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!
Hobbies:
Musical influences:
Favourite food:
Least favourite food:
Favourite music:
Favourite album:
Favourite movie:
Favourite musical theatre/opera:
Best quote from your teacher:
Favourite quote:
Favourite book:
Latest Homework from Gergely
Is Gergely Your Teacher?
Sign up now to get your weekly assignments delivered, and never lose your homework sheet again!
Homework for April 23-30
Great work today everybody! I enjoyed teaching you. Here is this week’s homework:
Georgia
Recommended mins to practice: 15-20 min per day
What to practice: Minuet/Trio
How to practice: Slow, hands separate until you’re very comfortable, then try hands together. Pay attention to the 3/4 timing. Continue to count out loud like you did in the lesson, it will help. You improved drastically from the beginning of the lesson to the end.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide her with rhythm. Give positive encouragement.
Noreet
Recommended mins to practice: 15-20 min per day
What to practice: The Daydream, kitchki
How to practice:
The Daydream- use piano dynamics as written when playing the major version. Practice the minor version more so that you are prepared to play it without stumbling, since you don’t have music to look at for that part.
Kitchki- play the chromatic scale the same speed as you play the chords, even if that means you have to slow down the chromatic scale to accommodate the chords.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide as needed.
Clara
Recommended mins to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Pink Panther, Ukrainian Folk Song
How to practice:
Pink Panther- play more with dynamics. Start quiet and then play loud at the climax.
Ukrainian song- review the two spots we discussed in line 2. Practice lines 3 and 4 hands separate, then once very comfortable try hands together.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide as needed.
Andrew
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-30 minutes a day
What to practice: On My Own, breathing exercises
How to practice:
To warm up, inhale for 4 and exhale for 4, then inhale for 4, hold for 4, and exhale for 4, and finally inhale for 4, hold for 4, and exhale for 8. Place your hand on your diaphragm to feel it rising and falling.
On My Own (this can also be applied to any song or technique), practice opening your throat, lifting the soft palate, and relaxing facial muscles. This will help ease the tension when hitting high notes and overall healthier singing. With any song, it takes practice to get used to the amount of energy you need to get through the whole piece. Pace yourself; follow the emotional arc of the song and save singing at full volume for the moments you really need to.
Homework for April 22-29
Nova
Rec min to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: Ode to Joy for concert
How to practice:
Song structure:
Theme x2
Bridge
Theme x2
Bridge
Final Theme
Continue with the dynamic buildup. For the beginning, play the softest you can without losing sound quality. By the second theme, it should already be in the moderate loud range. Make the final theme a 10/10 on a scale from soft to loud, so that it’s epic. Practice the final chord.
Eighth notes in Bridge: Practice with funky rhythms both ways a few times and then do it normally. Round fingers will make for greater control.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide as needed. Specifically give feedback on gradual buildup of dynamics (soft to loud) in Ode to Joy.
Maya
Rec min to practice: 10-15 min per day
What to practice: C-D-E
How to practice: Remember that notes with white heads have two beats. Count out loud while practicing, and use a metronome to make sure you are playing the correct rhythm.
How parents can support practice: Make sure she uses the metronome, and help her with rhythm, especially when it comes to fixing the half notes. Make sure she understands the difference between half notes and quarter notes.
See you next week:)
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
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
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
