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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Thursday, April 16th
Josh
We worked on a beat to play with his sister for the song Baby Bear. The rhythm that I would like Josh to pair it with, is the Carol of the Bells rhythm, with bass drum and hi-hat played on left and right foot. I have come up with a small fill for Josh to end it with, however he needs to workout how to cue his sister for the end of the song.
Aleksander
Aleksander has been making good progress playing Bring Me to Life. However I would just like him to isolate troubling bars more often in practise rather than playing through phrases. We will look to play through the whole song with music next week.
Finn
We worked on Otherside this week. We have now notated how many times each bars are being repeated and how one transition to the next. One thing that I am noticing is that Finn is moving his hands away after playing a buzz roll on the drum. Remind him to stay in place after doing a buzz, so that he can play those bars on repeat. We will look to go from verse into chorus next class. Also since he is looking to play Clocks for recital, I will like to give it a listen next class.
Mateo
Mateo has been making major progress on Labios Compartidos particularly on page 2. We played with the music today for this page, and I would like to remind Mateo to not try to start quarter note sections too fast, as that will give him a hard time when he has to play 16th note fills. Again, focus down bars that are giving you trouble and be clinical with how you approach practising. Give page 3 a read and we will look to complete the song soon.
Koel
We talked a lot about his band class experience and I shared with him a lot about the proper ways to play orchestral instruments. I have also notated sticking for his band class assignment for him to practise it with. When approaching mallet rolls, think of it as playing fast 32nd notes, but play odd numbers of repetition (3,5,7 etc.) We will go back to working on Fool in the Rain next week.
Efe — April 18th
Hi Efe!
I know this week will be super busy for you, so I’m making this practice plan super specific. So that you don’t waste time practicing anything you don’t need for now. Remember, our priority is for you to play at the recital. It’s only 2 weeks away, so that’s all we’re gonna be working on for now.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Google Drive Apr 18th. The newest video is in this Google Drive link. This is the only video you need for this week.
— For all the parts you would be playing alongside the video to practice, slow the video down to 0.5x speed. — Remember, 168BPM might not be what you’ll actually play it at on the day of. I just want you playing it comfortably.
- 84BPM is what I want you practicing this piece at, if you don’t have access to this video.
— At about 15 minutes in, the sound quality of this video is awful. It only gets worse from there. I didn’t have time to fix the issue. So I have run down what is covered when in the video. Seeing it with the information below should help you navigate the video and practice with it.
— The rundown:
- Specific exercises are detailed in the first 15 minutes. There are no major sound quality issues in this excerpt of the video. — Most of these involve playing pairs of bars individually; so two bars at a time, and with a bar of rest right after. Keep repeating this. Each exercise consists of repetitions of the given bars with a bar of rest right after. — Do this for all the pairs of bars that are highlighted in this video.
- 15:15 — The “another ending” part of Riff 2 described. All down-strummed. This part’s about remembering to count for yourself where you are in the music. — In this case: count 16 quarter notes of the B5 chord.
- 16:05 — The updated Riff 3. Powerchords, now. Instead of the single notes I was gonna get you to play. All down-strummed. — For where you see the powerchord with frets 2 & 4: As described, do fret 0 on the low E string and fret 2 on the A string. Fret 2 being held with finger 1.
- 16:45 — Powerchord with frets 3 & 5 instead of frets 5 & 7. The C5 chord on the A & D strings.
- 16:55 — More powerchords with the same idea; practice it two frets down from what the video shows.
- 17:10 — A fairly hard transition. It’s a pretty big jump with fingers 1 and 4.
- 17:35 — 17:10’s pair of bars to practice.
- 18:20 — The frets 3 & 3 unusual powerchord. (Frets 1 & 1 for this week.) Use finger 1 on the A string and finger 2 on the D string. Just these 2 strings. Remember: A challenge with the powerchords will be to hit only the 2 (or 3) strings that are in them.
- 19:55 — Riff 3 w different ending — All down-strummed.
- 20:15 — The very ending. — This is played twice as fast as its preceding powerchords. — Same practice plan: do that bar, do a bar of rest. Repeatedly.
