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, December 12th
Hello! Jasmine (Chris’ substitute) here, great to meet you all this week
Your lesson notes are as follows:
Josh
Warm-ups:
-continue with the exercises recommended by Chris: coordinating hands and feet with steady beats on the bass drum
-visual drumset exercises: practice playing just the down beats with hi-hat, snare, and kick — aim to hit all three of these notes at the same time so we don’t flam between drums. Alternate playing all eighths on the hi-hat with kick+snare and just quarter notes.
I Had Some Help
-worked piece by isolating the different parts (just snare drum, just kick drum, snare+kick, snare+kick+hi-hat) — by breaking a piece down to just an instrument at a time, we can feel how each instrument grooves or fits into the beat.
Myles
Weezer: My Name is Jonas
-great work on the intro and main groove!
-see image attached on time signatures; differences in time feel for 6/8 in comparison to something in 4/4
-continue practicing the Bass drum variations, keep pulse and time feel in mind. Isolate instruments to lock in rhythm and add the different layers as you settle in
Next week will be a xylophone week! I’ve attached the notes from last week for your convenience:
==Xylophone==
Warmups (***G Major):
–Scale, one octave, ascending and descending, saying the note names as you play them (G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G’)
–Arpeggio (G-B-D-G’-D-B-G)
–Broken thirds (G-B A-C B-D…)
Cirone Book: “Step Six” ex. 5-8
–Flashcards for note identification
Finn
Warmups (30sec each, counting aloud):
–Single Strokes
–Double Strokes
–8 on a hand
Visual Drummer: Drum Beats ex. 4-6
-finish these off this week. Great work playing through them today! Aim to play them each 4 times consecutively with no breaks.
-If there’s time, work through exercises 7-9 on the next page.
Francisco
Warmups:
-Stick control first page, exercises 1-8 (4x each, 120 bpm)
-challenge yourself to transition from line to line without breaks. Different variations of practice can include different dynamics (alternating soft to loud from line to line, playing through all exercises at a soft dynamic, crescendoing through each repetition, etc)
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
-great work on the first 3 pages!
– techniques for tackling the new groove section (3rd page, second half):
- Keep the rhythm straight at the start to get everything lined up
- Try playing through with just kick and snare — can you get it to groove without the hi-hat? Can you get everything to fit in the “pocket” on its own?
- Now, try singing the rhythm between the kick+snare; learning the rhythms in many different ways (singing, playing, clapping, listening) will help you internalize the groove.
Noah
Warmups (1min each per practice session):
-Single paradiddles 75bpm
-Double Paradiddles 75bpm
-Triple Paradiddles 75bpm
-Combo exercise: four of each paradiddle w/o breaks
-Try adding an accent on the first note of each paradiddle this week! See image attached on how the time feel shifts when moving from single to double paradiddle and keep that in mind while you’re trying the combo exercise
Paul Simon: Late in the Evening
-isolate your left and right hand as your practicing the groove (see image attached on how it’s notated)
-Practice with a metronome so you can eventually build up to your goal tempo! Start at a manageable tempo (can play through the entire groove comfortably, repeated), and gradually increase. Find your “manageable” tempo this week.
Assignments for the week of December 6
Hello!
Your lesson notes are as followed:
Eva
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- Matching exercises (reviewed our clefs and dynamics)
- Worked through how to physically play louder dynamics (using weight of arm/back muscles instead of just our fingers)
Recommended minutes to practice:
- 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week
What to practice:
- Finger number patterns (most recent version)
- 10 Second Song (for review), Driving in G clef (practicing our stacked notes/playing 2 notes at the same time with one hand), Best friends (using Right and Left hand to play 2 notes at the same time
- Spelling/composition exercises (for review/note recognition at keyboard)
- Coordination exercise: playing a fifth at the keyboard (playing C and G or any other transposition) with one hand; developing motor control using one hand to play multiple notes. Try to play 4 in a row (4 quarter notes), then switch hands
How to practice efficiently:
- Begin practice with finger number patterns on white or black keys (alternate per session for variety). Get used to playing the exercises with all fingers on the keys (proper hand positioning).
- If there’s limited time, focus on the patterns that go across the whole hand: 12345, 54321, 135, 531
- Focus primarily on note name recognition at the keyboard and hand position/fingerings (avoiding collapsed wrists, and making sure all fingers are on the keyboard and not curled into fists
- Note recognition: practice having Eva name notes on the keyboard and make sure to recall anchor points (C and F; D) while doing so. Avoid counting from the bottom of the keyboard to figure out every note, jump to different areas of the keyboard for variety
How can caregivers support practice:
- Posture/alignment: Eva sitting at the piano and hand position at the keys. Look for the Faber Primer pages from September 5th for a diagram of how to sit and play.
- Balloon with paint imagery to prevent collapsing wrists. Even though wrists are elevated, make sure that Eva isn’t creating tension in her arms/shoulders, keep an
- eye for elbow “wings” and rising shoulders. We want to avoid tension while we play
Happy practicing! See you 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
