07424079692 – facebook.com/jfdrumlessons
CURRICULUM VITAE
João Figueiredo
Drum Instructor and Professional Musician
Quick resume:
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.
I'm extremely proud to say that I'm a student of Hugo Danin, Michael
Lauren.
In 2012 I've 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've moved to London and immediately started to teach drums and
doing session work for bands and studios.
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 - and I run a Facebook page/YouTube Channel named JF DRUM
LESSONS (soon to be a website) where I publish lessons, video lessons and insight on
drum books.
I am also a clinician and have done dozens of workshops, masterclasses and
drum camps for drummers and musicians in general in music schools, high schools,
colleges and other respected venues in Portugal.
Obsessed with perfection, ambitious and a team player with
leadership qualities, I see myself as someone that pushes himself to limit and
with high standards either teaching, playing or on management positions.
07424079692 – facebook.com/jfdrumlessons
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 – Session drummer at The Premises Studios, BonaFide Studios and The Joint
studio (London, UK) where I also do clinics and private lessons;
● 2014 – Drum Instructor at Bell Percussion;
Teaching Jobs:
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Academia de Música de Telheiras - Clave de Soft
Escola de Música Semibreve
Escola de Música dos Serviços Sociais da Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Academia Musical da Malveira - Guitar Music Store
Brinca e Ri
Centro de Estudos Musicais Intervalo 6 (facebook.com/cemintervalo6)
Centro de Estudos Musicais Intervalo 7 (facebook.com/cemintervalo7)
Brooklyn Melodies Music Center (DUBAI)
House of Rock Dubai
London Music Centre (London, UK)
Melody Create (London, UK)
West London Music Tutors
Bell Percussion
Online live drum lessons via Skype/Vokle/LessonFace/YouTube
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
07424079692 – facebook.com/jfdrumlessons
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);
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 and doing
session work for bands and studios.
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 rythms,
rudiments and most importantly, how to be mentally prepared to be a professional drummer in the
fastest and more challenging markets in the world.
In 2014 I started doing clinics both in the UK and Portugal as well as recording sessions
for many recording studios in London – The Premises Studios, The Joint, BonaFide
Studios just to name a few.
07424079692 – facebook.com/jfdrumlessons
Music groups I’ve played and recorded with:
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Hardspeech (2004-2006)
Melodraw (2004-2009)
The Maze (2004-2005)
Mossy Fish (2007)
Profusions (2007-2008)
Thinline (2007)
Modus Operandi (2007-2009)
Miguel Xisto (2008 - 2012)
B#&C (2009 - ?)
My Alley (2009- 2010)
João Figueiredo Trio (2010 - ?) - performing in Portugal, Dubai and London.
Soapbox (2011 – 2012)
Orchestra of the Conservatory of Santarém (2010 - 2012)
Groove Call (2011 - 2012)
Plano B (2011 – 2012)
Parteezon (2014 - ?) - performing all over the UK and Portugal.
Lux Lisbon (2014 -?)
All American Girl (2014 - ?)
Other relevant skills:
● Ability to teach all Rockschool, Trinity and any other syllabus in the market - 100% of my
students passed Rockschool and Trinity exams in 2012 and 2013;
● Good sight-reader;
● Vast knowledge of History of Modern Music, authors, different techniques, most important
styles for the modern drummer - jazz, funk, rock, pop, hip hop, drum'n'bass, fusion, etc.
● Fluent in English (spoken and written) and with the ability to learn new languages fairly
quickly - I speak a bit of French and Spanish as well.
● Very comfortable with social media and web marketing.
Contact me at:
Mobile: 07424079692
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jfdrumlessons