Drago Drums Studio in the beating heart of London

Felipe has participated actively in music groups, performing on stage, recording in numerous studios from Brazil - USA - UK.
His teaching career began in 1992. He graduated from the Percussion Institute of Technology in 1996.
Felipe has taught at many prestigious places such as Eubanks Conservatory of Music and Arts where he became the Percussion Department Director and in 2003 he was the Drums and Percussion Department Director at Voice Musical Centre (www.voice.art.br), Sao Paulo, Brazil.
During this time Felipe has developed his own teaching methods, using Accelerative Learning Techniques, and has written two books called Play The Drums and has also been a active collaborator of the magazine Modern Drummer (Brazil) from 2004 until 2012.

Since October 2013 Felipe has been taking drum lessons again via
Skype with drummer extraordinaire, drums ambassador and educator
Dom Famularo (www.domfamularo.com).
Dom has recognised in Felipe the competence, the capacity and the
passion making him part of his selected team of educators, also
referring him to the education teams of Promark (www.promark.com)
and Evans Drumheads (www.evansdrumheads.com) two major drum manufacturing companies who are serious about drumming education.

“Felipe taught me for 6 months and he really helped me to understand and play a lot of different styles, particularly Latin and Jazz."

I was working towards studying music full-time and he gave me the skills I needed to pass my auditions.
He is passionate about drums and this is a big part of why he is such a great teacher.”

“Felipe is an excellent drum teacher with an obvious passion for his subject."

His lessons are structured but flexible and personalised according to my needs and objectives and I'm amazed at how much he has taught me since I started as a complete beginner.
I would recommend Felipe to anyone wishing to begin drumming or who wants to improve their technique; his extensive experience means he can evaluate and help you solve any difficulties as they arise.”

“Felipe's enthusiasm and patience really helped me to tackle new styles of drumming, whilst working on my reading and technique."

I greatly enjoyed my lessons with him; he opened my eyes to some great exercises, and would recommend him to drummers of all levels.

“He's passionate about drumming, about teaching and knows what he's talking about. Be careful, his passion is highly contagious!"

Felipe always challenges you to get better: after not even a year of drums lessons, he gave me the confidence and the push to get out there and play with other musicians. It's all up to you to decide what you want to achieve and the time you want to invest in practicing, Felipe will get the most out of you and will make you not only a good drummer but a good musician.”

When I started my lessons with Felipe a couple of years ago, I was already an intermediate drummer."

Felipe was able to design a course that was just right for my skill set and allowed me to achieve my long-term goals as a drummer. He helped me to re-focus on the basic drumming techniques and rudiments, while at the same time helping me to find my own unique drumming style. I highly recommend him. Felipe is a patient and personalised teacher

In my opinion Felipe is a true professional as he was/is always ready for the task in hand, be it teaching, performing or recording."

Felipe's knowledge in music and drumming is quite broad therefore it is very easy for him to adapt to any challenging genre while on a project. In Addition, his easy going, no fuss personality adds to make him a first choice drummer/musician to work with. Felipe would be a great asset to have in a professional environment. August 28, 2012

Details of the curriculums, tailored to your skill set can be found below as well as the prices.

This is the very first step into the world of drumming.
Designed for people who have never held drum sticks in their lives but always wanted to play. Using Accelerated Learning techniques the lessons are fun and start with very easy playing, coordination and reading exercises. Everybody plays a song in the first lesson.

Advanced concepts of hand technique, reading, coordination and song interpretation
After the introduction to drumming this stage deals with more advanced concepts of hand technique, reading, coordination and song interpretation. With the foundation of the lessons during the Intro period the student starts dealing with more elaborated songs and feels a lot more comfortable playing along to his/her favourite tracks.
Even though playing with other people is encouraged from very early on, at this stage jamming with friends or even starting bands is a lot of fun as the student has a very good set of musical tools to play in most situations.”

This is probably the broadest spectrum of drum abilities that exists
If you’re a regular student of drums this is the natural step after the Beginner stage. But there are a lot of people who had a few drum lessons, or no lessons at all, that have been playing for some time but don’t have a real understanding of the techniques, or cannot read music but have a good enough standard to be playing in bands, gigging regularly and even making some money as a musician. At this stage it is mandatory that the student learn de Drum Rudiments, Hand Technique, musical styles (rock, jazz, funk, blues, latin and so on), ghost notes, chart reading, etc. Here happens the refinement of the player.

Often the terms advanced and professional get mixed up.
There are a lot of professional musicians who are not advanced players and many advanced players who decided to keep drumming as a hobby. Being advanced means that the student decided to take his/her drumming to the highest possible level. And at this stage deeper, more specific and more detailed studying is required as the player will start learning about concepts such as:
Two-sound levels
Ostinatos
Linear drumming
Moeller technique
Advanced stick control
4-way coordination
Polyrhythms ...and a lot more.

When Coaching in music is a new concept, There are no more lessons but sessions.
The tutor becomes someone who guides, advises, shows different views, new concepts and strategies but more importantly, asks questions so the player has to engage in deep thought and evaluate his/her present condition. Very much like a sports coach.
Instead of regular sessions things are worked by the player on his own time and whenever he/she feels the need another session is booked.
Coaching is usually sought by professional players who have either reached a dead end in their playing and feel the necessity to overcome obstacles getting in touch with new concepts and views to keep developing. Or players who need guidance in their professional life.

Class payments fall into the following category, Regular, By-Monthly, Single and Taster Classes, please see below.
Just choose the Curriculum that is appropriate and contact me via the contact section.
If you are not sure what course please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to discuss what might be suitable for you.
* Discounts are avaliable for Off Peak Slots, Students, Pentioners and Unemployed

Regular        – four 1-hour lessons per month                                                                  £220
By-monthly   – two 1-hour lessons per month or four 30-minute lessons per month       £160
Single                                                                                                                               £80
Taster                                                                                                                               £45

Here are some learning tools, to help you improve your drumming techniques

Here are a few links to guide you in the world of drumming

Play The Drums written by Felipe Drago, guiding you through drumming techniques

Order your book today by pressing the 'Buy Now' button

Play The Drums - By Felipe Drago

Play the Drums is a 68-page book that comes with au1io and videos.
The book is designed for beginners, and is laid out in an easy-to-read, user-friendly way.
It presents a new approach to learning the drumset for beginners, containing grooves, fills, reading concepts and core rhythms in simple and clearly organized format. The book contains four units covering quarter-note, eighth-note, sixteenth-note, and triplet grooves, fills and reading exercises. Each unit is broken into sections.

Rudiments Unlocked - By Paul Hose & Felipe Drago

A collaborative book that lays out the history of the rudiments and how these rhythms expanded over time to reach the 40 Rudiments that we know today. Covered are the various rudiment families “Rolls and Ruffs”, “Diddles”, Flams and Drags”. Examples are accompanied by online videos and audio.

0789 164 3137

dragodrumsstudio@gmail.com

Tube Stations: Archway

OverGround: Crouch Hill, Upper Holloway

All designs and images are the copyright © 2014–Present of Felipe Drago at Drago Drums, Illustrations and website design Haffeera Cader Saul and photography Dyana Bittar.
All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright law.