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 for week of November 21, 2024
Hello all! Your lesson notes are as follows:
Eva
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- We have started learning how to read sheet music!! Congratulations!! Here are some things that we learned for reading music:
- Treble clef (all notes above middle C); the center of the swirl lines up with G
- Bass clef (all notes below middle C); the center of the swirl lines up with F
- We focused on middle C, G above middle C, and F below middle C (see attached image)
Recommended minutes to practice:
- 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week
What to practice:
- New finger number patterns! Try one hand at a time; remember hand posture! Do not pop the paint balloons while playing the piano
- 10 Second Song, Driving in the G clef
- Spelling/Composition exercise; See if you can play the words (see image attached) on the keyboard. Can you make any other words?
How to practice efficiently:
- If there’s limited time, there are still ways to practice even if Eva can’t get to a keyboard. This can include:
- Rhythm singback: Caregiver singing out a rhythm (tah tah tee-tee tah) and child can clap back or even sing back
- Review note names (what’s the note that matches with the treble clef swirl? G! Similar for bass clef)
- If there’s limited time, and you are able to get to a keyboard, here are some broad concepts to focus on
- Note recognition / note finding: How quickly can you locate ___ note on the piano? Can you tell me what this note is on the piano?
- Alignment (or posture) while sitting at the piano and handshape while playing through finger exercises.
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 should always feel relaxed while we play.
Chris
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- Bartok sight reading
- Minuet
- Scale and chords with different articulations
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week
What to practice:
- Bartok sight reading: Play through 1-2 exercises at the start of your practice using the methods we spoke about during lessons (parallel or contrary motion? Are notes moving by steps or are there any leaps? Do we see repetitions of patterns throughout the exercise?)
- Russian Sailor Dance, Midnight Ride
- 5 note scales with chords in C position and G position. See scale articulation image for different articulations you can practice
How to practice efficiently:
- If we’re noticing a lot of resistance with our non-dominant hand while playing, try leading some of your practice starting with your left hand (ex: if you’re sitting down to do scales, start with a left hand scale. Or if you’re learning a new piece, start by reading just the left hand).
- If you have limited time, try focusing on broad ideas while practicing. (Ex: if there’s not to work on every single detail, try practicing a piece with some simplified ideas; if you can’t work on articulation, dynamics, hand shape, and notes during the time you have, choose one of those areas to work with. Then at the next practice session, focus on that previous area and combine it with another.
Greta
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- Bartok sight reading
- First page amber moon
- Downloaded metronome, see notes from previous weeks on how to use metronome
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days a week
What to practice:
- Scales with metronome
- G major, 80 bpm, hands together, 2 octaves
- 1st page of amber moon (or first 16 measures), played with solid time and no stops.
- Continue working on it bar by bar and stringing it together,
How to practice efficiently:
- If there’s only time to practice technique, practice it in varied ways (almost as if you were practicing a piece of repertoire):
- Play technique at different dynamics: piano (softly), forte (loudly), crescendo going up the scale, diminuendo on the way down
- Play with different articulation: staccato, accented
- Play with different rhythms: swing, dotted, triplets
- As you’re piecing your measures together, make sure to work in sections. Practice the individual measures, then work on playing through 4 measures without stopping. Continue to work through the next 4 and then try playing through all 8 measures without stopping and so on. Keep an eye out for note accuracy to the sheet music before memorizing how it feels under the hands.
Happy practicing!
Assignments for the Week of November 20th, 2024
Hakim
Technical Exercises – Continuing work on C Major 1 octave scale
Adding in G Major 1 octave scale this week – continuing to practice as solid blocked chords and then stepping through. Using the same fingerings for G Major as C Major (groups of 3 and 5 fingers) Scale Fingerings – Hakim Nov 20
Bartok – Working through exercises #4-7
- Starting hands separately, observing the shape of the line as you step through (not worrying about note names at first, just watching for steps up and down the staff)
- Once comfortable hands separately, put hands together – practicing stepping through while keeping an even tempo/speed.
Celebration – Cleaning up and making sure you are able to keep energy going throughout the entire piece!
- Watching out for places like measure 4 to 5, making sure you are able to jump back into our starting position without hesitating.
- Making sure we keep the same bouncy and short staccato articulation measures 1-3 in both hands! Don’t let your right hand hold onto notes, keeping everything nice and short.
Clara
Technical Exercises – Continuing to slowly practice C Major 1 octave scale hands separately, playing as solid blocked chords of fingerings (groups of 3 and 5), and stepping through.
Lesson Book – Continuing to work through pages 59-62 hands together.
Bartok – Starting new set of reading exercises, working through exercises #1 and #2a (focusing on C 5 finger positions in both)
- Read through one hand’s line of music without playing – looking at the direction we are stepping, notice when we step away and return to the same note!
- Find starting notes, then playing slowly hands separately on the keyboard watching for steps up/down (we only move by steps in these first few exercises)
- Moving on to say note names out loud while playing hands separately.
- Once fully comfortable hands separate, adding hands together and practicing while saying note names.
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
