Why Promethean?

ABOUT PROMETHEAN

The Studio - Promethean Studios, with two locations in Plano and Richardson, was founded in 1991 by Mark Black and offers beginner through professional level lessons, in all styles of music, on guitar, piano, drums and percussion, voice, keyboard, bass, sax, flute, oboe, music composition, song writing, music theory, praise and worship, and other areas. Promethean Studios also offers bands in many different styles of music. We have taught thousands of students from around the world. By using a skilled, personable instructor, emphasizing music theory and instrumental and vocal technique, and allowing students to play and sing music they love, we've created an atmosphere of excellence, accomplishment, and enjoyment. We have a high success ratio with our students because they learn techniques that work, they understand music and how to make it work for them, and they get to play the music they like. The teaching methods developed by Mark Black produce consistent improvement, skill, and quality, while being fun. And that's a good thing.

Teaching Methods - Our methods teach people to become great and learn as quickly as possible, without sacrificing quality and thoroughness. Our students become musicians, singers, and players, not just people who take endless lessons. And they get to play and sing the music they love while learning correct techniques. A correct technique is something that produces the best results the most quickly; we abandon any technique that cannot be shown to produce practical results, even if that technique has been used for hundreds of years. We're so successful with our students that every single picture with a person in it on our advertisements, posters, and even this website is either one of our students or our instructor.

One quarter of the time in lessons is spent on music theory (making music work for you), ¼ is spent on instrument technique (learning your instrument or voice and making it work for you), and ½ of lesson time is spent on the songs you pick. Our goal: you hear it, you can play or sing it; you see it, you can play or sing it; you create it, you can play or sing it.

Important Factors in Our Program - Using student's goals to direct learning, using music theory as a method of understanding what you play or sing, instrumental and vocal technique to develop necessary physical abilities, a belief that lessons and music must be as fun as possible to inspire learning, the demand that all techniques taught be useful and usable, customized lessons for each student, an understanding of each student's personality with the attendant musical strengths and weaknesses, requiring and maintaining home practice levels, using standardized lesson plans, a curriculum oriented towards results, qualified and personable instructor, working to develop confidence and comfort in performance, knowing the necessity of parental involvement, systematic methods of dealing with problem areas, and a belief that 99.9% of students can learn to play better than they ever imagined.

Our instructor - You are wasting your money on lessons unless you have a great instructor with a great program. In our studios, you will have a personable player as a instructor, who crafts our program to enable you to play your music, not ours. Our instructor has taught over 100 lessons and have learned and follow the Promethean curriculum for their instruments, and have played an average of 15 years. Our Promethean instructor is a career musicians, dedicated to players and singers skilled in their art, who understand what it feels like to want to make music.

Mark Black, the founder of Promethean Studios, began teaching students in 1978. His teaching methods have made thousands of students successful in music while both student and instructor had a great time. He attended Loyola University in New Orleans as a double major in oboe performance and music composition/theory. He was a member of the Loyola Orchestra, Loyola Jazz Band, Loyola Chorale, and the Loyola Band, as well as woodwind quintets. He traveled for a year with the contemporary Christian music group Majesty, has led worship for 34 years, and spent 14 years as a music director of churches. He studied privately with such instructors as Fred Korman, Dr. Pat McCarty, Helen Erb, Dr. William Horne, Michael Carubba, Dr. Thomas West, and has performed in Christian, rock, classical, and jazz ensembles and as a soloist in such cities as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. His musical skills include professional performance in guitar, voice, sax, piano, keyboards, bass, flute, oboe, and other instruments and professional composition, arranging, and orchestration. He has taught in seminars and conferences and led bands throughout the southeast and southwest. He taught applied instruments, voice, theory, conducting, and song writing for 6 years at Christ for the Nations Institute, where he enjoyed teaching students from dozens of countries as diverse as Bhutan, Iceland, Japan, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, and Switzerland. He was also the instrumental director and led the orchestra there. Also, he's extremely humble.