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!
Coming soon!
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Latest Homework from Gergely
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Thursday, April 23rd
Josh
After briefly taking a break from Wonderwall, we went back to it this week. However it seems like Josh didn’t practise it at all and has completely forgotten the pattern. By the end of the class he was able to pick it back up. I talked to him about the importance of even just practising a short 5 minutes everyday, as that goes a long way, even just for remembering what we worked on in lesson.
Aleksander
We worked on playing Bring Me to Life with the track. Overall he did very well observing the guitar riff and playing with it, and the half time section at bar 46 is the part that he found challenging. We will try to play page 2 with the track next week.
Francisco
We worked on The Trooper and talked about the kind of exercise he should do to get himself up to speed. The tip here is to use the pinky finger to tap the stick back when playing fast 16th notes as well as triplets. Try to work till bar 24 for this week.
Finn
We worked through Clocks today in preparation for the recital. We did several play through, and talked about performance etiquette and the mental preparation before starting and not to try to rush to the end when close to it. The song is in a ABA structure, meaning it returns to the beginning theme at the end. I told him when the beginning theme returns, he should treat it like the beginning, and mentally prepare himself the same way. Try doing some performance simulation at home this week in preparation for the performance.
Mateo
Mateo has been making great progress with Labios Compartidos and this week we ended the class with a play through of first two pages. He made great progress this past week tackling those tricky bars and getting in and out of it. My goal for him this week is to finish the last page and we will move on to a new song next week.
Koel
We briefly tried out Superstition this week because Koel told me he won’t have too much time to practise these coming weeks due to exams. I gave the song to him hoping to challenge him to read some rather unconventional rhythm pattern, while also adapting the swung 16th feel. I would like for him to try reading those patterns whenever he has time these coming weeks.
Efe — Apr 25th
Hi Efe,
It was a productive class today.
Having talked about exploring the realms of guitar music out there, here are the bands and musical styles I recommend that you check out. These are the ones we looked at today that you liked more.
Led Zeppelin
- Classic Hard Rock.
- Guitarist Jimmy Page. A rock icon. Influenced numerous guitarists.
- Endless soloing. Countless riffs made.
- Emotive playing.
- A vast discography of rock music to listen to.
AC/DC
- Hard Rock.
- Angus Young. Famous player with iconic riffs and solos.
- Countless songs. A forebear of undying rock ’n’ roll spirit; to this day, they carry the torch of rock ’n’ roll.
Zakk Wylde
- Warning: the material covered in his music is often grim and/or quite dark.
- Groove Metal.
- You liked his style of riffing.
Deep Purple
- Progressive Rock.
- Some on the Water.
- Cool scales and some emotive playing.
Ben Higgins’s channel
- Here’s the guy whose material we were looking at today. His YouTube channel: Link.
- He specializes in getting faster on the instrument and in improving technique. — I don’t recommend you buying the subscription on his website.
- A video put together and played by him that inspired me: Link.
Remember my warning regarding rock ‘n’ roll music out there: a lot of it can be quite dark and/or inappropriate. But I know you’re a 13 year old guy, and I trust you to discern and make good judgements on what you come across online.
There won’t be a lesson next week. Because of the recital. The recital starts at 1pm and it’s at the school’s Oakwood location. I recommend you guys get there a bit early so as to ensure you’ll all get seats in the audience. I’ll see you there next week!
Efe Homework Nov 22nd
Hi Efe!
This week’s homework.
Blues — page 10, Guitar Method 1 book
Be mindful of the correct picking directions.
Goals with this piece:
- Reading musical notation.
- Good posture of hands, arms, and body enforced. Remember the slanted body position I was demonstrating today.
- Getting the hands used to the correct picking directions, as well as ingraining the habits of proper string crossing.
Little Drummer Boy
The Google Drive link from last time is here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1cURXZdyFoL_6FZX5V4COTxCljwXKq8wO
In here, you’ll find my newest videos. One is of the D and G chords’ transitions. The other is of the melody for this song.
