By Faith Music Academy

Our Purpose

To glorify God through the rich history of hymnody and the skillfulness of Western classical music.

 

Our Mission

To equip any student who is led by the Holy Ghost to use his or her talents to serve the Lord, with the necessary musical and Biblical background for the task.

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Our Desire

That all musicians, including those who are blind, may receive affordable, accessible instruction in the fields of piano, braille, and various assistive technologies.

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Background

When growing up, my parents quickly discovered that I had a talent for playing the piano. They played a lot of music in their home and the car throughout my childhood. However, my parents had great difficulty in finding me a teacher. Those they asked were either too afraid to try, or dismissed my parents, saying that "every parent thinks his or her child is talented, when in reality that may not be true."

It took years of searching before they were finally able to find someone who was willing to give me a chance. I was six years old at the time, though my first debut on the piano, according to my mother, was at the age of two, when I sat at the Spinet piano in her living room and picked out Twila Paris' Lamb of God with two fingers.

During the gap years, my parents enrolled me in a program called Kindermusik, where preschool children can allow their musical abilities to grow and develop while making friends with others. Back then, many churches had such programs. Sadly, this program is less common today.

In the providence of God, my family changed churches when I was about six, and it was then that I met the lady who became my piano teacher, Miss Patti Bennett. I refer to her today as my musical Anne Sullivan. She developed a program to teach me piano by ear, recording my pieces in small phrases on audio cassettes. In total, I spent fourteen years with her, during which she took me from the beginning to winning local, national, and international competitions.

I have always loved the organ and desired to take that instrument up as well. My parents have a reed organ in their home, and I spent many a day playing it. At last, when I was 14, I was fortunate through the efforts of my paternal grandmother to find a church that was giving its organ away. My parents picked it up, and I began lessons with Miss Patti in the fall of 2007. Other teachers in the Atlanta chapter of the American Guild of Organists took up the torch for the rest of my grade school studies.

Braille music was also a struggle for me, as teachers for this subject are even more scarce than piano and organ. As a result, I did not really master the mechanics of braille music till college. Therefore, I desire to bridge this gap and equip every blind reader with the tools for successful service to the Lord.

I majored in music at Mercer University, where I studied organ performance. I then went on to graduate school at Georgia State University to achieve a Master's degree in piano pedagogy.

 

I pray this academy will be a safe place where students of all ages can achieve their full potential for Christ without financial or visual barriers. If you are interested in lessons, please fill out our contact form for further information.

Knowing how difficult it was for my parents to find me teachers, I pray this academy will ease the burden for others.

 

Timothy Jones, pianist, organist, classical musician.