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.
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Assignments from January 25th
Hello!
What a great Saturday full of lessons!
Berke:
Today we reviewed our scales. Please continue practicing C Major hands together, paying close attention to the fingerings of the descent of the scale. Start to practice G Major hands together slowly. When practicing the triads at the end of the scale please ensure Berke plays these with his first, third, fourth, and fifth fingers. The chord should always start with the first finger (thumb) in the right hand, and fifth finger in the left hand. Practicing proper fingerings will help to ensure Berke’s fingers do not get tangled in ascending and descending scales. We also started to sight-read a new piece today! Berke expressed an interest in playing Mozart, so I have chosen Mozart’s Minuet in F Major. This is a selection in the Level One Royal Conservatory Repertoire book. Please help Berke to sight-read this at home up to the end of the second phrase. Should he get stuck, ask if the next note moves up or down and by how many lines and spaces. This will help guide Berke to the answer as we continue to learn how to sight read. You can also rely on the note names sheet I sent home the first week. A copy of this sheet as well as the Minuet and the C Major triads has been uploaded to the google drive. You can find these in the link below.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bJUyXO3FeNBIdhir_V72u45oNlDvneD1?usp=sharing
Thank you for the great lesson today! Happy practicing!
Lesson Notes, January 23 2025
Hello all,
Your lesson notes are as follows:
Eva
Recommended minutes to practice:
- 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week
What to practice:
- Tub Time: finish this piece off! After reviewing notes, finger numbers, and counting, try performing the piece (playing start to finish with dynamics)
- Gliding Goldfish: Read the words for the piece and see if you can perform the story on the keyboard. Think of making your sound smooth and gliding like a fish
*(Pumpkin Party is a bonus piece if there’s time/interest to look through); the highlight of this piece is playing C+E in different areas of the piano.
How to practice efficiently:
- Remember your anchor points on the keyboard (C, F, and D in the “dog house”)
- Approach the piece in different ways: sing the words, clap the rhythms, name the note names.
How can caregivers support practice:
- Note recognition on keyboard: practice finding notes together on the keyboard, goal is to be able to recall them quickly but it will take time and practice to get locked in.
- Double check fingerings in pieces, make sure that we’re taking the time before we start to see which fingers are playing which notes.
- Hands/Wrists: reminder of how to position hands while playing (gently curved fingers, wrist is not collapsed), remember not to pop the “paint balloons”
Chris
Topics we discussed during lesson (diagrams/images are attached):
- Note+Rest values, how eighth and sixteenth notes fit into a quarter
- Marching the quarter note beat and clapping the rhythms (while counting out loud)
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week
What to practice:
- Bartok sight reading, exercises 9-12
- Note the title of the exercises, especially 11-12
- If you have the resources, cover your hands while you play through the exercise (typewriter technique!)
- 5 note scales and chords (out lining the fifth [1 and 5], playing the third [note under finger 3, and then the full triad [notes under finger 1, 3, 5]); C position and G position
- As mentioned during the lesson: you can also try playing the 5-note cluster using fingers 1-5. This can help engage/bring attention to the larger muscle groups in our back
- Midnight Ride (p.29): Elements to focus on in this piece will be your accents, legato phrasing (notes flowing into each other without “smearing”), and dynamic contrasts
- Bus Stop Boogie (p.30): This piece is our first piece to have skips in addition to steps! Keep a close eye to what’s written on the page for note accuracy
How to practice efficiently:
- Marching/stepping to a quarter note beat and either clapping or speaking the rhythm. Understanding the rhythm on its own will set you up for playing it on the keys
- 5 note scales
- Practicing one hand at a time
- In either a C or G position, try playing the scale in contrary motion (beginning the scale with finger one and working outwards and back in).
Happy practicing! Have a great 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
