done and students do not study as well if there phone is in the same room – EVEN IF IT IS TURNED OFF.
Wow!
So what does that mean for you?
Well, there are different levels of learning. And while I don’t have time to go over all of these, you learn faster and you can learn MORE when you are laser-focused and don’t have distractions.
Learning coach Jim Kwik says” Basically, there are different brainwave states: delta (fast asleep), theta (very creative, imagination is flowing), alpha (relaxed awareness, you want to learn things in this state), beta (most awake and alert).”
So, I want to encourage you to ELIMINATE the distractions today and get laser-focused on learning to play!
Here’s our video to watch from last week!
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
One thing that is crucial to playing is learning fills and runs. Here’s a free video with one of my favorite fills.
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
I remember teaching a lot of students in-person years ago. I noticed that every student had different levels of learning. Some would learn more quickly while others would take longer to grasp concepts.
Finally, I started telling my students that they needed to pray and ask God for help with their playing.
James 1:5 says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally…and it shall be given him.
I taught my students that if God had put it in their heart to learn how to play music for Him, that they just needed to pray and ask God to help them and then practice.
It wasn’t always my best students that learned to play. In fact, one of my most talented piano students became a drummer!
But can I tell you, that the ones that really stayed committed to it and kept learning – little bit by little bit and lesson by lesson – they were the ones who really learned to play.
So I want to encourage you that no matter how fast or how slow you may seem to learn, if you will hold on to what God has put in your heart and ask him for WISDOM, He will help you!
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
Hope you are having an amazing day!
What you do everyday adds up little by little until finally it becomes something huge.
Even if all you have is 15 minutes today, take some time and login to our lessons to learn something new.
Just pick anything!
I do this sometimes because I drive a lot.
So instead of wasting the time I have in the car, I will turn on a piano or music lesson and use that time to learn something new.
Well, don’t you have to be in front of your instrument?
Yes that would be best, but second best is just visualizing it.
There’s a story of a concert piano player that was held hostage in a foreign country for 4-5 years and when he was freed, he went and played one of his very complicated concert piano pieces flawlessly.
Everyone was amazed and asked how he did it. He said he would practice in his head with his eyes closed and imagine that he was playing the piano.
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
It was just another day in the Smith household.
He was homeschooled so after finishing his work around 1pm, he went and did what he did everyday – started practicing the piano.
2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm. He got up a few times – once to go workout and another to shoot some hoops with his brother.
Dinner was served. Back to the piano.
OKAY, so that may be a little extreme. That was me learning to play at one point in my life when I had a LOT of free time.
There was NO social media. There was NO internet or Facebook or Instagram.
However, other distractions existed in the form of video games and computer games.
Those were always a constant distraction and time-waster for me. Often I would play a game for several hours and then delete – disgusted that I had wasted so much time.
The truth is that what seems like “just another day” to you could be a day that moves you to get 1% better.
And if you get 1% better everyday, then in one year, you will be 365% better.
And if you compound that (I’m not smart enough to do this) than the results are even better!
Remember it’s PROGRESS not perfection.
It won’t happen OVERNIGHT but if you keep working consistently and learning something NEW every week, then ONE DAY you will look back and be amazed at how far you have come!
If you are not a member/student already, click the button below for FREE lessons (over 50 of them) to get started.
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
MEMBERS LOGIN HERE
Become a MEMBER here
Learn for FREE here
At Apostolic Praise we use a systematic, organized approach to teaching music.
You will learn to play
1) by Chord Sheet
2) by ear
3) by Theory
(and eventually)
4) by sight-reading (the least important one for playing church music – so we don’t focus on it until later on in our courses.)
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.God bless!
I’ve shared my personal story SO many times – I’m sure you’ve read it before…but I remember when I first started learning to play the piano. It was a lightning storm and I was 6 years old. I had nothing else to do – too dark to read – the only thing there was to do was play the piano…if I knew how (I didn’t).
So I asked my mom to teach me some stuff.
Then I took piano lessons and practiced almost daily for the next 10 years.
Guess what?
I still couldn’t play in church…Not even close.
If you would have asked me, I wouldn’t have known what to play.
Oh I could play a bunch of cool classical stuff (no jazz or gospel stuff though – which is what I really wanted to learn – stuff with a beat and groove).
Yeah I could play a few simple church songs with basic major and minor chords too (yawn).
Then at the age of 16 I took some “by ear” lessons and my mom bought me some books (which were not great to learn from) and somehow over the next few years I began to piece it together.
And within two years I was the main keyboardist at a large church.
Things started clicking.
Now fast forward 15 years.
I can sit down and listen to a song and play it.
I have taught not only thousands of students online but also many, many students in person.
That’s why our system works.
It’s not just something that I thought of on the fly and never tried it out.
This method has been tried and proven in real classes and lessons with REAL people.
In fact, many of my students were children and young people and that’s why we believe it is so easy to learn from…because we break it down in an easy to understand way.
In fact, that’s what many of the students who take our lessons tell us is SO DIFFERENT from any other lessons they have taken.
God has blessed us to be able to be a blessing – all glory goes to him!
So what are you waiting for?
If you are a student already, LOGIN (button below) and keep learning!
TRUST the process.
Remember it’s PROGRESS not perfection.
It won’t happen OVERNIGHT but if you keep working consistently and learning something NEW every week…
If you 1% better every day, in one year you will be 365% better.
If you are not a member/student already, click the button below for FREE lessons (over 50 of them) to get started.
P.S.
Thanks for being part of the Apostolic Praise School of Music family.
Here is a coupon code for three free chord sheets. Just pick any three and use “3free” at checkout to get them for FREE! Shop for chord sheets here
**FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY**
MEMBERS LOGIN HERE
Become a MEMBER here
Learn for FREE here
At Apostolic Praise we use a systematic, organized approach to teaching music.
You will learn to play
1) by Chord Sheet
2) by ear
3) by Theory
(and eventually)
4) by sight-reading (the least important one for playing church music – so we don’t focus on it until later on in our courses.)
Hi Richard, forgive me writing a testimony in the wrong place but I am so excited about your website! I have spent tons of money on lessons with teachers in person, on the internet, books, DVDs but I have never seen one like this! Your program for teaching church musicians is AWESOME!
I told you before I play in church already. I thank God for you because it is all making sense to me now! What a great concept! I went back to the 100 series and really learned some things even though I have been playing in church every Sunday that I didn’t know! Thanks also for the wonderful selection of songs that you have too which is very motivating!
