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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Lesson work for the week of November 7th
Hello Everyone!
It was so lovely to meet you yesterday! We had great first lessons all around.
Vida:
Vida has a good base line knowledge of music from her previous lessons and from school. She is very eager to try replicating the concepts or demonstrations from the lesson.
When practicing at home, please help Vida and ensure she starts her C Major scale and “Twinkle Twinkle” on the correct starting pitch.
We also learned how to play the full C major scale with only one hand! Vida should continue to practice “crossing” her third finger over her thumb when ascending in the scale and “crossing” her third finger under her thumb to come back down to her starting C pitch.
Noreet:
Noreet has great hand positioning and fingerings on the piano! She should continue to practice with the exercise Shelly taught her for warm up. She could also add the C Major scale into the warm up as well. We will review scales next week.
We practiced “A Minuet for Mr. Bach”. She is encouraged to continue with “A Minuet for Mr. Bach” and to try the phrase in the 3rd measure for next week. I’ve also sent home a sheet of fill in the blanks to help Noreet identify the notes on the page faster.
We also did some singing today! We focused on singing some scales. We also discussed breathing from our diaphragm, or breathing into our tummy, to help us take deep breaths. Noreet is encouraged to sing standing up at home and to try breathing from her diaphragm when singing.
Thank you everyone for a great first day of lessons!
See you all next week for more music making!
-Emma
Assignments for the Week of October 6, 2024
Clara
Technical Exercises – 5 finger major scale patterns starting on C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, and C# 5 finger scale patterns – Oct 6 Clara
- Finding our hand position based on our pattern of half steps and whole steps
- Stepping up and down each scale pattern, saying all note names – practicing hands separately until comfortable before trying hands together.
Lesson Book – pages 54, 55, 57, and 58 Scans for Clara – Oct 6
- Working on cementing/memorizing home notes on the staff (Bass C, Bass F, Middle C, Treble G), watching out for steps vs. skips around these notes.
- Starting to memorize other notes on the staff (focusing on space notes – Treble clef “FACE in the space”, Bass clef “All Cows Eat Grass”)
Hakim
Technical Exercises – Being prepared to find and play 5 finger major scale patterns (hands separately and together) starting on C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, and C#.
Bartok – Exercises #1-6, double checking and writing down all starting notes – being prepared to play each exercise hands together. Bartok Mikrokosmos Book 1 1-19
Celebration – Making sure you know the “road map” of this piece start to finish for next week! Making sure we aren’t repeating our beginning idea longer than is noted (4 measure groups – 3 measures of our pattern, then 1 measure of our upward sweep idea)
- Watching out for hand position changes at measures 9-12 – using left hand finger 4 to shift to the next hand position as discussed.
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
