We are excited to introduce you to this week’s Forte Featured Teacher, Lucas Vieira. Lucas teaches guitar and ukulele on Forte, and his studio is always popular!
About Lucas
Lucas is a performance PhD student at the University of São Paulo and visiting researcher at the University of Surrey (UK). He has participated in prestigious music festivals like the Aspen Music Festival and School (Colorado), the Instituto Guimarães Rosa (Buenos Aires), and the Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão (São Paulo), acting as both a soloist and teacher and performing world premieres of resident composers.
An internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, Lucas has won awards in more than 10 competitions, including Grand Prize Virtuoso (London), Villa-Lobos Guitar Competition, Souza Lima Guitar Competition, National Musicalis Competition, Tatuí Young Soloists, and the Nascente USP cultural exhibition. He has recorded documentaries about great names in Brazilian guitar, like Dilermando Reis, Laurindo Almeida and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Lucas graduated with a Master's in Classical Guitar Performance (University of Alicante) under the guidance of David Russell, Manuel Barrueco, Nigel North, and Pepe Romero, with an award-winning dissertation published in Spain.
Lucas’s Forte teacher profiles:
Lucas’s Teaching Style and Approach
How would you describe your teaching style?
My lessons focus on good posture, sound and guitar technique. We focus on progressing little by little with a repertoire of progressive difficulty. When the student reaches a certain goal, they can choose a song for me to arrange and play together.
What's the best part of music lessons with you?
Despite the seriousness of the methods, technique and repertoire, we never stop having fun in the process.
How do you encourage and motivate your students to progress?
By being patient and always having a song or exercise in mind to practice. Talent has more to do with perspiration than inspiration.
What would your students tell us about you as a teacher?
They would say that I am a punctual teacher, with clear technique, valuable materials and some bad jokes.
Lucas’s Unique Specializations
If you were to select a few things that you specialize in as a music teacher, what would they be?
I have had great experiences with teenage students who are just starting to play the instrument or already play something. I can also be useful with music theory content and preparation for exams and auditions.
What genre(s) of music do you specialize in or most enjoy teaching?
Classical guitar repertoire is my specialty. I also love to play jazz, blues, rock and Brazilian music.
Other than your primary instrument(s), are there additional disciplines or skills that you particularly enjoy teaching?
Music theory (harmony, rhythm, counterpoint), arranging, songwriting / composition, improvisation, performance anxiety, music production
Student Success and Feedback
Can you share a success story of a student you've taught?
I can mention the student Richard. He wanted to play every song he heard and had a contagious excitement. There were many festivals, concerts and competitions we worked toward together, always a two-way street; by working on the repertoire with him, I also learned how to study and teach.
He was accepted at several universities: USC, Johns Hopkins (both with merit scholarships), UCLA, UPENN (Benjamin Franklin Scholar) and Northwestern. He chose NWU as his new home.
What feedback do you often receive from your students (or your students' parents) about their lesson experience with you?
They enjoy the classes and repertoire and tend to continue studying. Parents appreciate their children's technical and musical advancement.
Getting to Know You… Getting to Know All About You
Other than being a musician/music teacher, what is your forte?
I can run a half marathon! (Practicing for the whole 42km)
What are your hobbies or interests outside of music?
I love going to the cinema.
If you could collaborate with any musician or composer (living or dead), who would you choose, and why?
I would love to watch J. S. Bach composing to try to understand his mastery. On another day, it would be a dream to play a jam session with Stevie Wonder with lots of groove.
What is the best musical advice anyone ever gave you?
Be patient. Talent has more to do with perspiration than inspiration.
As musicians, we are always learning and growing. What's something you're currently working on?
The repertoire for my first CD recording.
If you could learn any other instrument, what would you choose, and why?
I would learn how to sing, because I already rock in the shower.
What music are you listening to lately and really loving?
In my life - The Beatles
What's your go-to karaoke song?
Rasputin - Boney M.
What is your afternoon snack of choice?
Lemon scones with black iced tea
