Portugal, Dubai, London, Leeds...
João Figueiredo is a renowned educator, author and coach. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, João has travelled all over the world helping students of all ages and styles. At the age of 36, João Figueiredo has taught over 2500 students in Europe, Asia and United Kingdom.
Joao is a seasoned musician and an educational psychologist with endless passion for teaching.
João studied and studies with some of the best drummers in the world - Claus Hessler, Juan Carlito Mendoza, JP Bouvet, Hugo Danin and Michael Lauren (co-founder of the Drummers Collective in New York City, USA) are just some of the names that have taught João over the past 15 years. João also has a degree in Sound Engineering and studied with some of the best composers and conductors in the world - Stephen Coker, Paul Caldwell, Paulo Lourenço and Gonçalo Lourenço for example.
João is an official Soultone USA artist, a Drumeo Certified Instructor, a Vic Firth Artist & Educator and a member of the Sabian Education Network.
Obsessed with teaching and being the eternal student himself, João loves to guide and to help students finding their voices on the drum kit and to help everyone to live a richer life! Being a drum teacher is his passion and drumming is just an excuse to teach.
João Figueiredo is also the founder of BeAProMuso.com (an online coaching agency for musicians) and the author of “How Do We Learn?” and “Linear Drumming – One Step At A Time”.
"I was born in Lisbon (PORTUGAL) on July 19, 1986 and began my musical education quite young, in 1991. 20 years later, in 2011, I found myself teaching more than 40 students every week and was already the director and creator of two music schools near the capital of Portugal (CEM Intervalo 6 and Intervalo 7).
As a performer I did hundreds of shows but soon I understood that teaching was my life and passion. Still, I've performed and recorded with many bands and artists, exploring different genres of music such as jazz, funk, pop, classical, metal, and so on.
In 2012 I moved to Dubai and there I taught more than 50 students and did several shows at the biggest venue in the world – The Dubai Mall and at the Dubai Marina Mall – either in trio and solo performances.
In 2013 I've started to write my first drum book "Modern Concepts of Drumming - a mental and physical approach for the modern drummer" yet to be published.
In 2014 I moved to London and immediately started to teach drums and doing session work for bands and studios. But then I fell in love with Leeds... where I decided to open the LEEDS DRUM ACADEMY!
The digital world is another platform where I teach - Skype students from all corners of the world such as Portugal, UK, Dubai, USA, Australia, India, Germany and many other countries."
Professional Experience:
2008 - I teach drums, improvisation and sight-reading at Guitar Music Store (Malveira - Lisbon – Portugal). Later on I also became a partner in this company;
2009 - I teach drums at the Academia de Música de Telheiras (Clave de Soft - with branches in Lisbon and Madrid) and at the music school Semibreve (Odivelas); I become a partner of the Guitar Music Store and also the manager and program coordinator;
2010 – I start a new project in the area of education - CEM Intervalo 6 - being the creator and director of the school.
2010 – Missom Drumsticks creates my signature drum stick “João Figueiredo”;
2011 – This year I found myself teaching more than 40 drum students per week and my school already has more than 120 students.
2012 - I open a second music school, this time in Sintra - CEM Intervalo 7.
2012 – Moved to Dubai (UAE) and started working as a Drum Instructor in Brooklyn Melodies Music Center (Dubai) where I was teaching more than 50 students a week;
2013 - Three months after being hired by BMMC I became the Head of the Drum Department;
2013 – Worked as session musician on one of the most prestigious studios in Dubai – SoundStruck Dubai;
2013 – Clinician for Musician's Supply Dubai;
2013 – Drum Instructor at House of Rock Dubai;
2014 – Consultant Drum Teacher at London Music Centre;
2014 – Drum Teacher at Melody Create (London, UK);
2014 – Drum Teacher at West London Music Tutors;
2014 – Faculty Member at Atelier de Percussão do Porto (Portugal);
2014 – Drum Instructor at Roundhay Secondary School;
2014 - Founder of the Leeds Drum Academy;
2015 – Becomes a DRUMEO Certified Teacher;
2015 - Launches a new website of online lessons in Portuguese - ProfessorDeBateria.com
2016 - Joins the SABIAN EDUCATION NETWORK;
2016 - Joins the VIC FIRTH EDUCATION NETWORK.
