Mark Black offers beginner through professional level lessons to all levels of players, in all styles.

TEACHING PHILOOPHY: SOur methods teach people to become great. Our students become musicians and players, not just people who take lessons. And they get to play and sing the songs 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. 1/4 of the time in lessons is spent on music theory (making music work for you), 1/4 is spent on instrument technique (learning your instrument or voice and making it work for you), and 1/2 of lesson time is spent on the songs you pick. My goal: you hear it, you can play; you see it, you can play it; you create it, you can play it.

MARK BLACK, the founder of Promethean Music, has taught thousands of students since 1978. His teaching methods produce consistent improvement, skill, & excellence, while being fun. WOW! He attended Loyola University in New Orleans as a double major and was a member of the Loyola Orchestra, Loyola Jazz Band, Loyola Chorale, & the Loyola Band, as well as woodwind quintets. He traveled for a year with the contemporary Christian music group Majesty & has spent 14 years as a music director of churches. He studied privately with such teachers as Fred Korman, Dr. Pat McCarty, Helen Erb, Dr. William Horne, Michael Carubba, Dr. Thomas West, & has performed in Christian, rock, classical, & jazz ensembles and as a soloist in such cities as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, St. Louis, & Washington D.C. He has taught many students from around the world. His musical skills include professional performance in piano/keyboards, guitar, voice, bass, sax, flute, oboe, & other instruments & professional composition, arranging, & orchestration. He has taught in seminars and conferences and led bands throughout the southeast & southwest. He taught applied instruments, voice, theory, conducting, & song writing for 6 years at Christ for the Nations Institute. He was also the instrumental director & led the orchestra there. Also, he's extremely humble.

PIANO and KEYBOARD: This is not an exclusively classical piano course of study. Together with reading music, we also learn to play the piano as a rhythm instrument (as it is played by almost all rock, jazz, country, pop, and worship bands around the world) and emphasize playing by analysis and chord function, in pop, rock, blues, gospel, R&B, jazz, funk, classical, country, folk, & contemporary Christian styles. Additional materials: Beginning Piano for Adults - Bastien. Pop, rock, & jazz students will require ad-libbing tapes and transcriptions of piano solos.