Mr Ives, 82, is a co-founder of the Longford Jazz Club and helps organise the Longford Jazz Festival, which is in its seventh year.

Since 1975, he's been teaching children how to play the piano. Along the way, Mr Ives has contributed to charitable causes such as emergency relief organisation The Helping Hand and the Great Cycle Challenge Australia to help fight childhood cancer.

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So perhaps it's unsurprising that Mr Ives has just been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to music and to the community.

"It's a great thing to share, music," Mr Ives says.

"I hate solo playing, unless it's for an audience. I'd rather work with other musicians. And I can help them and they can help me - that's the way it works.

"What keeps me going is audience. I look around and someone's tapping their fingers or their feet and I play to them.

"Music is to make people happy - and that makes me happy. I get buoyed by all that."

Mr Ives said he was still getting over the shock of being awarded in the Queen's Birthday honours.

Teaching, he said, was something he drew a lot of satisfaction from.

"It's something special if you can help a young person ... when they need help and advice," Mr Ives said.

"Over the years, I've made some great little friends who never forget you."

It's something special if you can help a young person in that stage and they need help and advice sometimes.

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