You have provided a systematic way to success for musicians! God Bless! I’ve finally found what I needed! Now I know I will be better at church!
– Mary R.
God bless!
It’s a new year and a new you!
Maybe you have been thinking about learning how to play or maybe you’ve been here and there when you have a chance!
Let me remind you – Rome was NOT built in a day!
All you’ve got to do is learn something new EVERY day (or every day you can).
That doesn’t mean you need to do a new lesson every week.
In fact, it’s better if you set completing 1 lesson per week as a goal!
That way you can work on that lesson that whole week.
So why not go ahead and login here and learn something new?
Current students login here: www.apostolicpsom.com/my-account/
Free students login here: www.apostolicpsom.com/free-lessons/
*over 50 free lessons at the link above*
Become a new member here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Learning how to play music is nothing different from learning anything new.
And it’s mostly just memorization.
We have taught our lessons to kids as young as six years old and as “young” as 70+ years!
It doesn’t matter how old you are. It matters if you are willing to put in the practice and the time.
Have you got what it takes?
Have you ever been to a church service where the music was well…joyful but NOT very musical?
I have…and God can still move. But if you have an ear for music, it can be a little painful!
And it DOESN’T have to be that way. The Bible says that if any lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it!
Maybe you don’t even seem to have the gift of music inside of you but that’s why we tell our students to pray and ask God to help them!
You’ve got this – with God’s help!
Now go learn something new!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Hey friend!
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family this year!
I am so THANKFUL that you are a part of our Apostolic Praise family – whether a free member or current student.
Here is a free tutorial on how to play Silent Night!
Free CHORD SHEET HERE – written in Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced!
Have fun and never stop learning!
Free students go here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/free-lessons/
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Hey friend!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family this year!
I am so THANKFUL that you are a part of our Apostolic Praise family – whether a free member or current student.
Thank you so much for even reading this post and if we can do anything for you, please let us know!
God bless you!
P.S. We are running a 30% sale for the next several days for Thanksgiving / Black Friday / Cyber Monday (what’s next – Terrific Tuesday).
Shop here
Have fun and never stop learning!
Free students go here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/free-lessons/
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Hey friend!
I’ve got some awesome news for you. It’s going to get easier!
What do I mean?
When I first started learning to play, I had to have a chord sheet to learn a song.
Then I learned the Musical Roman Numeral System (some call it the Nashville Number System nowadays) like we teach in our courses and I learned to play by ear!
However, it would still take me a few hours to learn a song (depending on how complicated it was).
I would find the key, learn the bass part and then figure the chords out (like we teach in AP 203).
After awhile, it took just 30 minutes to learn a song and believe it or not, I can listen to a song, make a few notes in Notepad and I learn most songs in 5-10 minutes.
Most songs follow the same pattern and so your ear learns to just recognize those common patterns – just like learning to speak a language.
Music is just a language.
So while it may be hard right now, just stick with it – it’s going to get easier!
Eventually, those things that are NEW are going to become FAMILIAR and you will continue your journey upwards!
Have fun and never stop learning!
Free students go here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/free-lessons/
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Hey friend
What does it take to be good? (And what is “good” anyways?)
Does it take 8 hours a day or can you get by on 30 minutes? What is beginner and what is advanced?
Someone once said that the 10,000 hour rule is what turns someone into an expert.
Once you have done something for 10,000 hours, you will be a professional in that – whatever it is!
I don’t necessarily agree with that – practice is important but practicing the right things is MORE important.
I think of it more like the old fable about the rabbit and the turtle that had a race.
The rabbit would run really fast for awhile and then stop to take a nap for a long time.
The turtle just kept slowly making his way to the goal and eventually won the race.
The point of the story is that slow and steady wins the day.
Being consistent in practicing a LITTLE everyday is BETTER than practicing for 8 hours one day and then not practicing for weeks.
If you get 1% better everyday, you will be 365% better by the end of the year!
So take a few minutes today – it can be 10, 15 or 30 and practice!
Do this everyday and have FUN doing it and you will be playing in NO TIME!
By the way – in my opinion, GOOD is defined as being the best that YOU can be.
Free students go here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/free-lessons/
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Hey friend,
Hope you are doing something fun today – cookout, not working, with family, etc.
If you get some free time, don’t WASTE it on social media or goofing off.
Take some time to PLAY (or worship).
So the past few days we had some friends visiting and last night we heard some singing – my daughter and her friend were in her room playing and singing “Worthy of It All” and “Throne Room Song” and a few other songs.
(This was after we all sang “Because He Lives” together.)
It was so cool to hear them worshipping God. They are about 10 years old and even though they may have ups and downs in life, the gift of worship and music is something no one can take from them!
We also have a 20% off sale going on now. Sign up today and learn – or go to the next level in your playing!
P.S. Do you know how to play hymns? If not, you should definitely learn!
For me, I sometimes enjoy sitting down with an older hymnal and just playing older songs. It’s fun and it’s even more fun to jazz them up!
Here’s a video I sent my grandmothers (because they love to hear this style). The song is “I Need Thee, O I Need Thee”.
Also, if you want to learn how to do this AND read sheet music, you should definitely check out our AP 303 course: “How To Play Hymns”.
Have an awesome week!
God bless!
P.S.S.
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Do you know how to play hymns? If not, you should definitely learn!
For me, I sometimes enjoy sitting down with an older hymnal and just playing older songs. It’s fun and it’s even more fun to jazz them up!
Here’s a video I sent my grandmothers (because they love to hear this style). The song is “I Need Thee, O I Need Thee”.
Also, if you want to learn how to do this AND read sheet music, you should definitely check out our AP 303 course: “How To Play Hymns”.
Have an awesome week!
God bless!
P.S
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
P.S.S.
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
One thing I am super thankful for is how my parents raised me.
We did not have social media or email or facebook or instagram or any of that stuff. The only screen allowed in our home was a computer LOL.
We still had our distractions (mainly video games) that we wasted a lot of time on but eventually you get bored with those or you beat them.
And you couldn’t just “download” a new game or go to a different website because there was NO web. There was no downloading.
You had to actually go to the store and buy another one (if the new one had come out).
Of course, for me, I would play a video game for a few hours and then get upset because I had just “wasted” two hours and I would erase the game or break the CD (which was required to play it – LOL).
My point is that I had to say NO to some things in order to not waste my time.
And if you are going to become a successful musician (or really anything in life) you are going to have to learn how to say NO more often.
