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!
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!
Tuesday, June 6th
NOVA
JOSH
OZZIE
LEO
THEA & RACHEL
TRACIE
Assignments for the Week of June 1-7
Hi everyone,
Here are your assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice playing along with the backing track for Autumn Leaves and listen to a few different recordings of the song this week.
How to practice it most effectively: Remember to listen very closely to the “head” of this song—this is the melody that plays at the very beginning of the song before the first solo section. Try to memorize the melody so that you can hear it in your head even when the backing track isn’t playing. This will help you to learn how to phrase the rhythms that you play to accompany this song. Also, when listening to other recordings of the song, listen for what other drummers do to support the melody and the soloists.
Autumn Leaves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgyiqvrZeiw
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Review all the sections of Watermelon Man and also practice the first four beats from this new page: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10YGpSqgr9Z2SExyhXz7k1evG3C0t2VEc?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Focus this week on playing all the way through the three sections of Watermelon Man without stopping. Even if you make a mistake, it’s important that you can keep going and maintain the groove. Next week we will try playing it along with the recording to see if you can get through all three sections. We will also visit the open-hi-hat beats and work on learning a few new ones.
Jared
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the first page of “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JX6UYuVpfhBjfawAizC8uiaZhTAKinrs?usp=sharing
How to practice it most effectively: Don’t worry about speed yet! Just focus on getting the correct rhythms and coordination at a slow speed. The Chorus section at the bottom of the page is especially tricky because the bass drum rhythm changes on almost every bar. First work on playing each bar individually, then practice playing them together.
Jude
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice playing the three crash cymbal exercises and work on incorporating the crash cymbal into each of your drum fills.
How to practice it most effectively: With the crash cymbal exercises, focus on the movement of your right hand between the crash and the hi-hat. Make sure that you’re keeping a steady pulse and not speeding up or slowing down as you move to and from the crash. When practicing your fills, remember that you should hit the crash on “1” of the beat right after the fill. This means you should practice playing the beat first, then the fill, then hit the crash and go back into the beat.
Noah
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice all the way through sections 1 and 2 of Watermelon Man and into the main beat from section 3.
How to practice it most effectively: We’re almost done with this song. It is going very well! Just make sure that you can get through the first two sections of the song without stopping, even if that means you have to practice it a little bit slowly. Once you can get all the way through it at a slow speed, then it will be possible for you to do it faster. Next week we will finish up section 3 and practice playing all the way through with the recording.
Koel
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Practice the Intro and Chorus beat from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.
How to practice it most effectively: In the Intro, focus on keeping the rhythm really steady between the bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat. Eventually you need to be able to play this quite quickly, so see how fast you can play it this week without sacrificing the accuracy of the rhythm. For the Chorus beat, focus on the coordination between the bass drum and snare drum. Be sure you know which notes should be played together with the hi-hat and which ones should be played between the hi-hat notes. Practice it as slowly as you need to.
Caroline
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Finish practicing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” this week.
How to practice it most effectively: Pay close attention to the transitions as you practice this song. The drum fills, the build ups, and the changes from hi-hat to ride are the trickiest parts of the song. Make sure that you can make each of these transitions smoothly and consistently. If there are some transitions that are giving you trouble, practice playing just those spots a few times in a row until you’re confident you can do it correctly.
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
