M.Mus (UofT) in-progress
B.Mus (Eastman)
Gordon is a percussionist and educator interested in performing, creating, and engaging within a multitude of musical styles, invested in how music might be embodied in a variety of forms through joyful exploration.
From Tampa, Florida, Gordon became acquainted with music through piano lessons, eventually moving on to drum set and marching percussion in high school. In 2019, Gordon completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Michael Burritt. At Eastman Gordon performed and premiered works with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Eastman Percussion Ensemble, and Musica Nova in addition to serving for two years on the board of the student-led new music ensemble, Ossia.
He is also interested in the intersection between music and technology and has contributed to creative projects with the Eastman Audio Research Studio and the University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble.
Gordon is currently working towards completing his Master’s degree at the University of Toronto under the instruction of Aiyun Huang.
Get to know Gordon…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, watching movies, reading, spending time outside, tossing a frisbee and playing Spikeball
Musical influences: Rush, Mutemath, Max Roach, My Brightest Diamond, Son Lux, Rachel Podger, Michael Burritt, Steve Schick, Paul Rennick, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Jess Ray, Mark Andre…
Favourite food: Kanafeh (Middle-Eastern dessert)
Least favourite food: Brussel sprouts
Favourite music: Rock, Jazz, Contemporary Classical, Indie-folk, Electronic
Favourite song: One favorite is Humble Heart by Jess Ray
Favourite movie: Another favorite is Tree of Life by Terrence Malick
Favourite movie music: Bernard Herman in Vertigo, Ennio Morricone in Once Upon a Time in the West
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Hamilton, Invisible Cities by Christopher Cerrone
Best quote from your teacher: “Listen…”
Favourite quote: Romans 8:37-39
Favourite book: The Giver by Lois Lowry
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Sharing music with the students.
Latest Homework from Gordon
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April 14th Assignments
Sebastian
What to practice: This week Sebastian I want you to keep working on the Lesson 8 fills.
How to practice effectively: For fills the important thing is to count when you start and make sure that you land on beat one. Try out each type of fill carefully and with counting. Be creative and try mixing and matching different grooves with different fills!
Great to play with you again this week!
Lucas
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: This week Lucas I want you to review Seven Nation Army for the recital May 1st and keep playing the beats for Lesson 7
How to practice effectively: For Seven Nation Army focus on playing through the whole song in one go. You already know the gist of it and for a performance its more important to get through the whole thing than to get every detail right. Not to say that details aren’t important but that for the recital getting through the song and hitting the major sections is the first priority. Find what speaker you want to use and practice playing along to the music each time. For Lesson 7, keep hacking at these a little bit more. Remember that its ok to go slowly and stop and start when you’re practicing, but when you’re playing for real you need to be able to make mistakes and keep going so make sure to practice the beats without stopping too.
Awesome job today, looking forward to next week!
Jonah
How many minutes to practice: 30
What to practice: This week Jonah I want you to work on Ride by Twenty-One Pilots for the May 1st Recital.
How to practice effectively: I’m going to be updating the transcription shortly so keep an eye out here. You already know your way around this song so now we’re just going to work on some details and fills. Pay attention closely to the sheet music and try to connect it with what you’re hearing.
Super excited to finish up this song with you!
Samson
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: Your assignment this week Samson is to decide whether you want to perform for the May 1st recital and to keep working through Todd Rundgren’s It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference. Here is the UPDATED TRANSCRIPTION.
How to practice effectively: For the recital, I think you would do a fantastic job if you wanted to do it, but you should only do it if you really want to. But as for finishing up It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference, its all coming together pretty nicely! At this point you’re ready to start playing the song without the music so try and only use the sheet to refresh your memory. Play with the song a lot and make sure that you’re not slowing down in the transitions. Remember to keep the triplets tight and listen to make sure you’re playing in time with the song. Next week we’ll keep trucking through it and hopefully finish. Also here is my video about the last fill if you still need it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dpRnvgQnxVGb170Cutx89abLskSNlVOc/view?usp=sharing
Sooo great to see you in person!!
Sam
How many minutes to practice: 30
What to practice: This week Sam I want you to practice the Stick Control Exercise with the feet, the Lesson 5 beats with the hi-hat variations, and the double beat exercise.
How to practice effectively: So for technique always remember to use your wrists and for now on Stick Control and Double Beat, start about 6-9in off the drumhead and return to this position, think about always coming up off the head with no tension.
Here are some tempos for you to practice at:
Stick Control: Start around 50-55 and work your way up to 70. Remember for this one the metronome marking is for the big beat.
Double Beat: Start around 80 and aim for 100-110. Remember to relax, use reboud, and give a full stroke for each note. If you can’t remember how it goes here’s a great video from snarescience breaking it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFJRrf6Jdc&ab_channel=snarescience
Lesson 5 beats: Don’t worry about a metronome, just focus on breaking each beat down the way we did in the lessons and add the hi-hat foot on the quarter note downbeats (1 2 3 4).
Fantastic job today, really great to see how you tackle difficult problems!
Preferred Books for Gordon’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
STICK CONTROL
George Lawrence Stone’s Stick Control is the bible of drumming. In 1993, Modern Drummer magazine named the book one of the top 25 books of all-time. In the words of the author, it is the ideal book for improving: control, speed, flexibility, touch, rhythm, lightness, delicacy, power, endurance, preciseness of execution and muscular coordination, with extra attention given to the development of the weak hand.
Reading, Rudiments, and Rock Drumming
This beginner book contains the basic 3 R’s of drumming-Reading, Rudiments, and Rock, in an easy to learn format.
Intermediate Snare Drum Studies
The Art of Bop Drumming
The definitive book on bop drumming—a style that is both the turning point and the cornerstone of contemporary music’s development. This comprehensive book and audio presentation covers time playing, comping, soloing, brushes, more jazz essentials, and charts in an entertaining mix of text, music, and pertinent quotes.