But only say NO to the wrong stuff and say YES to the right stuff.
For me, right stuff was practicing and learning new stuff on the keyboard, bass, organ, drums or guitar.
I would open a lesson book or turn on an album and practice with it until I could play the whole album.
Wrong stuff was wasting hours playing video games (which I knew would not help me in the future).
30 years from now, no one will care that you got to level 100 on whatever flavor of the day video game everyone is playing now.
No one will care that your character was invincible.
But learning a new skill or spending time with family or friends or the Lord has a lifetime of benefits.
Here’s my challenge for you this week: say NO to something (or things) you are wasting your time on and instead spend that time doing something productive (like logging in to your lessons).
For me, that means I’m not reading the news, scrolling endlessly through social media or reading westerns. Lol.
Have an awesome week!
God bless!
P.S
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here: www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
P.S.S.
Here’s my challenge from last week:
I want you to learn something new on your instrument every day.
That means you have to stop practicing the same thing over and over again.
Now some things you need to keep practicing daily.
But for beginner to intermediate musicians, what you learn is line upon line.
So as you learn something new, you are actually practicing what you have already learned.
This will continue until you are an intermediate to advanced musician who
1. knows ALL their chords (how do you know when you know all your chords – because there are ZERO chords you don’t know – from 7ths to 9ths to 11ths to 13ths.)
Here are two great courses for learning all your chords.
AP 204 The Secrets to Playing Gospel & Pentecostal Music
AP 701 Gospel Jazz Chords
2. can play by ear (AP 203)
3. knows all their voicings (AP 702 Gospel Jazz Voicings)
4. knows their scales and how to improvise (AP 703 Jazz Improvisation)
5. knows how to play gospel style (fast songs) AP 304 The Secrets to Fast Songs, Gospel Blues Style, Shouting Music, Preacher Chords)
Will you take my challenge?
Reply back “yes” or “no” and let me know!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
It took me about 10 years to learn how to play in church and my path there was anything but easy.
There were many times I felt like giving up and I often did.
Because that’s how I learn and how a lot of people do too!
Our brains are funny things and they need time to digest what we have learned.
That’s why you can’t sit down and learn to play the piano in one day.
So here’s the trick – ready?!!
Learn something new everyDAY!
In other words, every new day is a chance to start fresh and learn something new because you have slept and your brain is fresh and ready again.
So if you DON’T learn something new one day, you can never get that back.
The good news is that with our system, you can learn in a focused, organized way.
Somebody texted me the other day and said that they were a beginner and wanted to know if learning scales was a good idea.
I told them “No”.
Scales are an almost complete waste of time if you are a beginner.
It’s like telling you to start memorizing spelling words when you haven’t even learned the alphabet.
How can you work on your spelling words when you don’t even know your ABCs?
LOL!
So, if you feel like giving up – go ahead! But ONLY for the rest of the day and then come back the next day and start again when you are fresh. Never give completely up!
And two, trust the system. If you study with us with 3 months and do it consistenly and with a “learn something new everyday” mindset, your playing will never be the same.
We have literally had people playing in church in 3 months.
God bless you and your playing!
Enjoy!
P.S. Have you learned the new chord sheet?
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/great-worship-song-worthy-of-it-all/
P.S.S. You got this.
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here:
www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
Buy the PDF, RTF and TXT (Great for apps like Onsong) here
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
My journey to learning to play was kind of long.
It started with a bang (literally) – the lights went off because of an Oklahoma thunderstorm and it was dark enough where we couldn’t even see to read.
I was 6 and got bored and asked my mom to show me how to play the piano (since it was the only thing we could see in the house lit with only candles – no tablets or phones back then – LOL).
Then around the age of 10 I started taking classical piano lessons.
I took some gospel stuff around 12 and learned some chords.
Around 16 I really got into gospel music and finally learned how to play in church around 17-18.
And trust me, there were HUNDREDS of times that I got frustrated and wanted to quit.
And in fact, I did quit. Almost everyday. LOL!
So you know, whenever you learn something new, it will usually be hard because it’s new to you.
So I would learn something new and practice, practice, practice it but it wouldn’t quite sound right.
But what I have learned is this: your brain takes about a day or two to fully process things.
So if you will practice something new the FIRST DAY. Then take a break for a few days or come back the SECOND DAY. and practice it again and then come back again the THIRD DAY and practice it…then you will probably get it the third day!
Then you just repeat this pattern over and over again for new things.
So if you quit, that’s fine – just don’t quit permanently (forever).
Just quit for the day and come back tomorrow. You’ll probably get it later.
God bless!
Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Sign up here:
So I learned to play music in part because we moved to Tampa for a year (and I didn’t know anybody there – except the church folks and we lived like 45 minutes away).
So I was pretty much isolated and was like “what to do?”
Fortunately, my parents had rented a piano from a local music store so I could practice (they’ve always supported my music habit LOL). I have awesome parents.
So I just played music like 8 hours a day.
And that’s what you have to do sometimes. You just have to isolate yourself to learn how to play.
I mean you don’t HAVE to. Maybe you have friends or family that want to learn too and you can hang out and play with them. Or maybe you have a great local teacher.
But for most people, you are going to have to just get alone and PRACTICE and LEARN until you get it.
That might even mean having to go on a fast (or partial fast) from social media and the news (gasp)! Try it for 52 days – you might like it. 🙂
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Sometimes I think about when I was a “beginning” musician and what I wish I could go back and tell myself.
My number one thing I would focus on learning if I had to start from scratch would be CHORDS!
Really?!!
Chords?
Yes you need to learn and master all 33 of the main church chords we use in an ORGANIZED way…ONE at a time!
For example, major chords are just ONE of the 33 chords we use in church music.
If you don’t know your major chords, you can’t play anything.
And you need to learn them in ALL 12 keys AND in all their inversions (more on that in our lessons).
But furthermore, you need to learn HOW and WHERE to use them.
And then you need to learn some SONGS to practice them with.
There are THREE specific places that we usually use major chords. Do you know what they are?
They are the I, the IV and the V chords (the 1, the 4 and the 5 chords).
Don’t know what that means? Am I speaking “Roman” to you? (Lol)
Learn more about the Roman Numeral System here for FREE:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/ap-101-piano-free/
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Scales, scales, scales – practice your scales!
Have you ever heard that before?
Well there’s some truth to it but it’s really not a very good things to do for most people.
Why?
Well, let’s look at one of my personal practice sheets for a minute. These are the scales that I “play” but I don’t just play them. I play them in different ways (alternating, as chords, staccato versus legato, etc).
