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 17
Samson
Try to refamiliarize yourself with the 16th note grid. Let’s focus on relaxed playing and proper form through basic snare exercises, pull out stick control and try to play through it every day. We’ll get back to reading music next week.
Lucas
Keep progressing with the sightreading at the beginning of the lessons, J can tell you’ve been playing with a metronome and it’s working! Just make sure to listen to it more; sometimes you seem to not notice when it’s not quite lining up.
Leo
Nice that we’re making progress on drums corps on parade! Really try to refine the parts that we’ve learned and keep going on your own if you can. Make sure you can do all rudiments starting on either hand.
Rachel & Thea and Tracie
Just putting all the new students here so I can give some general resources and advice. If you are able to get a kit for yourselves then just practice the rock beat on your own. If that is not immediately accessible then try to get a drum pad asap; it’s a smaller investment and will allow you to get your hands moving. Try to mime the rock beat in your spare time if you want practice, going rhrough the motions does help to an extent.
We will review the rock beat and mostly do snare exercises next week. Here is a link to some resources I use with all my students, try to save this link somewhere:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10Ge9rCczPmU1IEunM5X81VUzmuyy_NbI
Good work everyone!
Saturday, December 10th Assignments
Hi guys, it was so great to work with you guys this morning, keep up the good work!!
-Gordon
Charlie
Really great job today Charlie! I’m really impressed with how quickly you’re picking everything up! This week try to see if you can play through all of Dani California. If it gets tough remember to add one limb at a time, or practice each note slowly. If you want more to work on, pick at those 16th note bass drum patterns that you took pictures of. I think Jeffrey would love to hear some of that next week! It might also be a good idea to make a list of some songs you’re interested in learning.
Jonah
It was so great to finally have a lesson in-person again Jonah!! I had a great time. I hope your concert with the Hannaford band went well today, it sounded like you knew your music pretty well. Next week I think it would be awesome if you could try playing some of the tunes you did today like Frosty the Snowman on xylophone for Jeffrey, I think that would be good practice to get used to the instrument!
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.
