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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January 27th Assignments
Sebastian
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: This week Sebastian I want you to work on the first 4 lines of the Stick Control Exercise as well as all of Lesson 1.
How to practice effectively: Really great work today! For the stick control exercise, remember to play it all with a nice full stroke that starts and ends up top and remember to use your wrist to power the stroke more than anything else! For Lesson 1 just count through the reading and take a look over everything else. Shoot to try and play the whole thing for me next week!
Good work learning some new stuff today!
Lucas
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: This week Lucas I want you to work on Another One Bites the Dust. (transcription will be uploaded shortly)
How to practice effectively: This beat isn’t crazy but its going to be really important to stay consistent, use your ears, know the song, and play along to it! I’m going to post the transcription soon but the whole song is that same beat that we worked on today, its also the first beat you learn in Lesson 1 in our book. The goal for this song is for you to be able to play an easier beat with a consistent groove.
Great job today!
Jonah
How many minutes to practice: 30
What to practice: This week Jonah I want you to work on the beats and snare drum reading for Lesson 12 as well as on the transcription for Ride by Twenty-One Pilots. I’ll upload the transcription shotly.
How to practice effectively: For Lesson 12 in the reading, remember that the dot after a note adds half of the note. So a dotted half note would be 3 beats because a quarter note is half of a half note. And a dotted quarter note would be 1.5 beats because an eighth note is half of a quarter note. It can be tricky but if you count and look at the examples its not too crazy. For Ride, work on trying to get the main beat down!
Pleasure playing with you as always Jonah, remember to keep up the good work on the Lessons!
Samson
How many minutes to practice: 15-30
What to practice: Next week Samson I want to hear you play from the beginning to the second chorus in Todd Rundgren’s It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference. Here is the UPDATED TRANSCRIPTION.
How to practice effectively: Good work with this Samson, just keep shooting for CONSISTENCY. That is key, even if you have to play the whole thing slow, you have to know how it feels to play the whole thing at a consistent tempo. One way to even it out and get things up to tempo faster is by finding the spots where you slow down, and then work on them until you can play them faster, then you can try the whole thing at a faster tempo.
You’ve got this Samson, keep going!
Preferred Books for Gordon’s Students
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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.
