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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Feb 14
Samson
Now that you can comfortably play through the whole piece, work on rhythmic accuracy and your timing. Practicing with a metronome and listening for downbeats seems to help. Turn the metronome to 400 so you can hear all the subdivisions and make sure to really listen. Mess around with the paradiddles and hi-hat pattern I showed you. Remember to relax!
Lucas
Keep working on the reading exercises. Make sure you always practice with a metronome on. If 80 is too slow you can do 100 but no faster at this point. If you make a mistake do that line 5 times correctly before doing anything else, don’t just repeat the entire exercise without thinking about what you need to fix.
Leo
Keep going with drum corps on parade! I think we’ve more or less gotten through the first page so try to smooth that out for next week. Remember that the whole piece is just a collection of rudiments so if you struggle with certain patterns just repeat it in isolation and identify how you can move more efficiently (ie. lower stick heights, accenting the beat and correct stickings).
Rachel & Thea
Work on the swing/shuffle pattern (what the right hand was doing on the ride) with stick control. You can swing the eighths for all of it. If that’s too confusing then just do it with doublestops. Set a metronome to ~120 for this.
Tracie
Priority right now is to get you to feel downbeats more subconsciously and accurately. Turn the metronome to 180 and only play on 1. Then play on all the beats as we did in the lesson. Work your way up to 200. If you like the tools on your kit then keep using those, just make sure your rhythmic accuracy improves even when you’re not playing along with it.
Happy Valentines day!
Jan 14
Jonah
Recommended practice time: 20-30 min/day
What to practice: 5 min stick control as warm up. Practice the etude we’ve worked on the past 2 lessons.
How to practice: Always play with ametronome! Start at 80 bpm and work your way up to 120. Do not repeat mistakes! In order to fix them, learn smaller sections of the piece at a slower tempo.
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.
