Most of our drumming students take private, one-on-one lessons; we also offer group classes (when comparing studios online over the internet, be sure to clarify whether you are talking about private or group lessons.  Semi-private lessons are group lessons).  We offer consultations (one session without obligation to continue) and coaching sessions (multiple sessions without obligation to continue).  We also offer elessons, which are online lessons conducted through the internet.  We have gift certificates for all of these musical experiences.  And twice a year we have exciting music seminars (master classes, workshops) for all students that allow them to hear big ideas about music and their instrument.  These increase their knowledge and abilities to play.  In these music seminars (again, like workshops or master classes, in-depth teaching on drums) we might talk about improvisation, or ear-training, or specific skills for the percussionist or how to play solo trap-set pieces – but all to give you, the performer and player, teaching you can use right now. And they’re fun!  About 40% of our students are adults and 60% are children, kids, and teens.

As teachers, we know it is essential musical coaching be enjoyable.  This is a key for all students and drummers, not just children.  That’s one of the reasons we let students pick their music within a few guidelines as they learn how to drum and why, along with playing by note and reading music, we encourage students to playby ear and/or improvise.  We don’t want to be a stuffy academy or music conservatory; we want our school of music to be filled with happy, amazing performers having a blast.  Whether reading music, playing by note, learning to improvise, or learning songs from their iPod, our students steadily learn things that interest them, coached by their instructor.  We believe it’s best to allow students to playtheir favorite music, not their instructor’s. 

Our teachers take your goals seriously, so, as the wise mentors they are, they look ahead to teach you all you'll need to get where you want to be.  It’s vital that musical educators coach each learner on how to grow as much as possible, whether that person just wants to learn rudiments, play their band parts, play trap set in a rock band, become a master  like Joe Morello, or tour the world.  So, coming from Addison, Allen, Carrollton, North Dallas, Farmer’s Branch, Frisco, Garland, Lewisville, McKinney, Park Cities, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett, Wylie or anywhere within 50 miles of here in Texas (or worldwide over the internet online through elessons) we are committed to your personal success.

Drums are one of the most interesting instruments in the world, easy to play and hard to master, and as teachers we recommend it for many musicians of all ages, children, kids, teens, and adults.  We think it is best that a student begins on the kind of music that they love: blues, classical, classic or modern rock, country and western, jazz, pop, R&B (rhythm and blues) or whatever.

Any kind of drummer has the potential ability to play as a part of the rhythmsection, as a soloist, hand drumming and band/orchestral percussion.  Most drum students want to learn to play the trap set.  Rudiments are a foundation for drumming skill and have taught many a master percussionist how to drum.  The rudiments actually work abilities on hand drums as well, so they're a pretty basic starting point for everyone.

We have drum teachers at Promethean Studios for beginning, intermediate, advanced, and professional students.  Our instructors customize our teaching to the music each player loves, with personalized instruction going on right now in how to drum blues, classic and modern rock, classical, country and western, funk, fusion, latin, metal, pop, praise & worship, R&B (rhythm and blues), and smooth and traditional jazz styles.  Each lesson includes learning technique (to make the learner’s hands and feet work for them), instruction in music theory (to use the learner’s brain to help make music easy), and half of each lesson is devoted to the student’s songs.

 While we never require anyone to play in public, we believe performing is one of the most important factors in producing someone who can actually play instead of someone who just takes lessons, and so we provide 2 opportunities a year to be in a recital or concert.  We also put bands together with current students and people who don’t take courses with us, with a coach to mentor and lead, in country and western, jazz, metal, classic and modern rock, R&B (rhythm and blues), praise & worship, and blues styles.  Dedicated students of all styles may also be eligible for our performance clubs, in which students perform for their fellow learners with a master musician to critique, advise, and mentor on improving abilities.  We also encourage all our musicians to participate in any musical competitions, concerts, contests, festivals, improvisations, master classes, and performances we can find – BUT we never force anyone to perform.  Performing for drummers is a great way to improve your skill level on drum set, hand drums, and percussion in general, but we encourage you to do it, not demand you do it.

Our goal for drummers is to allow students to playby ear and also by note, and for them to be able to improvise if they want to (make stuff up); to be able to read music, or just figure the drum part out from a CD or drum spontaneously with another musician just by listening.  This is a well-rounded instrumentalist.  A school of music should enable instrumentalists to be able to be the soloist or play in the rhythm section, or to play multi-percussion – but at our “academy” we base everything on what you want to and how to best get you there.  Therefore, the technique exercises players do in our courses fit the kind of music they like and the way(s) they want to play as a performer.

Music theory (brain work) is one of the most misunderstood and undervalued short cuts in the world of learning.  Usually educators ignore it entirely, treat it as a necessary nuisance, or act like it’s the entire purpose of music.  Basically it’s one of the three easy tools you can use to make your kind of music as quickly as possible (the other two tools are your ear [ear-training] and your fingers [technique].  And this isn’t just for beginning drummers, but intermediate, advanced, and professionals as well.

Though slow starting at first, in a few months students with an understanding of music theory will begin to surpass their peers and continue to progress more and more over students who don’t actually comprehend what they’re doing - and oddly enough many classical players don't really know what they're playing, they're just sort of an animated ipod, just reproducing what they see on the page.  Knowledge actually makes even performanceby ear or improvising easy, explaining what to do and what to listen for.  The parts of theory we commonly work on in lessons are ear-training, sight-reading, rhythm counting, and music knowledge.  Reading music is just the foundation; we’re talking about knowing multiple grooves and styles, or being able to build the simple rhythms you know into awesome, powerful solos, etc – that is, taking a little info and making it go a long way, for playing and improvisation. 

To the student who says “teach me drums", we would say this is the best school of music in the Metroplex.  Our educators have made your success and enjoyment their goal.  We are trying to cross the attitude of a music conservatory or percussion academy, even a university, with just jamming with your buds or playingby ear in your room – getting better and having fun.  Coming to lessons, improvisingat home, mastering your junior high bass drum part, impressing yourself and your friends, attending cool workshops and music seminars, learning great songs, cutting albums, becoming a great percussionist - we want to produce students who learn and enjoy, all across Texas.

For more information about classes and our teaching philosophy, click the buttons on the left.  All the pictures on this website are our students and teachers.