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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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!
Homework for April 15-22
Maya
Great work today Maya!! Here is this week’s homework:
Recommended min to practice: 10-15 per day
What to practice: C-D-E, Rainbow, Baby Bear (spend more time on C-D-E because you are playing that for the the recital)
How to practice:
C-D-E- focus on rhythm. Know when you are playing quarter notes and when you are playing half notes. Practice with the metronome, and follow the clicks exactly, do not rush or lag behind.
Baby Bear- line 3 remember the pattern -C-D-E going up, then C, then E-D-C going down.
How parents can support practice- listen and guide. Help with preparation of the recital. Supervise her progress in the rhythm of C-D-E, making sure she practices correctly and uses the metronome.
See you next week :)
Efe homework – Sep 27th
Hello Efe and family! Wishing you guys a great weekend!
Below is the rundown of material to work on from today’s lesson. Aim to do this practice routine once a day leading up to our next lesson.
- Practice everything with a metronome.
Tempos are listed for each item.
- Please get the Guitar Method 1 book this week. The Amazon link is attached. There is homework from it. Aside from this, the videos of the scales we covered today are accessible in the homework of last week.
- Play the guitar both standing and sitting. Try playing all the chords we’ve covered so far, both while seated and while standing. – 10 minutes.
Make sure you’re always wearing a guitar strap. This will ensure that your posture on the instrument is good regardless of whether you’re standing or sitting.
- C Major scale – 10 minutes. 45 BPM.
This is a classical scale. Its fingerings were found out by Andrés Segovia. He found that these were the most efficient possible fingerings for the major and minor scales on the classical guitar. Playing this scale and anything else from classical music calls on the most efficient and strict posture on the whole body of the guitarist. This means that the guitar head must be held so high that the instrument looks almost like a cello. As well, your thumb must be behind the guitar neck so that no one from in front of you can see it. So whether standing or sitting, make sure that the guitar is positioned in such a way that the wrists are straight. Remember, the adjusting the strap properly will help. Playing this scale in any other way will result in injury of the guitarist’s hands or body.
- A minor pentatonic scale – 10 minutes. 45 BPM.
This scale is used in the genres rock, pop, folk, country, heavy metal, and more. For these genres, it is not quite as strict how the guitar must be held. However, the rule I will enforce is that you play with the guitar head pushed forward, away from your body. Remember, twisting the wrist slightly will help you get the right position. Also: having the thumb on top of the guitar neck (as opposed to the classical hand position) is a good thing to help you maintain a suitable posture for this scale.
- Practice pieces 2 and 3 from page 6 of the Guitar Method 1 book. Then try playing as much as you want of anything from page 7. – 15 minutes. 60 BPM.
While they might be good beginner pieces, the challenge here will be to make sure you’re playing right on the beat of the metronome. I noticed that playing things exactly on the beat was more of a struggle today.
Thank you for your work this past week, Efe. Keep it up! You’ve got this! I’ll see you in a week!
Efe: Homework for the Week of September 13th-19th
- find the guitar strap and always practice and play the guitar with it on. (If it’s lost, then please get a new one.)
- get a capo.
- find the notebook for class for next week.
- if you don’t already have these, then please buy the following books and bring them to class. These are the Amazon links for them.
Elementary Music Theory Book 1
RCM Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 1
- only practice with a guitar pick (for now). Bring a guitar pick to class next week.
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