What to practice:
- The strumming pattern — both slowly and faster, as shown.
- The transitioning exercise — both slowly and faster, as shown.
- The song at its regular, allegretto pace; play alongside my video of the melody
Goals with this song:
- Good posture of hands, arms, and body enforced. Remember the slanted body position I was demonstrating today.
- Getting used to the hard transitions. Especially between the G and D chords.
- Being able to play accurately in an ensemble setting. Having me play the melody while you play the chords will help you learn the essential skill of playing with others. Musicians must be good at this. I know you’ve been playing the drums in your ensemble at school so that’s a good start for this. — if you stop or make any mistakes, then just resume the piece wherever my video is. Don’t go back and correct it; remember, you can’t do that in a performance :)
When any mistakes are made, work on them individually before attempting to play the whole piece again. Once they’ve been fixed, you can start the piece from its beginning again.
E Major string crossing
This is the melody from that Crossroads solo the kid was playing. The above link will have the following video and picture in it.
- 65BPM fastest. Strictly.
- The picking pattern is ALWAYS down-up down-up. Keep paying close attention to this.
- The left hand fingerings are always going to be 4, 1, 2, 0. In this order. No finger 3 is ever used!
- The picture shows the guitar tab and musical notation of this.
- The video is of me demonstrating this exercise. — practice it just like I’m showing; 8 repetitions at a time. 2 bars of rest. Then do this all again. Do this for at least 5 minutes a day. Do not increase the tempo of the metronome for this exercise.
Goals with this melody:
- String crossing — this is an essential technique that all guitarists come across sooner or later. It’s best if you start working on this as soon as possible. This technique can be and stay difficult for many guitarists. This catchy melody should help you start to get into the habit of executing this technique properly.
- Building the habit of sticking to the rule of alternate picking only. — Many songs have different rules for when to pick which way. But countless songs have the rule of playing exclusively with alternate picking. This melody will help you get into the habit of following this rule.
- Building the habit of sticking to the best strumming pattern at hand. — the acute attention you give to sticking to the rules of your pieces’ picking directions will get you in the habit of following the correct picking patterns at all times.
Remember, even just 5 minutes of practice a day is better than failing to practice on several days of the week. Ideally, I’d like your practice sessions to be a minimum of 40-45 minutes a day. But if that’s not possible, I do understand; it does happen. So in cases like that, find some time in your day to do a smaller amount of practice, covering whatever you can in the detailed list above.
You’re improving in the concepts I’m passing on to you, Efe. Good work on that. Now you must keep at it with the new ones I’m giving you. Have a great week and I’ll see you on November 29th!
Efe November 8th
Hi Efe and family!
Here is Efe’s homework for the next 2 weeks.
Little Drummer Boy
- https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1cURXZdyFoL_6FZX5V4COTxCljwXKq8wO — check out the video and pictures I have for this piece. They should help you practice it
- The pictures are of the pages I’ve written out for the chords and the strumming pattern of this song
- Remember, check out the Pentatonix version of this song. It’s not in the same key, but the melody sung here is the same
G to D chords exercise
- 50bpm, 4 beats per bar
- 1 bar of G, 1 bar of D. Looped (as in repeated over and over).
- When transitioning between bars, leave out beat 4. That’s the “cheat beat.” This is when you switch to the next chord
- Leave finger 3 on fret 3 of the B string
- Refer to the chord diagrams below for the correct fingerings. Memorize the fingerings of the D and G chords
Blues, page 10
- Keep going with this piece
- 5 minutes a day
- The point of this one is so that you don’t forget to keep honing your alternate picking and outside picking skills
Ode to Joy, page 10
- Just do as much of this as you can. But it’s the least important thing on this today’s homework
In due time, we’ll get to looking at the work of Metallica and Pantera :) In the meantime, keep exploring the genres of music with guitar.
See you in 2 weeks Efe!
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
