M.Mus (U of T)
B.Mus (Oberlin)
Guitarist Gergely Szabo has an Advanced Diploma in Music Performance from Cambrian College where he majored in the classical guitar. Over his time there, he completed 2 years of comprehensive pedagogy courses. He also gained well grounded vocal skills, as well as basic knowledge on the piano. Outside of classical music, he exhibits a repertoire of skills and knowledge in playing the genres of rock, blues, and heavy metal music. He has experience in teaching the guitar and the ukulele to a range of people aged 6 to 54.
Gergely’s teaching methods include both the use of books and digital methods. The three main books he uses to teach guitar are as follows: “Guitar Method Book 1 by Will Schmid and Greg Koch,” “Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests RCM Level 1,” and “Classical Guitar Repertoire and Etudes RCM Level 1.” For teaching ukulele, he uses the book “Ukulele Songs for 1, 2, or 3 players by Elizabeth Ragsdale.” Aside from these, he frequently uses the Muse Score application as a play-along practicing tool.
Gergely’s passion for music and his dedication to growing the love of music in others are the biggest reasons why he teaches guitar and ukulele. His approach to teaching involves learning through play. The material he covers with his students is always delivered in a way that is highly interactive. Most of the assigned exercises he gives involve the elements of play that students can enjoy both in class and as homework.
Get to know Gergely…Beyond the Bio!
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Bennett — Aug 27th
Hi guys!
It was really nice meeting Bennett today :) Below are the things I’d like him to work on for this week.
Posture
Always aim to play everything with a straight wrist in your left and right hand. Pushing the headstock away from your LH (left hand) side is usually a good idea when aiming to get better posture in your right and left hands. — When in doubt, try pushing the headstock forward of your LH side.
See these pictures of my LH. I’m holding the E chord (which I describe a little later).
- As described above: When I guided Bennett to adjusting his guitar body so that it was more of a diagonal than completely straight on his body, his arms’ and hands’ posture improved.
- Keep aiming to have this type of posture.
- These images are here to show that my LH posture is such that my wrist is straight. — Aim to have your wrists as straight as possible.
- Notice that the guitar is also positioned diagonal to my body.
- I had no significant comments on how his LH thumb must be positioned. It followed suit with whatever his wrist was doing; when he positioned the guitar and his body properly, it was fine.
- An important note I forgot to mention in class: Your body should never feel any kind of strain when holding the guitar. Hence why a guitar strap is very useful, too. — When positioned on your legs, its weight should be comfortably taken care of by your legs. — Have it on your right thigh.
Memorize the string names
The following acronym represents all the strings: E A D G B e. Lowest to highest. Remember: We speak upside-down in guitar terms, because we think of the word “higher” as in higher pitched. And those strings are actually lower to the ground.
A funny way to remember these, in this order, is “Eat A Darn Good Breakfast Everyday.” — The PDF below shows a blank guitar diagram looking at the fretboard from the right hand side. You’ll see which side is farthest from the floor as well as which is closest to the floor.
E chord
This first chord we were working on in class. It’s the happy version of the chord you would play that’s called “E.” — If we don’t add a lowercase m on the side, then that means it’s a major chord.
The picture is also a guitar diagram, oriented the same way as the blank one above. It shows how to hold down a chord properly. The black dots are the frets you hold down with your fingers. The white dots represent “open strings.” That is, strings you play without holding any frets down on them.
The numbers represent what LH fingers to use. 1 = index, 2 = middle, 3 = ring, 4 = pinky. — Be nice and tough with holding down the frets. The more curled the fingers, the clearer the notes will sound.
Em (E minor) chord
The 2nd chord from class today. The sad version of the “E” chord. With the lowercase m on the side, you’ll know it’s a minor chord.
- This is the easiest chord on today’s list.
A chord
The last chord from today.
Em pentatonic scale
Try playing the notes in this scale. — Just get your hand used to the feeling of the guitar. I’m not going to quiz you on these next week, haha.
This guitar diagram is oriented differently. We’re seeing it from the eyes of the guitar player when holding the guitar, looking down at the frets.
The vertical lines are the frets. The horizontal lines are the strings. The letters are the note names; these are not that important right now. That number 3 there just means its the 3rd fret; guitars usually have dots on the fretboards for the frets 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12, as they’re very frequently used in common guitar scales. That 3 is just “announcing the presence of said dot,” haha.
Nylon string guitar
If possible, please get a nylon string guitar. And choose one that is a bit smaller. — Long & McQuade is pretty reliable for good musical equipment to buy. Another good one is Remenyi House of Music. As well as Snider School of Music.
Stretches
This video demonstrates the stretches we were doing in class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1XsLRQFV7rY
Do them during and after a playing or practicing session. — If your hand is starting to feel tired or sore, it is a good time to rest. Fingers are much more delicate than the other muscles in your body, hence you can’t just “push on through” with them. They need rest. So take breaks in between session for sure. Then on top of the breaks, do some of these stretches.
