Dr. Jody N. Blake serves as Interim Chair of the Department of Music and Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Tennessee at Martin where he teaches courses in music education, church music, music history/appreciation and supervises student teachers. Dr. Blake has six years of public and private school teaching experience in Mississippi, where his choirs consistently received high ratings in performance and sight-singing. His teaching experience also includes teaching community college choir, applied voice, music appreciation, and music theory. Dr. Blake earned his Doctor of Philosophy and Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees in Music Education from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He also holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Anderson University, Bachelor of Science in Music from Blue Mountain Christian University (formerly Blue Mountain College), Associate of Arts in Music Education from Northeast Mississippi Community College, Level I Kodály Certificate from the University of Central Missouri, and additional doctoral study from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. Additionally, he has over ten years of church music experience, working with choirs of all age levels and recently finished an M.A. in biblical and theological studies from Belhaven University. His primary research interests include hymnody in music education, Christian music education and worship, distance learning in music education, and aesthetics in music education and worship. He has a deep love and appreciation for Christian hymnody and frequently offers special topic courses pertaining to the subject.