Major scale, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian (natural minor), Phyrgian, Locrian, Altered scale (7+5+9), Lydian, Dominant Lydian
Barry’s major scale (#5), Barry’s bebop mixolydian (b7-7-1 i think), Bebop scale with alternating notes
Blues scale, Major Pentatonic, Major pentatonic with b3 and 3
Major pentatonic with b3 and no 3, Minor pentatonic, Alternating minor pentatonic
Barry’s altered bebop Dorian (b7-7-1), Bebop Dorian (1-2-b3-3-4-5-6-b7-1)
Harmonic minor scale (minor with 7 not b7) Bebop harmonic minor scale (b7-7-1)
Melodic minor (major with b3), Bebop melodic minor (#5 added)
Whole tone scale, Half/whole, Whole/half, Chromatic, Gypsy scale (1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7 1)
The truth is that there are TONS of different types of scales and eventually your want to learn them all and learn to use them.
But NOT today!
Instead, just focus on the basics. Learning chords, some songs and going through the system that God helped us create at www.apostolicpsom.com!
Start your journey today or keep learning if you are advanced!
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Current students login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account
Advanced scale and improvisation stuff here: https://apostolicpsom.com/product/ap-703-gospel-jazz-improvisation/
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Here are a few quick tips for you! Maybe you knew these and maybe you didn’t!
There are about 33 chords that we use regularly in church music.
One of them is the suspended 4.
Now for you more advanced people, you can actually use a suspended 4 on many types of chords.
Suspended 4 just means you replace the 3rd with the 4th.
So in the key of C, the 3rd note of the scale is E and the 4th note is F.
So a C major chord is C E G (1-3-5) and a C suspended 4 chord is C F G (1-4-5)
A few more things, a C7sus4 would be a C7 where you replace the 3 with the 4.
So C7 = Bb C E G
C7sus4 = Bb C F G
(It generally resolves to the C7).
(Remember to play C in the bass or left hand with both of these chords).
That’s the thing with suspended 4 chords – they almost always need to resolve!
Resolve just means they change back to the original chord.
It’s almost like they put on a different outfit for a minute and change into a different type of chord but then they always put their original clothes back on.
Silly example, right?
Also a C9sus4 would be Bb D F G (over a C bass)
Then it would resolve to Bb D E G.
C7b9sus4 would be Bb Db F G and it would resolve to C7b9 which is Bb Db E G.
Or my personal favorite a C13 which is basically a suspended chord.
I like to voice a C13 like this.
Right Hand: D F A C
Left Hand: C G Bb
It’s just one of the coolest sounding chords.
Even minor chords can have a sus4 which would be C F G and then resolve to C Eb G.
Or Cm7sus4 which would be Bb C F G and then resolve to Cm7 which is Bb C Eb G.
Of course the crazy thing with minor chords is that you can actually just add the suspended 4 note to the chord and it sounds good.
Take a Cm7 for example. Instead of playing it as Bb C Eb G (or Bb Eb G as we teach in our lesson), try playing it as Bb Eb F G (over a C bass of course) for a really sweet sound.
Anyways, have fun this week playing with suspended 4 chords!
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Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Have you ever hit a wrong note?
I mean not just playing by yourself but playing in front of a BIG crowd of other people!
So I was playing this past Sunday morning when I did it. I hit a wrong note (several in fact).
Now when you hit a wrong note, you have 2 main options.
1) Act like it was on purpose and do it again! This actually works sometimes!
*NOTE: this will NOT work if it’s a REALLY bad note. LOL
Also – Pro Tip: Do NOT change your facial expression!
2) Own it. In basketball, we say “my bad”. This can be communicated by a face of pain or by smiling.
Everyone knows you hit the wrong note. Just acknowledge it with a smile or grimace.
Now I’m kind of being a little silly but I’m half shalf-serious
So what did I do?
I grimaced for a second (LOL) and then just moved on. And I played harder to make up for my mistake and decided that this week I would put in more personal practice time.
I’ve learned that getting caught up in your mistakes and losing your cool is a lot WORSE than just moving on and making up your mind that you are going to make up for that mistake – whether that is through playing better and with more focus and/or practicing more at home.
For example, my kids are part of a Bible Memorization program and they go to tournaments and answer questions.
We teach them that even if they get a question wrong – the next question is a NEW quiz.
Forget about the one you missed and MOVE ON.
What would happen in your life if you chose to just MOVE ON instead of focusing on your mistakes and failures?
Somebody needs to preach on that! LOL!
Anyways, what are you waiting on?
Take your playing to the next level or start from scratch here!
We are currently running a 10% off Summer Sale!
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Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
There’s an old saying that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
This just means that it takes TIME to learn things.
There are about 33 main chords that we use in church and gospel music.
(FYI, major and minor chords are only 2 of the 33.)
There are multiple types of 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, diminished, augmented, half-diminished and ALL kinds of chords!
And believe it or not, we use ALL of these 33 chords very regularly in all styles of church / gospel music.
It doesn’t matter if you play southern gospel, black gospel, pentecostal, contemporary (CCM) or anything in-between. You need these chords!
This may seem overwhelming at first but the key is to study EACH ONE individually.
What we do in our lessons is we teach you how to make a chord, then we explain where to use it and then we teach you a song or two using that chord in the right spots.
Of course, chords are just building blocks or “legos” of playing music.
You still need scales, fills, runs, voicings and all kinds of other fun stuff.
The good news? We teach all of that.
So what are you waiting on?
Take your playing to the next level or start from scratch here!
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
I went over to someone’s house the other day and two young people were playing around on the guitar and bass guitar.
Well, they really didn’t seem to be playing. They were just kind of watching people play music online – just an instrumental kind of rocky non-gospel and non-church guitar technique.
As someone that has learned and mastered multiple instruments, here’s what I saw:
Two people wasting their time.
Why?
Because it wasn’t teaching them anything. They weren’t trying to copy his technique or playing.
And even if they did try to learn it – it seemed like kind of a useless thing to learn anyways.
What he was playing could probably never be used in a church or gospel setting.
It was just…noise!
In fact, call me old – but it was giving me a headache. LOL!
Now I’ve always said – if you really want to PLAY, you need to stop playing around.
Watching people play really fancy techniques, fills and runs and saying “wow – that’s so cool” will never help you to play like that.
You could watch that video a hundred times but if it is not teaching you anything then you are simply Wasting Your Time.
