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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September 30th Assignments
Great job again this week everybody! Sorry to be late on these assignments, but there’s nothing here you can’t make progress on before Wednesday!
Ella
Great job again this week Ella, its super cool to see you continuously improve on Breezeblocks!
Recommended Practice Time: 30mins
What to practice: Keep playing through Breezeblocks but we are going to transition to start working on Lesson 6 from Reading, Rudiments, and Rock Drumming (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X4v1EHk9OZ6OcBW9SKfNvTwTfqDto2IH). Also take a listen to Last Kiss by Pearl Jam and see if you can work out the beat!
How to practice effectively: Reading, Rudiments, and Rock Drumming is exactly that. The first section is just rhythmic exercises to work on counting and rhythmic vocabulary while the second section looks at rudimental patterns like paradiddles and the last is just different types of drum beats. Take a stab at it and we’ll dig into it in depth on Wednesday! We’ll also play a little bit of Last Kiss but I want you to try and see if you can pick up the beat by ear first before I make a transcription for you.
Jonah
Pleasure as always this week Jonah! Keep playing hard this week and I think we’ll dig into some new stuff Wednesday!
Recommended practice time: 15mins
What to practice: This week Jonah I want you to keep being creative with your fills and try them out with some new beats, keep playing everyday!
How to practice effectively: Think about new drums to play the fills on or different rhythms to play in the space. Try coming up with new beats to work them into.
Samson
I could tell you put in some work to Crab Rave Samson, keep up the good work this week!
Recommended practice time: 15mins
What to practice: Specifically practice the beat of Crab Rave, we broke it down a little bit this week but I want to see if you can get it down super solid this coming week and be able to play through the whole song!
How to practice effectively: Break down the beat exactly like we did in the lesson: first start with the kick on every beat, then add the snare drum on 2 and 4 every other beat, and then add the hi-hat in the off-beat, and continue to count and add all the smaller hi-hat notes. Count it out and practice slowly and you’ll get it!
Sylvie
Great to see you again this week Sylvie, thanks especially for your patience and persistence with the zoom troubles!
Recommended practice time: 30mins
What to practice: Keep practicing the Lesson 8 sheet I gave you with the fills and try to look at the top part with the paradiddles! This week we’ll review that stuff and start working on some new things.
How to practice effectively: Make sure to count through the beat and start the fill in the right spot. Also practice hitting the crash on the downbeat and going straight back to the groove after the fill. The paradiddles are just hand patterns so don’t be afraid to try them at a bunch of different tempos on different drums!
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.
