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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Latest Homework from Gergely
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Tuesday, February 11
Lila
Warmups:
–8 on a Hand
–Single strokes
–Double strokes
–Paradiddles
Review of grip: good. Keep skin contact with stick
Basic Beat Level 3** same as level 2, but BD plays all four beats (1, 2, 3, 4)
Step 1) Count “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ”
Step 2) Play the Hihat with your Right Hand (RH) on all the counts
Step 3) Add in the Bass Drum with your Right Foot (RF) on “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”
Step 4) Add in the Snare Drum with your Left Hand (LH) on “2” and “4”
Visual Drumset Method: exercises 8-9**
–Aim for four repetitions of each exercise without hiccups or hesitations
Fruit Salad Game
–Create three of your own fruit salads using the four fruit-rhythms (in your notebook)
–Please write them out in your notebook
–use four fruits (repetition allowed) for each “salad”
–When playing them, use single-strokes/hand-to-hand sticking (R-L-R-L-…) always
Queen: We Will Rock You
Josh
Warm-ups:
–Hand and foot coordination (see handout): playing steady beats on the bass drum, play singles, doubles, and paradiddles with your hands on the snare drum. There should be two snare notes (ti-ti; eighth notes) to every bass drum note (ta; quarter notes)
Groove Essentials Rock Groove 5
–Play the VD ex. 10 beat for this one!
–Let’s work on getting some fills together for it
The Beatles: Ticket To Ride
–Two main beats for this song: “I ate a cho-co-late” and Visual Drummer #5 (p. 15)
–This week, play these beats along with the song, listening carefully to stay in time with the song
–Next week, we’ll begin learning the variation on the beat later in the song
Myles
Drumset Musician p83 Twelve Bar Blues playalong
–We used this as a way to learn drum fills
–Next week let’s learn about the 12 bar blues as a form
==Xylophone==
Warmups (***F Major):
–Scale, one octave, ascending and descending, saying the note names as you play them (F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-f)
–Arpeggio (F-A-C-f-C-A-F)
–Broken thirds (F-A G-Bb A-C…), ascending and descending
Cirone Book: “Step Six” ex. 5-8
Eartraining: identifying thirds and fifths
Tones and I: Dreaming
–See Worksheet in your personal google drive folder
Finn
Warmups (30sec each, counting aloud):
–Single Strokes
–Double Strokes
–8 on a hand
Joan Jett: I Love Rock and Roll
–begins with “watermelon watermelon” on the snare
–Play the main beat (1+2 3+4)
Fruit Salad game
–Four fruits: pear, apple, blueberry, watermelon
–Each fruit has a rhythm. Experiment mixing up to four fruits together to create your own rhythms!
Visual Drummer: p16 ex. 7-12
–Try to play these without any extra bass drum notes!
Nickelback: How You Remind Me
–Use the webplayer for the Visual Drummer book to help you get the right tempo. Play along with the ex. 2 backing track, and adjust the speed in the bottom left corner of the webplayer to adjust. Gradually build up to our goal tempo (160).
Francisco
Warmups:
–Stick Control first page ex. 14-18 (4x each, 120bpm goal tempo)
–Play eighths ca. 120-160 bpm (gradually building up the speed) using accents on the beats to help with the push-pull strokes
Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials book: Groove 1 FAST
–To give your hand a rest, switch to playing quarters on the ride BUT be clever about when to use this strategy
–Practice incorporating the pushes (w/ a crash) into these grooves
Noah
Warmups (1min each per practice session):
–Paradiddle combo exercise with bass drum on quarter notes
Paul Simon: Late in the Evening
–Use a metronome (I use the Tempo app by Frozen Ape) to help you lock the sixteenth-note
Mozambique pattern into the grid
–Practice the four fills you know from this song (a) on their own (b) in the context of the groove every fourth bar
–I’ve uploaded photos with stickings to your google drive folder
Aviva
Warmups (1min ea) letting the stick rebound naturally from the surface
–Single strokes (LRLR…)
–Double Strokes (LLRR…)
–Paradiddles (LRLL RLRR…)
Drumset Musician p11, ex. 1-7 b) **
–Continue to use “long-form” counting (“1+2+3+4+”) even though you’re not playing all those notes
Igoe Groove Essentials Groove 1 Slow (backing track and chart in Frequently Used Resources folder)
–This week, play Ex. 4 or 5 (or bonus: switch between them) as your main groove for this exercise
–Add in the drum fills we learned (on the handout) at the end of four-bar phrases
–We’ll get to Variation A next week
Assignments from February 6th
Hello Everyone!
Great lessons this week! Some really exciting progress and some great first lessons with new students. See your homework and practice recommendations below!
Noreet:
For warm up with week, please have Noreet play all her scales hands together. Practice a two octave G Major scale at 85BPM on the metronome, two octaves of D Major slowly, and one octave of A Major very slowly. All scales can be played 85BPM when Noreet feels confident in the scale. We reviewed Ice Cream and More Ice Cream on page 18 of her book. Please continue to practice both of these. These two pieces have Noreet play different rhythms in her two hands at the same time. Please help her by counting out loud slowly with her when practicing (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and). Have Noreet point to the notes while she counts. Practice the right hand melody and left hand chords twice through separately before trying to play them at the same time. When confident, play hands together slowly.
Vida:
Help Vida to sight read the next song in her book. Continue to practice the difference in staccato and legato playing as indicated in the song. We will discuss and review any unfamiliar concepts in this song next week. Remember, this song has a B flat in it! Please practice Life is Better Loud hands separately. Remind Vida that the letters I’ve written in are chords not notes. Practice these chords in sequence with the left hand, these can all be found on the chords and triads page of her binder.
Eva:
Hello Eva! It was so nice to meet you and your mom on Thursday! For this week, please practice “Dancing with Frankenstein”. I’ve uploaded this to Eva’s folder in the google drive, you can find that here. Please help Eva to read this piece at home, The left hand starts on A and the right hand starts on a C. If she doesn’t recognize the next note, ask if its higher or lower than the one she just played, and by how many steps, the count up alphabetically to find the next note (moves up 2 steps from C = E). When Eva is confident with the notes, practice “performing” this smoothly (its okay if we don’t get here this week).
Christian:
Hey Christin! I’ve attached a link to the google drive and uploaded Sailor’s Tale in case you don’t have it. Please find that here. Continue to practice this over the next two weeks. When practicing, warm up with the C Major and G Major scales hands separately, focusing on the proper fingerings (123,12345). When practicing Sailor’s Tale, practice your right hand and left hand separately, focusing on accurate pitches and rhythms. I’ve uploaded more sight reading resources if you get stuck. Start your practice by sight reading the whole thing start to finish, ignoring the rhythms if you have to. This will allow you to practice reading. Then practice small chunks of the song (e.x the fist 3 bars) focusing on accurate pitches and rhythms until you can play the phrase confidently and smoothly. You can feel free to practice a few small sections throughout the piece (e.x the first 3 bars and the last 3 bars). Use the free metronome if you find this helpful, this is a free resource on google. Should you feel confident you can then play both hands together slowly.
Happy practicing everyone! I look forward to more lessons next week!
Preferred Books for Gergely’s Students
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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