~
Do what you can. And no worries if you don’t wish to continue lessons with me; that is entirely your choice. Otherwise, our door is always open for you here at ABC Academy of Music. Thank you so much and perhaps I’ll see you guys next week!
When iCloud Failed: A Decades-Long Apple User’s Race Against Time
On November 7th, 2025, I lost a decade of my work and personal history in what should have been a routine restart.
I’ve been an Apple user since I was 12 years old. I’ve owned and operated my music school, ABC Academy of Music (music-lessons.ca), for 22 years. I’ve built my entire business and personal computing life on Apple’s ecosystem—Macs, iPhones, iPads, iCloud, the full productivity suite. I’ve had enough faith in Apple to be a shareholder.
In all those years, Apple has never let me down the way it has now.
What Happened
My Mac maxed out its RAM. The system generated low memory alerts. I did what anyone would do: I force quit applications, emptied the Trash, and restarted.
When the machine came back up, it appeared to be reinstalling macOS. When the process completed and I reached my desktop, everything was gone. Not just the files on my desktop. Everything in iCloud too.
At first I assumed the files simply hadn’t synced yet—that the machine needed to reconnect to iCloud. This was exactly why I used iCloud in the first place: not just as a backup, but so I could access my files anywhere, on any machine. That’s what Apple promises. That’s what I paid for.
But the files never came back. Whatever happened during that crash didn’t just affect my local machine. It wiped my iCloud storage too.
What I Lost
Custom CRMs I built over more than a decade to run my multi-location music school. Paid client lists and active student records. Student reporting systems and databases. Financial records spanning years of business operations. Our certificate of incorporation. Tax filings. Marketing materials, custom designs, logos, templates, and tools developed over 10+ years.
Personal files too. My taxes. My CV. University transcripts. Recipes that are deeply important to me as an amateur chef—some handed down, some developed through years of trial and error.
Strangely, some aspects of iCloud appear completely untouched. My Photos are fine. But Keynote, Pages, and Numbers have only limited files restored. The inconsistency is baffling, and no one has been able to explain it.
Three Weeks of Trying
It’s now been three weeks since the incident. I’ve spent countless hours on calls with Senior iCloud technicians. They’ve been professional. They’ve escalated my case. They’ve told me they’re doing everything they can.
But what they’ve restored amounts to a fraction of my actual data and files—and none of it is what I need to run my business or access my personal history.
Here’s what Apple support has refused to do:
- Connect me with the iCloud engineers who actually understand the system architecture
- Provide me with a disk image of my iCloud drive so I can work with independent specialists
- Explain how a local system crash could propagate to cloud storage
Even the Experts Are Stumped
I’ve taken my computer to forensic data recovery specialists. Even they were unable to make sense of why this happened or offer a solution. The data was supposed to be living in Apple’s cloud—not dependent on my local machine. The experts I consulted could not explain how a local crash could wipe cloud storage, and they had no path forward for recovery.
This leaves Apple as the only entity that can investigate what happened and potentially recover my data. And Apple won’t connect me to anyone who can.
The Deadline
November 7th was the incident date. Cloud storage systems typically have a 30-day window before deleted data is permanently purged. That deadline is approximately December 7th—days away.
If Apple doesn’t act before that window closes, everything could be gone forever.
Why I’m Sharing This
I’ve reached out directly to Tim Cook, Eddy Cue (the SVP who oversees iCloud), and Apple’s PR team. I’ve outlined the situation and explained the steps I’m taking.
I don’t want to make noise about this. It’s time I don’t have, and it’s not in anyone’s interest. I just want my data back—what I paid for, what I spent years creating.
But three weeks of working through normal channels hasn’t connected me to anyone who can actually help. Time is running out. Regretfully, I feel I must escalate this publicly because I have no other options.
The Question
How does a local system crash wipe cloud storage? Isn’t the entire point of the cloud that it’s separate from your local machine? Isn’t that what we’re paying for?
Even forensic data experts couldn’t answer these questions. Only Apple can.
I’m sharing this because other people deserve to know: iCloud may not work the way you think it does. And if it fails, getting help may be harder than you expect—even if you’ve been a loyal customer for decades.
What I Want
I want engineering resources assigned to investigate this and attempt deep recovery. I want the disk image so independent specialists can work in parallel. I want to understand what happened.
Most of all, I just want what’s mine.
If you’ve experienced something similar, or if you have advice for getting engineering-level help at Apple, I’d appreciate hearing from you. And if you think this story is important, please share it.
Time is running out.
Preferred Books for Gergely’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
Hal Leonard Guitar Method
The second edition of this world-famous method by Will Schmid and Greg Koch is preferred by teachers because it makes them more effective while making their job easier. Students enjoy its easy-to-follow format that gives them a solid music education while letting them play songs right away. Book 1 provides beginning instruction including tuning, 1st position melody playing, C, G, G7, D7, and Em chords, rhythms through eighth notes, solos and ensembles and strumming.
Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests
