 His father taught him and his brother (Joseph) Moss Ives music (February 5, 1876 – April 8, 1939), teaching harmony and counterpoint and guided his first compositions; George took an open-minded approach to theory, encouraging him to experiment in bitonal and polytonal harmonizations.It was from him that Ives also learned the music of Stephen Foster.He became a church organist at the age of 14 and wrote various hymns and songs for church services, including his "Variations on "America"", which he wrote for a Fourth of July concert in Brewster, New York.