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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Saturday, April 11th
Jack
We have been warming up with Visual Drumset Method, and continue working on Seven Nation Army. By the end of class, Jack was able to play the Interlude phrase. Next step for him, is to play the verse pattern at a certain amount of repeats, and transition into Interlude and eventually play that whole section with the music.
Adam
We worked on several things today. We worked through some stick control page 5, and I have assigned page 10 to him for this coming week. Moving on from just eighth notes, this is to train dexterity and rhythmic sense around 16th notes. Practise in repetition with metronome, and pay attention to which hand you land on after the 16th notes. Then we chose our next song, which is RHCP’s Under the Bridge. I would first like him to work on the rimshot. Keep the back end of the stick always on the drum, and aim for always one sound, slightly muffled. Let’s aim to get the first two lines down. Attaching the link to the drive again in case you have trouble finding the music.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XSqHcZP_SxYA0G4XB7aF2ZJOf4uSYwAn?usp=drive_link
Nicolas and Santino
The brothers worked on Uptown Funk together. Santino on drums, Nicolas on mallet. I taught them how to play the intro and the pre chorus and had them play it together. This is to train ensemble playing while building knowledge of basic rock patterns for Santino. We will try to link more sections together next class.
Thursday, April 9th
Josh
We continue working on Wonderwall today. Our goal for next week is to play through the first eight bars until the first fill. Note that this first phrase doesn’t follow the standard eight bar phrase, apparently because the drummer who initially played with the band forgot to come in at the right time, and the brothers liked it and kept it in the final version. Apply the same principle of practising small chunks and expand.
Aleksander
Bring Me to Life is coming together nicely. My goal for Aleksander this week is to play through first page with the goal of playing with the music. The section after bar 38 will make more sense if practised with the recording. There are drastic energy shift from time to time, and the drumming should match that, especially when it contours the guitar riff.
Zico
Zico did a great job playing through Sir Duke at almost performance level and I would like for him to eventually make a video recording of it. We then picked The Trooper by Iron Maiden as the next song. For this song, it requires a lot more tom then a regular set will have, so I have asked Zico to try to group the toms up and place them on the three toms. That is my main goal for him this week and also read as much as he could since we are starting it new.
Noah
We continued working on Smooth Criminal. We are working through these pretty slow compared to the concert speed, and Noah is now able to play things at around 85 bpm. Stay at that tempo while we work through these material. My goal for Noah this week is the pre chorus section. The biggest challenge will be the coordination between bass drum and pedal hi-hat. Get that under your belt before adding other things in.
Finn
We are working on the first page of handout for Otherside. I have bracked the few bars that require the most attention. My goal for Finn this week is to get a good buzz sound and have it sound somewhat similar to the half open hi-hat. By doing that, we get the cohesiveness between bars when the groove is being repeated. Our goal next week is to play through some sections of the song with the music.
Mateo
Huge progress with the song Labios Compartidos this class. We are seeing major improvement with not being tunnel visioned on a certain passage as well as relaxation in general. For this week, I would like Mateo to focus on page two of the song. Some of the tricky bars to note are bar 57 and 53. Note that in this part of the song, things are developing similar to the beginning, but as we reach chorus again, it is twice the length and has same slight change in the groove.
Koel
We continued working on the samba section of Fools in the Rain. Koel is slightly struggling with placing the accents, and I have posted an accent exercise for him to work on before going into the material. Master the part played on sticks before adding in the pedalled hi-hat and bass drum. Also reminding him to bring his class mallet material next class so we can take a look at it together.
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
