Ex-music teacher tunes into Internet

     By Sonya Padgett
     View staff writer
      Music has taught Jim Austin a lot about life, and he hopes to use the Internet to pass on to others everything he's learned.
      "I feel like my Web site will give me the opportunity to impart some living, not just music," Austin said.
      The former music teacher started a Web site, Music Lessons With Mr. A, in August shortly before he quit teaching music at Cunningham Elementary School.
      "It was time for me to hang it up (in the classroom)," the 69-year-old Austin said. But because he's happiest when he's teaching, he decided to pour his efforts into the Web site.
      "I had teaching to do. Why not do it on the Internet?" Austin said. Teaching in an elementary school, Austin was limited in the number of children he could educate. "I said, `Why not go on the Internet and teach millions of kids?' "
      The music lessons on his Web site are designed to impart the basic fundamentals of music, he said. Currently, 55 lessons are posted, all of them free to anyone interested in learning the basics, such as how to read sheet music.
      Austin said his lessons are perfect for anyone, including both adults and children. He also said the site can provide music instructors with a different way of approaching teaching. And while some may think learning music over the Internet is unconventional, Austin said he believes it can be an effective way to learn.
      "To me there isn't any one way to teach," Austin said. "I believe in teaching the whole person."
      The southeast-area resident taught music at a high school in Texas for 18 years from 1953 to 1971. He received his bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State Teacher's College and his master's from Texas A&M.
      Austin tried retirement in 1990 after suffering health problems. But he had trouble adapting to it, so he went back to work as a substitute music teacher for the Clark County School District.
      Austin has a strong background in music. He first went to college in the 1950s on a trumpet scholarship. After teaching music and choir in Texas for 18 years, Austin started doing musical theater, which is what originally brought him to Las Vegas in 1980 as a member of a touring company performing "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
      When the production ended, he and his wife, Susan, and her daughter stayed in Las Vegas.
      While it might be difficult to imagine a longtime teacher becoming an actor, Austin said it wasn't a stretch.
      After appearing in a play in Texas, Austin said "it was obvious to me that teachers are actors. I got the acting bug and left teaching."
      Religion is a large influence in Austin's life. He is the minister of music at the Desert Hills Baptist Church. He says he wouldn't have a Web site if it weren't for his spiritual beliefs.
      "I'm convinced that I was divinely inspired to do this," Austin said. "I love computers, but I kept thinking, `Is this an ego trip or something you really want to do for others?' "
      Finally, with some encouragement from his wife, Austin contacted his son-in-law in Texas to help him create his Web site.
      He said he hopes that after others visit his site and try the music lessons, they will share his vision that music is inspiring.
      "I do know that music can teach beauty and appreciation of beauty," he said.
      Those interested in trying the free music lessons should visit www.jimaustin.com.