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!

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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:
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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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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!

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/

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

S​​o 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!
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/

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!​​​

(We have a printable PDF quick reference with ALL 33 of them showing both how to make them and where to use them here)​​​​

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!

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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.

You can become a member or get up to 50 free lessons here: https://www.apostolicpsom.com/membership/

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)

<sub>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.</sub>

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:

Click here to join the thousands that have learned how to better understand music with us. (50 free lessons here – fill out the form!)

—

— 
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:

Click here to join the thousands that have learned how to better understand music with us.

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— 
Richard W. Smith

Apostolic Praise School of Music

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?  


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Sadly, statistics and studies show, in general, that 90% of youth who grow up or attend church will leave the church (backslide).  (For the purpose of this article, we will also include “new converts” in the category of “youth” because they are “young in Christ” and the concepts apply.)  This is true even of youth who come to Sunday School and “Spirit-filled church” every Sunday, Bible Study every Wednesday, youth service every Friday, and who are involved in great ministries such as music, youth, and even teaching and preaching.  This is truly heart-breaking!

However, what if we could take that statistic and flip it on its head?  There is a way to give youth a 90% likelihood of living for God and a 10% chance of walking away.  

Let’s look at the questions and answers below.  Have you ever seen something like this before?  This is “catechism”.  Catechism is “a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.”  It is a program used by the Catholic church (who are very successful in growth and member retention) to educate its members in the Catholic faith and doctrine.  This is a sample lesson of one of HUNDREDS of these type of lessons.  This one is from “Old Testament History for Beginners, Book 1, Lesson 1: Creation (Genesis 1).  

1. What does the first verse of the Bible teach us?
   “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1
2. In how many days did God create all things?
   God created all things in six days.
3. What did God create on the first day?
   God created the earth, and also the light.
4. What did God create on the second day?
   God created the firmament, or, the sky.
5. What did God make on the the third day?
   God made dry land, the trees and the plants.
6. What did God create on the fourth day?
   The sun, the moon, and the stars.
7. What did God make on the fifth day?
   God made the fish and the birds.
8. What did God form on the sixth day?
   God formed the animals and man.
9. Did God create a helper for Adam?
   Yes, God created Eve while Adam slept.
10. Where did God place Adam and Eve?
    In paradise, which was a picture of heaven.

“No problem” you may say.  “My children go to church every time the doors are open AND I take my kids to youth service and Sunday School.”  That’s great…but 90% of them are still backsliding.  WHY?  Because they are NOT memorizing the Word and being TESTED on it.  Only 1 hour a week on a Sunday morning being taught a lesson or a few hours on a Friday night (even with a dynamic youth leader) is not enough.  

Imagine if that’s how you went to school – taking one or two classes a week for a few hours.  No matter how good the teacher – you would never graduate.  Sunday School, youth service and great church are important but they are not enough.

There is only one program that is having high success rates of retention.  Over a period of 20 years, we tracked youth who went through a Scripture Memorization program similar to Catholic Catechism and attended it for at least 3 consecutive years.  20 years later, 90% of the youth who went through it for a minimum of 3 consecutive years were still living for God.  And in one study, of the remaining 10% that backslid, 90% of them came back to the church.  However, 90% of those who only attended the program for around a year or who did not attend left the church (backslid)

So the AWESOME news is we have discovered a Proven Retention System for our youth and new converts!  Who wouldn’t agree that EVERY SINGLE ONE of our youth and new converts should go through a program like this?  This should be REQUIRED.  

The purpose of these Scripture Memorization lessons with short, fun devotionals and quizzes is to obey the Scriptural mandate that we have to teach the Word “diligently unto our children”. 

Yes it takes work and time and yes it is hard.  But what is harder is living with the fact that our children, youth and new converts are leaving the church and not returning.  Let’s choose our “hard”.  Our youth NEED a powerful, life-changing, proven system that puts God’s Word in their mind and heart, so they will not decide to go out on their own and do whatever they want.  They must “receive a love of the truth that they might be saved.”  

It’s time to teach our children beautiful Scriptures like these:

“9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  (Psalm 119:9-11)

Why are we putting so much emphasis on involvement in music ministry, youth ministry, secular education, etc, when the only ministry with a high retention success rate for our youth, children and new converts are those teaching the Word and Scripture Memorization?

SIGN UP FOR THE APOSTOLIC PRAISE SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION PROGRAM HERE

20 YEAR SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION STUDY BELOW:

These are all people I personally knew and/or grew up with. Study done by Richard Smith. This is an opinion study.