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 6th Assignments
Sebastian
What to practice: This week Sebastian I want you to keep working on playing beats with fills like we did today! Here are some other ones you can try as well.
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 starting the fill on beat 3 and playing for two beats and going back to the groove on beat 1. 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 keep playing the beats for Lesson 7
How to practice effectively: 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.
Great job with these so far!
Jonah
How many minutes to practice: 30
What to practice: This week Jonah I want you to work on Lesson 13 Beats and come up with 5 beats of your own! Here is the video I made to help with Lesson 13: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8sbQp1mhvKWPvneeFPFwrqAtkikqS7V/view?usp=sharing
How to practice effectively: This week Jonah I want you to come up with 5 unique beats of your own, you can even name them after different foods if you want to! For Lesson 13 just take a little of time this week to run through them all. Remember Jonah, a little bit of practice goes a long way and I’m happy for you to play drums everyday even if its not always the assignment, having fun and getting better is always the most important part!
Thanks for a great lesson!
Samson
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: Your assignment this week Samson is to keep working through Todd Rundgren’s It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference. Here is the UPDATED TRANSCRIPTION.
How to practice effectively: Really great job today, it was 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: I think we went over everything for the stick control exercise, just remember to use your wrists and relax, remembering to come up off the drum head and play everything as evenly as possible. For the Lesson 5 beats, try them out with the hi-hat pedal playing on the down beats (1 2 3 4) and the “and” of each beat ( + + + +). Then work on this double beat exercise. 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
Thanks for an awesome lesson!
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.
