B.Mus (U of T) in progress
Jeffrey Zhu is a percussionist with an interest in a variety of music and a passion for teaching. He grew up in Toronto and enjoys sharing music in the community of his childhood. He will involve himself in any musical opportunity he can get his hands on and performs regularly at the University of Toronto and in orchestras across Toronto.
Jeffrey is primarily a classical percussionist at U of T who continues to broaden his musical exposure outside of the university academia. At the University, he has performed with the U of T percussion ensemble, Wind Symphony, and the campus philharmonic. Additionally, he helped lead a Taiko (Japanese drumming) ensemble in high school giving him a unique perspective on percussion performance and education.
Jeffrey is currently working towards completing a bachelor’s in percussion performance at UofT.
Get to know TEACHER…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Biking
Musical influences: Aiyun Huang, John Rudolph
Favourite food: Peking Duck
Least favourite food: Garlic
Favourite music: Classical Orchestra, Big Band, and video game music
Favourite song: True Lovers’ Farewell
Favourite movie: Your Name
Favourite movie music: Fantasy
Favourite musical theatre/opera: The Sound of Music
Best quote from your teacher: “Very Musical!”
Favourite book: Watership Down
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Working with a large community vested in music
Latest Homework from Jeffrey
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JAN 24
Samson
Good work today! I feel like we made quite a breakthrough today making your playing more steady, just try to reinforce it by practicing on your own with a metronome. Remember if you’re struggling with something practice it in smaller sections slowly! If you repeat a mistake then fix it immediately by playing a smaller section and making sure you repeat it correctly before moving on. Here’s the etude if you have time to do what we did today for the rest of the piece and really master it:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10Ge9rCczPmU1IEunM5X81VUzmuyy_NbI
Lucas
The focus this week is to try and get you to feel the downbeat (beat 1 of any piece). What I was telling you about leading right with the sticking should help achieve this.
Practice the 8th note reading exercises but play every beat on hi-hat and only the offbeats (the “and” or “+”) on the snare drum.
Thea and Rachel
The main thing you can practice with just a pad is really just stick control right now so just try to repeat the first 8 exercises for 5-10 min a day. Practice with a metronome! You can search one up on Google and set it to ~120bpm. If you get access to a drumkit then keep working on the rock beat which we’ll continue to develop next lesson.
Tracie
Try to start any practice session by going through stick control for at least 5 min. Find an online metronome and set it to 80 or 90 bpm for this and make sure you really listen to it as you play. Keep working on your rock beat, you’re looking very comfortable with it!
Dec 17
Jonah
Good job on the kit today! It’s been a while since we’ve learned a full piece so let’s try to play through the incredibles over the next couple lessons. Have fun with it!
Preferred Books for Jeffrey’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.
Tradition of Excellence - Percussion
Tradition of Excellence by Bruce Pearson and Ryan Nowlin is a comprehensive and innovative curriculum designed to appeal to today s students. The music; the dynamic look; the scope and sequence; the tools for differentiated instruction; the smooth pacing with careful review; and the included INTERACTIVE Practice StudioTM make Tradition of Excellence the fastest growing band method today!
100 Essential Drumset Lessons
100 Essential Drumset Lessons contains information, examples, exercises, and over 300 demonstration and play-along audio tracks covering a range of topics that every drummer from novice to professional will find useful. Its educational scope runs the gamut, including basic rock, funk, metal, hip-hop, blues, country, basic swing, advanced swing concepts, fills, technical exercises, metric superimposition, soloing concepts, odd time playing, brush playing, as well as Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and other world music drumming styles. It also includes advice on productive practicing techniques, transcribing drum parts, creating an original drum part for a song, and five drumset audition solos suitable for use at all-state auditions, music festivals, or recitals. Audio is accessed online for download or streaming and features PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, and pan left or right available.