2016 - Launches a new online school for drummers - TheOnlineDrumAcademy.com
Teaching Jobs:
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Academia de Música de Telheiras - Clave de Soft
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Escola de Música Semibreve
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Escola de Música dos Serviços Sociais da Caixa Geral de Depósitos
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Academia Musical da Malveira - Guitar Music Store
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Brinca e Ri
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Centro de Estudos Musicais Intervalo 6 (facebook.com/cemintervalo6)
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Centro de Estudos Musicais Intervalo 7 (facebook.com/cemintervalo7)
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Brooklyn Melodies Music Center (DUBAI)
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House of Rock Dubai
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London Music Centre (London, UK)
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Melody Create (London, UK)
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West London Music Tutors
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Online live drum lessons via Skype/Vokle/LessonFace/YouTube
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Roundhay Secondary School
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Leeds Drum Academy
Academic Experiences:
1991 to 2000 – Started my musical education at the Escola de Música da Malveira – piano and electric bass;
1997 to 1999 – Studied Animation and Photography (for cinema) at the CITEN - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation where I was awarded one scholarship to study cinema in France and to be a guest judge at the Animated Cinema Festival of Annecy (France) at the age of 13;
2003 to 2005 – Studied contemporary music and jazz drumming at Musicland, having had lessons with Nélson Sobral, João Maurílio, Miguel Camilo, Dikk, Miguel Martinho and Urbano Oliveira;
2005 to 2007 - ETIC - sound engineering - where I took two courses;
2007 - Studied at ESAD - University of Caldas da Rainha - Sound Engineer Course;
2010 - I participate in the International Choral Masterclass VOCALIZZE (at Instituto Piaget Almada) with Stephen Coker, Paul Caldwell, Paulo Lourenço and Gonçalo Lourenço;
2010 to 2012 - Private lessons with Hugo Danin at the Atelier de Percussão do Porto;
2012 - Private lessons with the great world reference Michael Lauren (co-founder of The Collective in New York City)
2012 - Member of the International Drums Academy;
Workshops with: Thomas Lang (Spice Girls, Gianni Naninni, Robbie Williams, Stork, Paul Gilbert), Dom Famularo (Global Drum Ambassador), Gregg Bissonette, Luis Conte, Steve Gadd, Hugo Danin (Monica Ferraz, GNR, Olive Tree Dance, Pedro Abrunhosa and many others) and Michael Lauren (Paul Anka, Chuck Berry, Charles Brown, Bob Mintzer, Milt Hinton, Kenny Davern, Don Sebesky, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Robert Kraft, co-founder of The Collective in New York City);
2015 - Private lessons with JP Bouvet;
2015 - Private lessons with Claus Hessler;
2015 - Private lessons with Juan Carlito Mendoza.
Professional background:
Started playing actively when I was 16 years with some covers projects but quickly stepped into composing and working on original bands.
During the year of 2005 I traveled in order to better understand eastern music. Having been trained by several musicians from India and Japan, the biggest influence was the famous tablas player (who lives in Puttaparthi, Bangalore, India) Ashish Shrivastava.
In Portugal I had private lessons with Nélson Sobral (MTV Award Winner with Boss AC), Hugo Danin (founder of the first Drum Academy in Portugal) and the great world reference in teaching drums, Michael Lauren (co-founder of The Collective in New York City and the founder of the International Drums Academy).
As a performer I did hundreds of shows and have played with dozens of bands and artists. In 2011 I did more than 60 live performances and recorded two albums with Soapbox and B#&C. I’ve played with several bands in major music festivals in Portugal such as "Gaia em Peso" 2009 and 2010, "Festa do Avante" in 2008 and 2011. Played and recorded several original compositions by Miguel Dinis with the Orchestra of the Conservatory of Santarém. Participated as well as a guest musician on several shows organized by the Institute Piaget (Almada – Lisbon).
During 2012/2013 I did several shows at the biggest venue in the world – The Dubai Mall and at the Dubai Marina Mall – either in trio and solo performances.
In 2014 I've moved to London and immediately started to teach drums at Melody Create and doing session work for bands and studios - The Premises Studios, The Joint, BonaFide Studios just to name a few.
In my book "Modern Concepts of Drumming - a mental and physical approach for the modern drummer" - yet to be published – I discuss topics like how to develop groove, technique, efficient practice methods, odd time meters, compound rhythms, rudiments and most importantly, how to be mentally prepared to be a professional drummer in the fastest and more challenging markets in the world.
Music groups I’ve played and recorded with:
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Hardspeech (2004-2006)
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Melodraw (2004-2009)
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The Maze (2004-2005)
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Mossy Fish (2007)
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Profusions (2007-2008)
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Thinline (2007)
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Modus Operandi (2007-2009)
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Miguel Xisto (2008 - 2012)
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B#&C (2009 - ?)
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My Alley (2009- 2010)
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João Figueiredo Trio (2010 - ?) - performing in Portugal, Dubai and London.
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Soapbox (2011 – 2012)
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Orchestra of the Conservatory of Santarém (2010 - 2012)
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Groove Call (2011 - 2012)
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Plano B (2011 – 2012)
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Parteezon (2014 - ?) - performing all over the UK and Portugal.
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Fighting Caravans (2014 - 2015) - Touring all over the UK