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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Dec 13
Samson
Hope you had fun learning Megalovania today! Try actually reading the music so you can learn things faster on your own in the future. We’ll probably get back to kit next time but if there’s anything else you want to play on xylo let me know.
Lucas
Sounds like the rock beat variations are becoming pretty comfortable for you, just make sure you can repeat them effortlessly. Try picking a variation you’ve done and repeating it for 5-10 minutes a day without pause. Keep working on the reading exercises from lesson 1, lets nail the 2nd one we’ve been doing for a while and I might have you move onto a longer exercise. Make sure to relax when you play, we don’t want any injuries. Let me know in lessons if you’re feeling any pain, there’s a lot we can do about your playing position.
Leo
You look a lot more comfortable playing for me than in your first lesson! You’ll adapt to performing rather easily don’t worry about it. The main thing when playing with a larger group is make sure to play softly and listen to others unless they tell you to play louder.
For lessons just make sure you can get through that etude without stopping and work on controlling your double strokes a little more.
Devon
The 16th note grid is really coming along! Try to really feel the groove when playing with a metronome; make it therapeutic, not stressful. We’ll keep working on reading butaybe some kit stuff next time. It’s very intuitive don’t overthink it, you did great!
Oct 22
Hello everyone,
Firstly a quick reminder that those of you usually with Tuesday lessons will resume those this week.
Charlie
Nice to see the enthusiasm for your new drumset! Don’t forget to keep working on the basics (stick control) and try to get used to rolls. We’ll work on simple improv next week and a bit more reading music.
Samson
Good work today it looked like you enjoyed just messing around with drum fills so try to keep working on that on your own. I like your variation of the drum beat just whatever you do make sure it’s solid and confident. We’ll keep learning some xylophone too if you’re interested.
Patricia
I think we made some solid improvement on the rock beat today! We’ll keep solidifying it next lesson as well as your paradiddles
Jonah
Hope you’re enjoying Hannaford! Try working on your endurance; I understand you would be tired from an early morning rehearsal and then another lesson shortly afterward but learning to play for long periods of time without being too exhausted is a skill in itself. Try to be more focused when you read music, it makes a big difference in how fast you learn things. Keep working on the double stroke and closed rolls, they’re getting pretty good! We’ll keep working on reading xylophone music slowly.
Jason
Nice to meet you today! Let me know if you have any more details about your audition and if you are still worried about that: from what I heard today you’ll be fine. If you decide to continue with lessons I will give you a couple of pieces to work on and next week I will probably send out the link to stick control again (rudimentary exercises).
Keep up the good work!
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.
