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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September 13th
Hi Everyone,
Good work today! Hopefully, the new school year/work season is treating you well. Here are your assignments for the week:
Lucas
Recommended practice time: 10-25 min/day
What to practice: Work on the exercises from your book I showed you today: (paradiddles, basic rock beat, and the other rock beat variations if you’re feeling ambitious).
How to practice: Remember to isolate the instruments if you are having difficulty with the rock beat. The bass drum is particularly challenging because pedalling often feels unnatural. If it gives you a hard time do the bass drum on its own but otherwise, just work on fluency by repeating the exercises. Take your time with paradiddles and try to work with a metronome at around quarter= 60 bpm.
Samson
Recommended practice time: 20-25 min/day
What to practice: We will review the fill from last week in person, it sounded like you were close but the timing was slightly off. Work on making uptown funk a bit more interesting (add fills and make the rhythms denser/faster) and show me whatever song you want to learn next week (Rick Astley?). Use paradiddles as a chops builder just to learn to play more consistently.
How to practice: Make sure you use a metronome! Rudimental exercises like paradiddles only have value when practiced with a metronome. It will also help you push your limits in speed one step at a time. Pay attention to the fills when you practice a rock beat with anything; you have a tendency to rush. The best way to fix that is to listen to the metronome. Loosen up and have fun when playing with music! You have the basics, they just need to be cleaned up a bit.
Patricia
Recommended practice time: Whatever you can manage but aim for a minimum of 10 min/day just to get your hands moving
Reiterating from last week: check in with Barn and he might be able to get you a drum pad.
What to practice: Work on your single strokes (one hand at a time) and just keep it steady. Work on sixteenth notes. These exercises can even be done on a pillow or a table it would just be slightly obnoxious.
How to practice: Remember 60 beats per minute (bpm)= 1 beat per second. Quarter note = 1 beat. I’ll keep saying this for a couple of weeks because reading music is very helpful in the long run. For now, just take things slow and get your hands moving such that you can hit even notes consistently. Play at a speed you are comfortable with and try to use a metronome meditatively.
Have a good week!
Preferred Books for Jeffrey’s Students
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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.