- 21:48 — Me giving some closing remarks that you won’t be able to hear, haha.
— The PDF of this song is also in that G Drive. I recommend that you print it out and work with it, too.
— I am pushing you to do a little bit each day. These goals are made so that they’re all realistic for you to be able to achieve in a maximum of 2 weeks’ time.
You’ve got this, Efe. I’ve seen that you know what to do. Now you must push on to be better for next week! I’ll see you then!
Efe – October 18th
Hi Efe and family! Below is the homework for this week. The lower section covers the piece we went over in class today. The higher section describes some important practicing principles that go for all of the work we’ll be doing going forward, as well as a great amount of the music practice you will do later in your life.
Principles to be mindful of
- 30 minutes a day is a great amount. I’m very pleased to hear that this is what you often do, Efe. If it isn’t possible for one week here or there, it’s okay. It happens. But in those cases, I would like you to still try and practice for at least 5 minutes everyday. As we discussed, it is better to do 5 minutes of practice everyday leading up to our lesson than to do only one day for a much longer time.
- For the harder parts of any piece I give you, make sure you practice those separately. Spend time only on those bars, if that’s all you have time for in one day. Then once they’re comfortable (that is, without any mistakes and you know exactly what you’re doing), you may attempt to play them as part of the whole song played from start to finish. So: this week, start by working on those hard parts that I circled in Ode to Joy.
Ode to Joy – Page 10, song number 17
- Be mindful of the picking directions. I’m strict with this, because it is an important technique that I want you to start learning. It’s called alternate picking. I circled the hard parts in the Guitar Method 1 book. Like I said, practice these separately.
- Economy picking is also an important technique on the guitar. This is the technique wherein we don’t just pick up and down, but rather we also include two consecutive down picks or two consecutive up picks as we play. We will look at this more in later lessons, but for now, it is important that you start to get into the habit of alternate picking. Hence, I’m giving you pieces that require only this picking technique for now.
- Go no faster than 57bpm. For everything in this piece. One quarter note per beat.
I can see that you’re absorbing the concepts I’ve been teaching in class. I’m pleased to see it and I’m proud of you, Efe. I know you’ll be busy, but like I said: if the 30 minute practice goal is not realistic, then please just do a minimum of 5 minutes a day.
Thank you! See you in a week!
Efe October 11th
Hi Efe and family!
Here is the rundown of today’s material from class.
Efe has done well with maintaining proper posture on the guitar. Keep it up!
Buy this book
Homework
- Page 10 of the above book.
— Songs 17 & 18. These two pieces have all the single notes that we have covered in our lessons so far.
— Practice them at a maximum speed of 65BPM. 1 quarter note per beat. Alternate pick both pieces (down-up-down-up). The only time you down pick two consecutive notes is when you see the half notes at every fourth bar of the Blues piece.
— Outside picking — Song 17 Bar 3, 7, 10, 11, 15-16 and Song 18 Bar 1, 3, 5, 7, 11.
Hard transitions. Pay close attention in these bars. Here, we see examples of what is called outside picking. We discussed this in class. You pick down on the lower pitch string, and up on the higher pitch string. This is hard, because it is a bigger jump to play the higher pitch string with this odd way of picking, rather than inside picking. (Inside picking is when the pick doesn’t leave the area between two strings.) This feels odd right now, because it is a new movement. I want Efe to get used to this type of picking, as well. The reason you must play it like this because you must maintain the alternate picking technique described above.
— Commit to practicing these pieces for 30 minutes a day.
- Chords. Practice all the chords we have covered so far. Both standing and sitting.
— No specific tempo is required for this.
— Continue to be mindful of the posture of the body (including the hands and the arms).
— I want Efe to get used to the shapes of the chords we’re covering. They will soon be ingrained ins muscle memory if he sticks to it.
— Commit to playing this for 15 minutes a day.
Additionally
— I understand if a full 45 minutes of practice is not possible everyday. Do as much as possible. Mainly on the single note pieces.
See you in a week, 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
