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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Assignments for the week of October 17, 2024
Hello all! Here are your notes for this week:
Chris
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- Stacked notes: music can be read horizontally (one not followed by another) but it can also be read vertically (notes stacked on top of each other and played at the same time. When two or more notes are stacked on top of each other, this can be referred to as a “chord”)
- Practicing playing stacked notes/chords not only in pieces but as an exercise in itself — play around with playing a single chord (ex: C and G together) and how it feels in the hands.
- Accents and articulations: general “accent” and “staccato”
- Accent: playing a particular note with more emphasis, giving it a bolder sound than unaccented notes
- Staccato: playing a particular note by quickly bouncing off of it, this results in a pointier sound. (I imagine the keys being hot, the fingers would jump off the key instead of remaining on the note)
- Introducing the sustain pedal: notice how it changes the sound, it creates a very sustained and watery sound
- Played through pages 17-19
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week
What to practice:
- Recognizing notes on the staff (reading sheet music)
- Treble clef: notes on the spaces (FACE), notes on the lines (Every Good Bat Deserves Fruit)
- Bass clef: notes on the spaces (All Cows Eat Grass), notes on the lines (Good Bats Deserve Fruit Always)
- Recognizing notes on the keyboard
- See attached image with some suggested anchor points to work off of
- D is in the dog house (between the 2 black key pairings)
- C is right beside D, but is also the “bottom” of group of 2 black notes
- F is at the “bottom” group of 3 black notes
- See attached image with some suggested anchor points to work off of
- Practicing chords/stacked notes: play a single chord (ex: C and G together) and how it feels in the hands.
- Pages 19, 20-21
How to practice efficiently:
- Spend time at the keyboard for physical practice but also spend time mentally practicing as well. Things that can be reviewed away at the keyboard are note names on treble/bass clef, note values (quarter notes in relation to half notes, half notes in relation to whole notes), posture while seated, finger patterns on a flat surface
- Continue to question yourself as you practice; check in with your posture and hand positions — are wrists the wrists being supported? Do I feel any tension while I play?
- For pieces: Isolating right and left hand lines and trying different ways approach what you are reading (clapping, saying/singing finger numbers, saying/singing note names)
Greta
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- G major scale two octaves, right hand and left hand. Work towards playing hands together
- Practicing scales in blocks (see attach image); solidifying how the notes feel under your hands in the groups will help develop muscle memory for playing through the scale
- Solid triads, working on playing hands together and not having the notes “flam”
- Thinking of playing with the bigger muscle groups (arms and back) will help give power and support to the chords.
- Left hand for amber moon
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days a week
What to practice:
- G major scale, 2 octaves, hands together
- G major triads, 2 octaves, hands together
- D minor Natural scale 2 octaves, hands together
- If you’re feeling extra bold, you can try playing through the minor Harmonic scale (raised 7th, C# in this case)
- Practice playing through the left hand of Amber Moon in time (counting all the beats in each measure), begin learning and adding in the right hand melody
How to practice efficiently:
- Integrating “blocked” practice; this will help us with hand positioning and reading lines by shape rather than just playing finger by finger. This applies to both scale and triad practice
- Going off the previous note: understanding how we play piano with our arms and not just our fingers (similar to how we walk with our legs and not just our toes). Thinking and playing with these larger muscle groups can help us play more solidly and with confidence (recall how playing triads with more power helped with the note “flamming”)
- Listen through Amber Moon. A recording can help establish the melody/harmony in your ear — but be mindful not to directly imitate the recording, use it as a tool that can help you with phrasing ideas, tempo, and rhythm.
Amber Moon URL: https://youtu.be/CPn7mXHqASw?si=nkHA5JLjAiE6l8VJ
- If link does not work, you can copy and paste it into a browser
Happy practicing, everyone!
Assignments for the Week of October 16th, 2024
Sara
Listening
- Rebecca Clarke’s “The Seal Man” (for piano and voice)
- Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata, first movement (for piano and viola)
Technical Exercises – Continue with E Major
- Scales, triads (solid HS and HT, broken only HS),
- Arpeggios (only HS – thinking of blocked hand positions moving from the arm horizontally/sideways instead of crossing fingers under)
Schubert – continuing slow hands separate practice for the most part – be patient with yourself! We aren’t aiming for speed at this point, just to get things comfortable and settled in your brain/hands. Speed will come with time.
- Thinking of bouncing between hand positions from your arm, instead of trying to make everything legato in the fingers!
- Focusing on LH jumps so that you are building them into your memory, this will allow you to focus more on your RH while playing.
- For RH: making use of your arm to help with awkward hand position changes like in measures 7-8 and 9-10.
Sonatina in F – Finding entire hand positions and mentally grouping things up, like in measures 25-43 in the RH (thinking of 3 big hand positions, instead of each individual note)
- Thinking about the “conversation” in this piece to help with remembering rests (like in measures 43-50), always leading to beat 1 of the next measure.
Bartok – Continuing with #25-28
Clara
Technical Exercises – Continue practicing 5 finger major scale positions starting on C, G, and D (watching out for F# finger 3 in D position) – practicing hands separately and together; trying legato, detached, and staccato articulation.
Lesson Book – pages 47-49, 50-51 if time. Focusing on reading steps around the home notes (Middle C, Treble G, Bass F).
Hakim
Celebration – starting new piece, watching for changing hand positions and making sure you are confident on note names!
Distant Chimes – Continuing to work through, map out hand position changes as solid chords in the same way as celebration.
- Writing in note names for starting hand positions if you need to
Bartok – Work through exercises 1, 2a, 2b, and 3
- Make sure you are 100% confident in your starting notes, then try reading through based on the shape of the line/whether we are stepping up or down – don’t worry about individual note names yet.
- Once comfortable playing through, practicing while saying note names out loud, trying not to slow down at all.
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
