M.Mus (U of T)
B.Mus (Oberlin)
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 23rd
Josh
After briefly taking a break from Wonderwall, we went back to it this week. However it seems like Josh didn’t practise it at all and has completely forgotten the pattern. By the end of the class he was able to pick it back up. I talked to him about the importance of even just practising a short 5 minutes everyday, as that goes a long way, even just for remembering what we worked on in lesson.
Aleksander
We worked on playing Bring Me to Life with the track. Overall he did very well observing the guitar riff and playing with it, and the half time section at bar 46 is the part that he found challenging. We will try to play page 2 with the track next week.
Francisco
We worked on The Trooper and talked about the kind of exercise he should do to get himself up to speed. The tip here is to use the pinky finger to tap the stick back when playing fast 16th notes as well as triplets. Try to work till bar 24 for this week.
Finn
We worked through Clocks today in preparation for the recital. We did several play through, and talked about performance etiquette and the mental preparation before starting and not to try to rush to the end when close to it. The song is in a ABA structure, meaning it returns to the beginning theme at the end. I told him when the beginning theme returns, he should treat it like the beginning, and mentally prepare himself the same way. Try doing some performance simulation at home this week in preparation for the performance.
Mateo
Mateo has been making great progress with Labios Compartidos and this week we ended the class with a play through of first two pages. He made great progress this past week tackling those tricky bars and getting in and out of it. My goal for him this week is to finish the last page and we will move on to a new song next week.
Koel
We briefly tried out Superstition this week because Koel told me he won’t have too much time to practise these coming weeks due to exams. I gave the song to him hoping to challenge him to read some rather unconventional rhythm pattern, while also adapting the swung 16th feel. I would like for him to try reading those patterns whenever he has time these coming weeks.
Efe — Apr 25th
Hi Efe,
It was a productive class today.
Having talked about exploring the realms of guitar music out there, here are the bands and musical styles I recommend that you check out. These are the ones we looked at today that you liked more.
Led Zeppelin
- Classic Hard Rock.
- Guitarist Jimmy Page. A rock icon. Influenced numerous guitarists.
- Endless soloing. Countless riffs made.
- Emotive playing.
- A vast discography of rock music to listen to.
AC/DC
- Hard Rock.
- Angus Young. Famous player with iconic riffs and solos.
- Countless songs. A forebear of undying rock ’n’ roll spirit; to this day, they carry the torch of rock ’n’ roll.
Zakk Wylde
- Warning: the material covered in his music is often grim and/or quite dark.
- Groove Metal.
- You liked his style of riffing.
Deep Purple
- Progressive Rock.
- Some on the Water.
- Cool scales and some emotive playing.
Ben Higgins’s channel
- Here’s the guy whose material we were looking at today. His YouTube channel: Link.
- He specializes in getting faster on the instrument and in improving technique. — I don’t recommend you buying the subscription on his website.
- A video put together and played by him that inspired me: Link.
Remember my warning regarding rock ‘n’ roll music out there: a lot of it can be quite dark and/or inappropriate. But I know you’re a 13 year old guy, and I trust you to discern and make good judgements on what you come across online.
There won’t be a lesson next week. Because of the recital. The recital starts at 1pm and it’s at the school’s Oakwood location. I recommend you guys get there a bit early so as to ensure you’ll all get seats in the audience. I’ll see you there 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
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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
