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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Assignments from February 13th
Hello! I hope you all had a fun snow day!
Noreet:
When warming up this week Noreet can continue to play her G Major scale hands together, pay close attention to the fingerings in as the scale descends. D Major can be played 2 octaves hands together. Practice the A Major scale hands together slowly. We are still working on Ice Cream and More Ice Cream. When practicing please remind Noreet that the eighth notes are twice as fast as the quarter notes. I’ve uploaded a video to the google drive to help Noreet has she learns to play two different rhythms in both hands. Please play this for her so that she can follow along. The same pattern can be practiced on her own with the metronome. Have her count out loud (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) as she taps along. Use the metronome when playing Ice Cream and More Ice Cream. Play these pieces slowly hands together. You can find the video here.
Vida:
Today we learned the F Major scale! Have Vida practice this hands separately for warm up. When she feels confident she can play it hands together. We continued with the song in her book. She can continue to practice the first two phrases, please help her read the 3rd and 4th phrases of the song. We can talk about any questions she has about the piece and address any problem areas next week in class. We also reviewed our note values and intervals. She likes the note value work sheets so I’ve uploaded a new one for her to work on this week. Please bring this next week and we will correct it together. You can find that sheet here.
Eva:
Hello Eva! Sorry we missed you this week. I’ve uploaded a new song called “Donkey’s Love Carrots” to the google drive for you to practice if you need more material for this week. This song has stepwise motion and some small jumps. If you wanted to try reading this at home together we can address any problem areas next week. Otherwise, continue to practice “Dancing with Frankenstein”. If you feel confident with the notes in this song, practice performing the song. You can find “Donkey’s Love Carrots” here.
Thank you everyone! I hope the weather is better for next weeks lessons. Happy practicing!
Saturday, February 15th
Jack
Warmups:
–Tragically Hip: 50 Mission Cap
Benny Greb Rhythmic Alphabet
–Continue with our extended sentence
–Be sure to count aloud while you play these rhythms
Beatles: Ticket to Ride
–Keep working on the main beat of this song! Let’s try to play along with it next time
Nova
Benny Greb’s Rhythmic Alphabet (in google drive):
–CODE and MOON
–Keep experimenting with two-letter words
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials: Groove 1 SLOW EXCELLENT
review Drumset Musician p27 (in google drive) to see examples of four-beat fills
–Do the same with the Variation A groove
Groove 1 FAST***
–This week, play the first section (4x) switching between 8th-notes on the HH and 1/4-notes on the ride to give your RH a break!
–Create fills to play every 16 measures
==Xylophone Next Week==
Aleksander
Warmups goal tempo *90bpm* playing four notes per beat:
–Singles, Doubles, and Paradiddles (four counts each for 1min)
–Flams, flam triplets
Drumset Musician: Sixteenth Note Ride Patterns (in your gdrive folder)
–Drill ex. 5-7, 2min ea
Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way–all the way to the end!
–You know how all the parts. Follow along and work on getting through to tthe end this week. Next week, we’ll polish up th edetails
Tracie
Warm-ups:
–Triplet ex. (85bpm, 1min)
Benny Greb: Rhythmic Alphabet
–Have fun creating words
–Use the four words on the handout from today to help you create some fills. Try putting each letter on a different drum
Groove Essentials: Groove 1 (find chart and backing track in the Freq. Used folder)
–Good work on variation A this week! Keep it up
–Try using some of your Rhythmic Alphabet words from above to create drum fills that you can play in this song
Montell Fish: Don’t you Love Me
–see handout
–drill the main groove
Mario
Warmups (1min/ea) with Metronome at *115bpm* (two notes per beat)
–8 on a hand
–Single Stroke Roll (R L R L…)
–Double Stroke Roll (R R L L…)
–Focus on keeping up with the metronome. You have a tendency to drag, so don’t let yourself get sluggish!
Queen: Rock you
–Filling in the empty “4”
Joan Jett: Rock ‘n Roll
–Watermelon-watermelon fill off the top
–“apple pineapple” fill before chorus
Drumset Musician p27 (in google drive) – 8th-note Fills, ex. 9-12
–This week, focus on keeping the 8th-note steady through your fills
Here’s a video from the orchestra pit of the Barbican during my gig on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s prpduction of Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mateo
Warmups (30 sec each) **pulling your thumb back:
–8 on a Hand
–Single Stroke Roll (RLRL…)
–Double Stroke Roll (RRLL…)
Drumset Musician p27, ex. 10-12**
–Aim to keep the flow of the eighth-note pulse STEADY
–try looping these exercises, so that the crash after the fill becomes beat 1 of the beat again
–count aloud!
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials, Groove 1 SLOW
–Drill Variation A this week, making it fit tidily along with the recording
NEW SONG Audioslave: Like a Stone
–Play the whole song along with the recording. Use the recipe cheat-sheet (handout) to help you get all of the main parts
–next week we’ll polish some more of the details (hh splash, LF)
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