So I sat down and had them turn off the useless Youtube guitar video and then showed them a few things that they could play that were actually useful.
Here is how you learn to play an instrument:
1. Take Lessons and practice
2. Listen to others play and try to copy what they are playing
Anything else is a waste of time.
If you are an amateur, don’t try to learn the fanciest thing you can learn.
Start simple and build upon that.
How do you build a house? By making sure the foundation is good first.
Then you can build upon that foundation.
Is building a foundation fun? No, it’s kind of boring and dirty.
But you can’t have a solid house without it.
It’s the same with music. You will never be a strong musician without a solid musical foundation.
At Apostolic Praise, we teach you how to understand and speak the language of music.
Our goal is not just to teach you songs (although we will teach you many songs) but to learn how to understand music.
We mainly teach you to play
1. By Chord Sheet
2. By Theory
3. By Ear
Once you know a few chords, you can play a chord sheet.
Once you know some theory you can make that chord sheet / song sound BETTER and add better chords, fills and runs in the right spots.
And once you learn how to play by ear, you can do anything.
Take your playing to the next level or start from scratch here!
We are running a 20% sale for a few more days!
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
One of the most important things you can do whether you are learning a new instrument or you have played for years is to pray and ask God to help you.
That might seem obvious but I wonder how many people do that?
James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Prayer makes everything better and will help you learn! Are you struggling to learn to play? Ask GOD to help you!
Also, as musicians it is SO important that we have a right spirit and attitude.
The Bible says in James 1:23-24
“23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
“Heartily” means
A. In a cordial manner; with warmth and sincerity.
B. Thoroughly; completely.
C. With zest or enthusiasm.
Fasting and prayer are also incredibly helpful to do this.
Fasting once or twice a week is important to help us keep the flesh out of the way.
How is this going to make you a better musician?
Well, for one God will help you and give you wisdom in playing music.
For two, having a right spirit and attitude will help you man and working with leadership and ministry in the church! God loves cheerfulness!
Hope this helped you today!
Take your playing to the next level or start from scratch here!
And today we are running a 20% sale!
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
When I was a young person, I remember there was another young person a few years older than me who was learning how to play the drums.
And boy was he AWFUL! I mean his timing was bad and everything.
I was just a kid and wasn’t a musician but I could still clap on beat! LOL!
And I could tell that his timing was OFF.
Fast forward maybe five years and this SAME GUY played for the church choir, music conferences, and even drum competitions!
He went from awful to basically professional. People would compliment him on well he stayed on beat without speeding up or slowing down.
So don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it!
Maybe your timing is bad. Maybe your ear is not great. Maybe you don’t even have good coordination.
But if you are willing to work hard enough (AND pray and ask God for help and wisdom) then one day someday maybe someone will be writing a story about YOU like this.
Take your playing to the next level or start from scratch here!
And today we are running a 20% sale!
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
God bless you and your playing!
Bro Richard Smith
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
When I was a kid, I noticed that I could tell when musical notes went up or down. I was not born with “perfect pitch” where I could just hear a note and tell what it was.
However, I can now listen to a song a few times and – for the most part – be able to get up and play it.
How did I go from zero to there?
Well, I did the HARD way. I started off learning the bass guitar (which I recommend that every keyboardist do).
I would plug my headphones (which I still use – can’t stand in-ears) and pick out the notes.
Sometimes one song would take me an hour or HOURS.
After about 6 months of doing this, I became fairly proficient on the bass guitar.
However, at the same time, I began to learn the keyboard and really study chord theory and the Number System.
Suddenly some things began to click. I realized that I could hear the bass line by ear on many songs and from there I could use my theory to figure out the chords!
Fast forward a few years and I took some piano jazz lessons (which are the basis for our AP 701 Gospel Jazz Chords, AP 702 Gospel Jazz Voicings and AP 703 Gospel Jazz Improvisation.
And I went through the exercises that we teach in those courses as well as AP 204 The Secrets to Playing Gospel & Pentecostal Music.
All of a sudden, I could recognize CHORDS. I could tell if the chord was a dominant 7th, minor 9th, or minor 6add9 or WHATEVER!
And this is what I want you to be able to do!
You see, I firmly believe that I don’t have any more than an average person’s ear. But I have trained myself to be able to hear better.
Just about anyone can do what I did. In fact, if you can hear your favorite song come on while you are listening to music and tell which song it is by the first few notes or chords, then you can probably learn to play an instrument by ear!
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
So why don’t you hop on over and join the tens of thousands that have learned to play! with Apostolic Praise School of Music?
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
When I was a younger musician, I got the opportunity to help out at a small home missions (startup) church. We actually attended a larger church in the area on Sundays but we would go there Wednesdays and eventually some Sunday mornings to help out.
The funny thing was that some of the musicians at my larger church – in all humility LOL – were not as advanced of keyboard players as I was.
I would have loved to play at the bigger church, but the time was not yet.
Jesus went through a wilderness experience before he came into his ministry and that happens a lot with normal people like you and I as well.
Solomon said in Proverbs 18:16 “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”
So I was faithful in using my gift and playing at the smaller church and it was actually really good for me because it forced me to play and carry the music by myself. We sometimes had a drummer but often it was just me on keys!
Well after several years of playing there, the music minister at my home church – the bigger church – asked me to learn a song or two for the choir. I learned the songs and did well and I eventually became the main keyboardist for the church.
(The one that was there became busy with work and wasn’t able to play as much).
But the main thing was that I had to keep a humble attitude and right spirit. I didn’t think I was “too good” to play at a smaller church (and never have).
I just went and helped where there was a need.
And in due season, God blessed me to play at the larger church (where we did more songs and more advanced and fun songs). and eventually to play at conferences.
So if you are in a season where you feel like your gift is not being exercised where you are at, have patience. Continue to grow and to get better. Continue to practice. Do not become upset but keep a right attitude.
Look for opportunities to be used and be humble enough to play at something that may seem like a small opportunity and then do your best!
And as the Word says “in due season, you will reap…IF you faint not.”
Click here to join the thousands that have learned to play.
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I just read a great article about regret. One of the biggest regrets that a lot of people have is never learning how to play music.
The awesome news is that it is never too late to learn to play! We have had students who were in their 70s (and up) learn how to play from us!
The old saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is a LIE.
It’s all about your mindset.
Remember, whether you think you can, or you think you can’t…you are probably right!
I’m 34 years old and I’m still learning new things on the piano regularly.
So don’t live a life of regret.
Stop regret in its tracks by signing up today to learn how to play keyboard, bass, guitar, drums, organ or whatever instrument you are interested in!
The key is just to get BETTER everyday. Just getting 1% better everyday will make you 365% better in just one year!
And because you are so awesome, here’s a coupon code for an extra 10% off (which really gives you 20% off now because the website is currently running a 10% off sale).
Just use coupon code “bonus10off” at checkout.
So don’t give up – instead keep it up! You got this!
Let’s get you going here:
Click here to join the thousands that have learned how to better understand music with us.
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Current members can login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/
Reset your password here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/lost-password (it’s working now)
A word of encouragement – if you don’t get it the 1st time or the 2nd time or the 3rd time OR if it takes you months to learn instead of weeks, don’t be discouraged!
The key is just to get BETTER everyday. Just getting 1% better everyday will make you 365% better in just one year!
And because you are so awesome, here’s a coupon code for an extra 10% off (which really gives you 20% off now because the website is currently running a 10% off sale).
Just use coupon code “bonus10off” at checkout.
I used to practice like 8 hours a day (because I was homeschooled and had nothing else to do because we had moved to a new town LOL).
One of the biggest lessons I had to learn was just to walk away and come back to practice later. Sometimes your brain just needs a break.
Even last night I was practicing a new style and fill on the piano. I couldn’t get it exactly like I wanted.
But it didn’t bother me. I knew that it was something “new” to my brain and fingers and when I go back to practice after church tonight, I will probably have it down.
So don’t give up – instead keep it up! You got this!
Let’s get you going here:
Click here to join the thousands that have learned how to better understand music with us.
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Current members can login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/
Reset your password here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/lost-password (it’s working now)
I’ve been to a LOT of churches over the years. Probably 1000s of services! We love going to church! LOL!
But I’m thankful I’ve never had to attend a church that didn’t have a keyboard player. Why?
Well, because I play the keyboard for one!
Have you ever been to a church service that had no music because there was no musician?
I’ve known of people that started churches and didn’t have any music and prayed for a musician!
So moral of the story, learn to play an instrument – preferably the keyboard or guitar – so that you never have to attend a church service that doesn’t have someone to play and help lead and inspire God’s people in worship!
I know, this might mean that you have to sacrifice some social media or entertainment!
Research (per Google) says that on average people spend around 2 1/2 hours a day on social media platforms!
Wow, imagine how good of a musician you would be if you practiced music 2 1/2 hours a day!
Let’s start your journey today or if you already play – take it to the next level.
Lessons and membership are 10% off now. Let’s get you going here:
Click here to join the thousands that have learned how to better understand music with us.
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Current members can login here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/
Reset your password here: https://apostolicpsom.com/my-account/lost-password (it’s working now)
Imagine something with me for a minute. Imagine being able to just sit down and play whatever song (old school or new) that comes to your mind. Beautiful chords, fills, and runs just seem to flow from your fingers.
Or imagine being able to sit down and play with your favorite song, album or artist…almost like you were part of their band!
Does that sound fun? To me it is – in fact, there is just about nothing more fun!
That’s what we want to teach you to do. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
And it doesn’t happen by taking years of “classical, traditional” piano lessons. (At least it didn’t for me).
So how do you get there from where you are now?
Well, you need a system. You need an approach that is DESIGNED and tested to teach people how to play.
It took me 10 years to learn to play in church because I was going about it the wrong way!
We have had people take lessons from us for 3 MONTHS and be playing in church.
Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practicing the RIGHT things with a SYSTEM makes perfect.
Otherwise, you will just be stuck in a rut, practicing the SAME things over and over again.
Our goal at Apostolic Praise School of Music is not just to give you a fish, but to teach you HOW to fish.
We don’t just teach you songs, we teach you how to understand music!
Let’s start your journey today or if you already play – take it to the next level. Master ALL of those 33 main chords we use in gospel / church music. (Major and Minor are just 2 of the 33 chords).
Lessons and membership are 10% off now. Let’s get you going here:
—
—
Richard W. Smith
Apostolic Praise School of Music
I remember when I was wanting to learn how to REALLY play gospel / church music. Yeah I could play the piano. I had played the piano for years – since I was 6. I could play all kinds of really advanced, beautiful classical pieces that I had learned from the sweet little Baptist lady that gave me lessons. I could play some cool jazz pieces too.
In fact, I could sit down and sight read and play pretty much anything.
BUT I couldn’t just sit down and PLAY from my heart and I definitely could NOT play by ear!
Fast forward to today and I can listen to a song and pretty much play it by ear after listening to it a time or two – even advanced songs.
If someone starts singing a song that I don’t know at church – it doesn’t scare me. I can follow them too.
So what made the difference? Well, after taking 10 years of lessons and then studying music for another about 5 years with different programs and curriculums, it all started to click.
I found out what worked and what didn’t work.
I don’t have perfect pitch (being able to hear a note and tell you what it is) but I do have a very trained ear and you can too.
In fact, if you can hear your favorite song start playing and you can recognize what song it is then you can most likely learn to play by ear.
That’s what we teach at Apostolic Praise. Yeah I think 1 or 2 of our 25 courses talks about and teaches sight-reading but for the most part we are teaching how to play by ear, use chord theory, read chord sheets/chord charts and have FUN playing.
We want you to truly understand music and to speak the language of music.
Music is not some great mystery – anyone can learn it. I’ve literally had 6 year olds that learned how to play 7ths and 9ths and UNDERSTOOD how to use them! (You can replace most minor chords with minor 7ths and most minor 7ths with minor 9ths for example).
Anyways, let’s start your journey today or if you already play – take it to the next level. Master ALL of those 33 main chords we use in gospel / church music. (Major and Minor are just 2 of the 33 chords).
Lessons and membership are 10% off at the time of this posting. Let’s get you going here:
—
—
Richard W. Smith
Apostolic Praise School of Music
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS
Part of a live call we did on Tuesday
In this live call we discussed:
How to make your playing sound more full
Suspended 2 Chords
Substitution Chords (major 7th, major 9ths)
Playing easy amazing fills
Adding rhythm to your playing
Playing parts of chords
Example Song “How Great Is Our God”
To get access to the rest of this hour long video and tons of other lessons like it, just sign up or try it for free at www.apostolicpsom.com/membership
Members also currently get access to weekly live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of 10 minutes a day. People generally need about 8 hours of sleep per day. That means, we have 16 hours per day of usable time. 16 hours is 960 minutes per day.
