Students are family. Music helps us through the good times, and the bad times, and helps us keep each other growing.   

To become exceptional, they say it takes 10,000 hours. That can feel like an eternity of practicing, and takes a tremendous amount of discipline. That is why I like to use books. Books are great resources for the eternal student, helping us visibly see our progress, learn new exercises we might not have thought of, and internalize an extreme amount of vocabulary. Examples in books also help us re-enforce our technique, and learn music literacy, which is valuable for fluidity in any genre of music. 

When our music-ing and technique are fluid, learning repertoire is easy and fun, instead of frustrating, and combining that with being able to read, accelerates the rate at which we can learn new music. Learning music together, makes it even easier.

TJ started taking music lessons on drum set with Dave Goiser in 2003. At age 12, he started regularly playing for his church’s worship band. In high school, he won numerous honors and awards, and started professionally performing and recording in the N.Y.C., D.C., and Richmond areas, culminating with opening for Dave Mason of “Traffic” live on Sirius XM Radio. TJ went on to receive his classical percussion degrees from George Mason University (B.M. ‘2016) and New York University (M.M. ‘2018). Over his collegiate career he performed academically with over 40 ensembles, including the 2015 NCAA #1 Pep Band “Doc Nix and the Green Machine,” and attended various summer music festivals. Keeping versatile, he regularly took drum set lessons with world-renowned jazz performers, Professors Joe McCarthy, James Saporito, and Tony Moreno. Since 2018, TJ has been performing and recording with local N.Y.C., D.C., and Baltimore artists, and in 2019 toured with jazz, rock, and Klezmer legend Brian Choper and his company, Mulberry Music. 

For the past six years TJ has had the honor of teaching, working as an instructor and clinician with local high schools. TJ’s private students inherit his pro-active musical lifestyle, performing professionally, both locally and in the top high school honor bands, including All-State Jazz band, and at the collegiate level in various festivals. His most recently graduated student will be attending Shenandoah Conservatory with scholarship in the Fall. 

A life-long student, TJ is currently continuing his studies with his mentor, Tony Moreno.