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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February 3rd Assignments
Lucas
Recommended Practice Time: 15-30mins
What to practice: This week Lucas I want you to continue working through Lesson 1 out of Reading, Rudiments, and Rock Drumming by Joel Rothman. Its a book we will be using quite a bit so it may be a good idea to buy it.
How to practice effectively: Now that we’ve got some counting and music notation review under our belt, its time to practice clapping and counting each of the lines in the Reading section. Next week we will talk more about basic drum beat notation and some hand patterns.
Really great job today keeping track of a lot of new information, learning to read music is not easy at first!
Ella
Recommended Practice Time: 30mins
What to practice: This week lets finish Violent Sun!. Here is the transcription and here is the form chart.
How to practice effectively: Really awesome playing today Ella, its a tough song and its really coming together. This week just focus on working through the rest of the song with the bridge and the last chorus and outro. I would keep it simple and try to stay playing it at 75% speed but if you want to when you’re comfortable enough try playing it full speed! Here is a video of me playing the chorus for audio/visual reference and here is a video of the drummer Michael Spearman playing the song.
And here is some fun listening if you’re interested:
Imogen Heap, Speak for Yourself
Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
So cool to see you killing this song Ella, keep it up!
Jonah
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: Next week Jonah I want you to come prepared to be attentive and focused when we need to be. I want to finish going through the fills in Lesson 8 as well as going through the reading one more time as well.
How to practice effectively: Know that when I’m talking or giving instructions we need to have our sticks down, not drumming, I think that will save us a lot of time. For Lesson 8 try coming up with different ways to orchestrate the fills and go through the reading a couple more times as well.
Thanks for your energy Jonah, I’ve always loved that about our lessons, now just to harness it a little bit!
Samson
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: Next week Samson, I want you to play through the rest of Lesson 6.
How to practice effectively: Work through all parts of the lesson keeping in mind for the reading portion the arrow position of the sticks on the snare drum and starting and stopping each stroke 6 inches above the drum. Be sure to count and play the whole thing with solid, steady time.
Good work counting and playing today, I’m also glad we got your pedals into a better position!
Sylvie
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: This week Sylvie I want you to focus on getting comfortable with Beat B in the pre-chorus of Starlight as well as Beat C so that you can try and work through the whole song. Here are the transcriptions of the beats. And here is a form chart of the song.
How to practice effectively: Follow along to the beats in each section listening to the music first. Then practice each beat slowly and repeatedly until you get the hang of it. Then trying playing it with the song at 0.75 speed, then you can try it at full speed though you may need to practice it continually at a few different tempos in between. Once you feel confident in each section, try stitching it all together and see how much of the song you can get through!
Really great work today!
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.