That means that we all have about 1000 minutes per day when we are not sleeping. That means we have 100 coins of 10 minutes slots to use every day!
So what are you going to spend your 100 coins on today?
I like to spend about 10 minutes per day teaching each of my 2 children a music lesson. It’s amazing how much they have learned in a very SHORT period of time by just using 10 minutes of FOCUSED learning everyday.
So what does this mean for you?
What would happen if you took 10 MINUTES everyday and turned off your cellphone (*gasp* LOL), social media and distractions – (or put your phone on airplane mode) and then set your timer for 10 minutes?
Then turn on your ipad or computer and login to your Apostolic Praise lessons or open your Apostolic Praise workbook and study and practice for 10 minutes.
How much do you think you will have improved – doing this everyday – in a week, a month, a year?
The power of FOCUSED concentration is amazing.
Those 10 minute “learning power sessions” over the course of 1 year would equal about 60 hours of practice. You could literally go through all 25 Apostolic Praise courses in 1 year by doing this!
What lessons are you working on this week?
You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
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JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
Become a member with us and learn how to play like this!
Members also currently get access to weekly live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
We are doing these classes weekly – for members – just wanted to share this one to bless!
In this live class we covered the following topics:
In today’s class we talked about:
How to get past chording
10 fills and runs to make your playing awesome
Diatonic and Passing Notes
How to Play Vamps
How to play in different keys
Learning to play in all 12 keys
Breakdown of Apostolic Praise Classes and Lessons
Tips when you are the only musician (one man band)
Using Loops and Drums Loops
Using “Canned” (not really canned) Music for Live Services
To find out about future free live sessions, sign up below:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/
Members get access to these weekly live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
We are doing these classes weekly – for members – just wanted to share this one to bless!
In this live class we covered the following topics:
In this class we talked about:
How To Play Any Song in Any Key No Matter Your Level (beginner, intermediate or advanced)
Mastering Major Chords in All 12 Keys
Mastering Minor Chords in All 12 Keys
Mastering Major Chord Inversions in All 12 Keys
Mastering Minor Chord Inversions in All 12 Keys
Suspended 2 Chords
Suspended 4 Chords
Augmented Chords
Diminished Chords
Example Songs are Amen (Charity Gayle version), Because He Lives and Falling In Love with Jesus
Advanced Version of Because He Lives with ALL CHORDS
To find out about future free live sessions, sign up below:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/
Members get access to these weekly live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
We are doing these classes weekly – for members – just wanted to share this one to bless!
In this live class we covered the following topics:
In this class we talked about:
Worship song turnarounds INCLUDING
Using the 11th chord on the V
The 4/6 to 5/7 walkup
The 6-2-5-1 turnaround
The 6-b7-5-1 turnaround
The b6maj7 to v turnaround
Example song Falling In Love with Jesus
Praise song turnarounds INCLUDING
The 6-2-5-1 turnaround
Using Dominant 7ths and 9ths in turnarounds
Using Augmented 7ths and 7+5+9 chords in turnarounds
How to have a fuller sound in worship songs
To find out about future free live sessions, sign up below:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/
Members get access to these weekly live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
WATCH ON VIMEO
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
We are doing these classes weekly – for members – just wanted to share this one to bless!
In this live class we covered the following topics:
Understanding of Common Chords
Major and Minor Chords
Suspended 2 and 4 chords
Minor 2, 7th and 9th chords
Major 7th and 9th chords
Dominant 7th and 9th chords
Tricks in Keys of C and Bb
Common Chord Progressions
Training Your Ear to Hearing Chord Movements
Hand Independence Exercises
Rhythm Exercises
Worship Song Thank You Jesus for the Blood Applied
Praise Song The Blood Still Works
and much more!
To find out about future free live sessions, sign up here:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/
Members get access to these live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
We are doing these classes weekly – for members – just wanted to share this one to bless!
In this live class we covered the following topics:
Understanding of Common Chords
Major and Minor Chords
Suspended 2 and 4 chords
Minor 2, 7th and 9th chords
Major 7th and 9th chords
Dominant 7th and 9th chords
Tricks in Keys of C and Bb
Common Chord Progressions
Training Your Ear to Hearing Chord Movements
Hand Independence Exercises
Rhythm Exercises
Worship Song Thank You Jesus for the Blood Applied
Praise Song The Blood Still Works
and much more!
To find out about future free live sessions, sign up here:
https://www.apostolicpsom.com/
Members get access to these live sessions, past live session archives and over 500+ video lessons with PDFs and my personal database of 700+ chord sheets (all of which we made): https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
In this in-depth lesson we cover
The top 2 chords you need to know for church music – Suspended 2 and Minor 7ths.
Loops
Tracks
Click Tracks
Cool Fills
Practice Tips
Jazz Voicings Chords in the Left Hand
Practicing in all 12 keys
and much more!
Become a Member to be on future cool Q&A calls like this!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
Become a Member to be on future cool Q&A calls like this!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
JUST WANTED TO SHARE TO BLESS!
Not sure where to start?
Start a TEXT conversation at 650-877-2473!
Memorize this verse by saying it 15 times.
PROVERBS 30:5
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
We talked in a previous lesson about how the Word of God is pure, clean and holy. There is nothing like it! And EVERY word of God is pure. There is not one verse or one word that is evil. It is ALL pure and clean.
Well, what about the verses and parts of the Bible where God commanded Moses or Joshua to destroy a city and to kill every living thing in it from the men, to the women, to the children, to even the animals? How is that pure and clean?
When you begin to study these ancient people, you find that they were very evil and wicked. They worshipped idols or false gods and as part of their worship they would sacrifice and burn their innocent babies to death in fire. Some of the things they did in the name of worshipping their gods we cannot even discuss here because they are so evil including prostitution, bestiality (which explains why God told them to kill the animals), pornography, promiscuity and even religous orgies. If you do not know what these things are, don’t worry. You really do not even want to know. Your parents can decide if you are old enough.
They also held a very low value on human life and just about anything was okay – including murder. Many also practiced witchcraft and trying to work magic through devils. This is why God told the Israelites to destroy these nations. They had become so evil that God commanded Israel to completely destroy them. Judgment came just like in Noah’s day before the flood.
This verse also says that God is a SHIELD unto them that put their trust in him. Here is a picture of a man holding a shield below. A shield is something that protects someone during battle. The shield below is a medium-sized shield but some warriors and armies in history have used shields that were large enough to cover your entire body.
