George Lawrence Stone (1886–1967) was an American
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
and author.
He wrote the books ''Stick Control for the Snare Drummer'' (1935) and ''Accents and Rebounds for the Snare Drummer'' (1961). Among his students were
Joe Morello
Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic ...
,
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...
,
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...
, and
Vic Firth
Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion mallet, percussion sticks and mallets.
Biography
Vic Firt ...
.
Biography
George Lawrence Stone was born in 1886. He was the son of drum teacher and manufacturer
George Burt Stone. George Lawrence learned drums and xylophone from his father and also helped out in his shop, where the elder Stone tucked drumheads, turned drumsticks, made wooden foot pedals and sold violins. George Lawrence also studied with Harry A. Bower and Frank E. Dodge, learned timpani from Oscar Schwar of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and studied music theory at the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
. In 1910, he was a xylophonist on the
Keith Vaudeville Circuit
Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.
Biography
Early years
Keith was born in Hillsboro Bridge, New ...
, and he played timpani and bells with the Boston Festival Orchestra. Stone played in the pit of Boston's Colonial Theater under the baton of Victor Herbert, and was a member of the Boston Opera Orchestra for five years.
After George B. Stone's death in 1917, George Lawrence ran his father's drum factory and became principal of the Stone Drum and Xylophone School in Boston.
He also wrote articles on drumming technique for International Musician and Jacob's Orchestra Monthly. Stone was a founding member of the
National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD) which began in 1933, and served as its president for fifteen years. The publication of ''Stick Control'' made Stone even more in demand as a teacher, and drummers such as
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...
,
Sid Catlett
Sidney "Big Sid" Catlett (January 17, 1910 – March 25, 1951) was an American jazz drummer. Catlett was one of the most versatile drummers of his era, adapting with the changing music scene as bebop emerged.
Early life
Catlett was born in Eva ...
,
George Wettling
George Godfrey Wettling (November 28, 1907 – June 6, 1968) was an American jazz drummer.
He was born in Topeka, Kansas, United States, and from his early teens was living in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of the young Chicagoans who fell ...
, and
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...
sought out Stone's expertise.
Jazz drummer
Joe Morello
Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic ...
started taking lessons from Stone when he was sixteen. "Every lesson was a joy to go to," Morello said. "If you did something wrong, he had a way of letting you know about it, but without belittling you. He was a very gentle kind of man, and he had a good sense of humor. He had a way of bringing out the best in me." Stone, in turn, was inspired by Morello, who would add various accents to the exercises in Stick Control. Stone incorporated some of Morello's ideas into his book ''Accents and Rebounds'', which he dedicated to Morello, and some of the exercises Stone wrote out for Morello appeared in Morello's 1983 book ''Master Studies.''
As Stone's renown as a teacher increased, the George B. Stone & Son drum manufacturing business began to decline. The factory closed in the late 1930s and the equipment was idle until 1950 when Ralph Eames purchased it, using it to make Eames rope-tensioned parade drums. Today, some of Stone's equipment is still used by the Eames Drum Company in Saugus, MA, in the manufacture of its drum shells.
Stone continued to be active as a teacher through the 1940s. One of his students during that time was
Vic Firth
Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion mallet, percussion sticks and mallets.
Biography
Vic Firt ...
. "Mr. Stone was a droll Yankee type," Firth recalls, "but a very sweet man. He was probably one of the first technique builders of the teachers, and he felt it was terribly important to make music. His theory was that you can be a sculptor by virtue of owning a hammer and chisel, but you don't really sculpt anything until you have the technique to do it. Likewise, before you can do anything 'shapely' in music, you've got to have the hands to do it with."
George Lawrence Stone died at the age of 81 on November 19, 1967. His wife died two days later, and his son,
George Lawrence Stone Jr., died thirty-two days after his father. Eulogizing his friend in ''The Ludwig Drummer'',
William F. Ludwig, Sr.
William F. Ludwig (1879 1973) was an American percussionist, drum-maker, and founder of Ludwig Drums. He helped to create the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Career
Willia ...
said, "George was always helpful to everyone - his motto was 'Service before self.' May he rest in the satisfaction that he did his best for the percussion field for many, many years."
Books
* ''Stick Control for the Snare Drummer'' (published 1935)
* ''Accents and Rebounds for the Snare Drummer'' (dedicated to his student Joe Morello)
* ''Mallet Control for the Xylophone''
* ''Military Drum Beats for the School and Drum Corps'' (published 1931)
References
External links
Biographyfrom the
Percussive Arts Society Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abroad. It ...
Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, George Lawrence
American percussionists
American male composers
20th-century American composers
1886 births
1967 deaths
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
20th-century American male musicians