Assistant Professor of Music Education
Office: 229 Fine Arts
Phone: (731) 881-7482

Dr. Jody N. Blake earned his Doctor of Philosophy and Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees in Music Education from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, both of which concentrated in vocal music education. He also holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Anderson University (South Carolina), Bachelor of Science in Music (emphasis in voice) from Blue Mountain College, and Associate of Arts in Music Education from Northeast Mississippi Community College. Additionally, he earned a Level I Kodály Certificate from the University of Central Missouri. 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 professional experience also includes teaching community college choir, applied voice, music appreciation, and music theory in Texas. Currently, Dr. Blake serves as Coordinator of Music Education at The University of Tennessee at Martin where he teaches courses in music education, methods, music theory, and supervises student teachers.

Additionally, he has over ten years of church music experience, working with choirs and music ensembles of all age levels. His primary research interests include hymnody in choral music education, hymnology as it relates to church music education, sight-singing instruction, distance learning in music education, and the history of choral music education. His recent article, The Driver on the Bus Says: “Sing, Sing, Sing!” was published in the August 2019 edition of Teaching Music, a publication of the National Association for Music Education.

Dr. Blake’s teaching interests include music education and methods courses, especially related to curriculum, instruction, philosophical, and historical foundations. When teaching music education courses, he specifically focuses on helping students form a “teacher identity.” He also thoroughly enjoys teaching music theory, music appreciation and history/literature-related courses.

Dr. Blake maintains active memberships in the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. He also currently serves as the Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA) state chair for collegiate activities (NAfME Collegiate).