This is why it is so important to trust in the LORD. When you trust in God, he protects you from so many things. Are you going to have a perfect life with zero problems? Of course not. But the amount of problems and trouble you have are going to be much less when you trust in God.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:16 that the enemy tries to throw and shoot fiery darts or arrows at us. So imagine it like this. You are going through your day and the enemy tries to throw a fiery problem at you. Maybe it is something bad like something you should not look at. Or maybe somebody tries to say something to make you mad. But when you trust in God, he protects you and gives you the power to do the right thing.
One time I was riding down the road with my aunt, uncle and brother. We were in the backseat and it was winter time in Oklahoma. There was a lot of ice on the road, and we were trying to drive very safely. My aunt and uncle had grown up in Oklahoma so they were used to this. We came to a stoplight and my aunt hit the brakes and the car would not stop. We continued to slide forward on the ice.
Now when this happens in an older car, you are supposed to flutter the brakes (hit them rapidly over and over again) to help it stop. Newer cars do this for you automatically. I’m sure she did this but we continued to slide forward. It was night time and dark, and the BAD news was that we continued to slide forward into the middle of the intersection where cars were coming from the other direction!
I remember looking out the window and there was a car coming straight toward us. I could see the headlights in my eyes, and it was close and moving fast! We yelled “Jesus” and somehow we suddenly moved forward incredibly fast right out of the incoming car’s way. Of course, we know the “somehow” was God working a miracle protecting us. He was a shield for us and moved us out of harm’s way even though physically and scientifically there was NO WAY that could have happened.
Another time, some people in my family were driving and they looked up in the rearview mirror just in time to see a car coming from behind them moving VERY fast and straight towards them. There was nowhere for it to go because there were cars in the lanes beside them. It was going to crash into them from behind very shortly, probably killing everyone. They yelled “Jesus” and they said the next thing they knew was the car was in front of them speeding away. It had gone straight through their vehicle!
These stories may sound incredible because they are! God is a shield and protector for those that trust in him! So maybe the next time you are in trouble and don’t know what to do – just call on “JESUS”!
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Memorize this verse by saying it 15 times.
Psalms 119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
This verse goes along with the last lesson for Psalm 119:105. Do you remember that verse talking about how the Word is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path?
The word “entrance” means like something “entering” or “coming in”. You can imagine yourself in a dark room and someone shining a light to help you see of course. The light entered the dark room and helped you to see! OR imagine yourself being in a tough situation or problem where you are trying to decide what is the right thing to do. Maybe you even have other people around you and you are all trying to make a decision. You are in a “dark” place and you need some “light” to help you make a good decision!
And it could be a decision about anything! So the next time you are facing a problem, why don’t you try this? Think of a Bible verse that talks about whatever decision you are trying to make. Then read that verse or those verses and pray about your decision. Often this will help you and the answer will come! Or you can just go to the Bible and begin to read, and the answer often will come to you.
Now, if you cannot think of a Bible verse that fits the problem, then go search in your Bible OR use a concordance (either a hard copy one like a book that you hold in your hands or use one online – like the one at this website www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html).
Now what is a concordance? A concordance is a book or tool that will allow you to do a word search. So you can look up any word and it will show you ALL the verses in the Bible that have that word. For example, if you looked up the word “entrance”, it would show you the 11 Bible verses that have this word.
Also, the words of the LORD give understanding unto the simple. Another verse says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” “Liberally” means he gives it freely and he gives a LOT of it! “Upbraideth not” basically means God won’t even make you pay for it! So if you feel like you need understanding or wisdom, the words of the LORD are the key!
Have you ever wished you could be smarter than you are? Begin to study and read the Word of God or do it more. It will also bring you closer to God. I have known many youth and children that struggled with just plain reading and focusing. After being in a Bible memorization and Bible study program called “Bible Quizzing” they began to read better, and they became better at focusing. They also started doing much better in school as a result! The Word of God is powerful!
Here’s a picture of a concordance. Strong’s is a very famous and well-known one.
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Memorize this verse by saying it 15 times.
Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible! The Word of God is a lamp to our feet – showing us exactly where we are standing right now and what is going on around us in the middle of a dark world! It is also a light unto our path – showing us where to go next.
Have you ever wondered what the next step in your life should be or have you ever wondered what God wants you to do with your life or WHO you are supposed to be? Well the Word of God can give you light and show you which way to go! It is a bright light to the path of our life in a dark world!
Have you ever walked down a really dark road – either by yourself or with someone? It can be pretty scary right? Shadows are everywhere and especially if there is no moon that night then it can be REALLY dark! I remember being on a youth missions trip in a different country one time with about 20 young people. I was 20 years old and most of the others were about my age.
We were staying at a campgrounds way up in the mountains in the country of the Dominican Republic. It was very beautiful! The sanctuary where we had services was probably a half mile or a mile away from our cabins. You could take the bus back to the cabins or you could walk. Well, one night after service I and two of the guys decided to walk back instead of riding on the bus.
Well as we were walking, we heard a group of about 5 of the girls laughing and talking a little ways behind us. So on this walk back, (which we knew well because we had taken it many times that week) there was a little spot where the rocks narrowed and it was VERY dark with shadows. So dark, that if someone was hiding in the shadows under the rocks you would not be able to see them – even if your eyes were adjusted to the dark.
So I told the guys, “hey let’s hide in the shadows and scare the girls when they come by.” It’s probably hard to believe I would do that since I’m such a nice guy. Hehe. So here they came and as they came up to the dark shadows they stopped laughing and got more quiet like they were a little scared. I knew this was going to be good. As they came walking through, we jumped out, shouting and yelling and boy were they scared!
One girl was so scared she literally was jumping and turning around in circles! We got them really good and all had a good laugh afterwards! Now imagine with me that one of those girls would have had a BIG flashlight to light their way! They would have seen us hiding and it would have been much easier and less scary to walk also! They also would have had less of a chance of maybe stepping in a hole or tripping on a rock or something!
Well that’s what the Word of God does for our lives when we study and obey it! It lights our way so that we can see what’s ahead. It also keeps up from tripping and making mistakes or maybe even falling flat on our faces! It can also keep us from stepping in places we shouldn’t step where we could get hurt and maybe even twist or break an ankle – slowing us down from reaching our full potential and goals!
So the next time you have a question about what you should do with your life or which direction you should go, remember that when you keep the Word of God close to you and obey it with all your heart, it has the answers for your life and the light for your path and next STEPS!
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