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 – Feb 7th
Hello Efe and family!
Wishing you a good week! Here is this week’s material.
This week’s Google Drive folder: Feb 7th
Last week’s Google Drive folder: Jan 31st
This week’s Google Drive
— Acoustic Open — The piece I wrote for you to learn musical notation with.
- The PDF here is of this piece.
- Here are some pictures of the notes on a guitar, corresponding with the music staff.
- For the guitar, we use the treble clef. For this clef, remember the following acronyms: “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” for the lines, and “Face” for the spaces. They go from lower to higher. — An important thing to note is that the staff is really just 7 letters repeating themselves. A to G. So whatever letter you’re playing, the next door letters are just going up or down the alphabet by one letter. Knowing what notes you’re playing in a piece of music gets easier with time. — The pictures in this Drive folder show you the frets for each note, and where on the guitar to play them.
- Try playing through the first 4 bars of it. I’ve left out the tab on purpose. — Use the pictures to help you find out exactly what to play.
- Some help: The piece ends with a C major chord. So you’ll know that this chord’s lowest note is a middle C. From here, you can navigate letter by letter to determine what the notes on the other frets (or open strings!) are.
- The goals: learn to name what letter of note you’re playing, and where to play that note on the guitar. Don’t worry about the sharps or flats for now. I’m just getting you to learn plain old letters of the alphabet. A to G, in their various octaves.
- I’m not expecting you to be a master of this by the end of the week. But I want you to start being able to name at least some of the notes by next class. For the long term: I’m aiming for you to be able to play any named note on the guitar in the treble clef (no higher or lower notes), if you were quizzed. My goal is for you to be able to ace that type of quiz by the end of this semester.
Last week’s Google Drive
— Em pentatonic scale
- We’ve almost covered 12 frets on the fretboard. The goal is for you to reach all 12. This will give you the ability to solo more freely.
- There is a picture of the next group of frets I’m adding to your knowledge of this scale.
- Keep playing powerchords with the following: pick any note from this scale on the lowest 3 strings. Then add its fifth; remember that chess-knight movement shape I told you about a while ago.
- Play around with all of the above over this backing track. Latest Backing track
— Chord game
- The video here references Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love.”
- These are chords you know. But the hard thing about them is transitioning between them all. This video is supposed to train you in exactly that.
- The biggest help for this: Finger 1 never leaves the string. It shifts, but it never “jumps.” Unlike your other fingers; they all have to jump somewhere in order to hold down the next chord.
- Make sure to play the A chord with the fingering I showed you today. — All 3 chords in this video have their respective charts here, with the correct fingerings. Please make sure to get these fingerings right.
Lastly
— Please find your guitar pick. You’ll need it for the upcoming classes. I’d also prefer you to play the things in this week’s homework with a pick.
- If you can’t find your pick then please get some new ones.
- Get several. It’s a worthy investment.
— Listen to “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Official audio
- At least once. More is good because you’ll have it in your head more, and therefore you’ll know how it’s supposed to sound.
- Familiarize yourself with how it sounds. Especially the parts you didn’t know recognize from it today.
Remember, a lot of this is easier than it looks and sounds. Learning music, like with many things in life, is about “getting used to it.” So just keep spending time with it.
I look forward to seeing how you do for all of the above, Efe. You’ve improved significantly over these past 5 months. I’m excited to see even more progress from you :) I’ll see you in a week!
Assignments from February 7th
Hello Everyone!
I hope you’re all staying warm this week!
Euan:
For warm up this week please use a metronome when playing your C Major scale. Review the scale playing hands separately first before trying to play hands together. When playing hands together, try your best to line up each note with the click of the metronome as this dictates where the beat falls at the given tempo. Start at 60 beats per minute and slowly increase the speed from there as you get more comfortable. You can also continue to practice the G Major scale hands separately this week. Please find the melody and chords for “We Will Rock You” here. Please note that the rhythms in the melody are complicated. We will discuss these in class but for now Euan is encouraged to use the sheet music to reference the notes he is to play while using his ear to match the rhythm of the song as he knows it. When practicing “We Will Rock you” please also practice building the e minor, G Major, and D Major chords with the fifth, third, and first finger of the left hand. Remember; triads are built with an interval of a 3rd and a 5th stacked on top of your root note! I’ve provided chord figures below the melody line of We Will Rock you with the proper fingerings. The chords are as follows: e minor (E G B) G Major (G, B, D) D Major (D, F#, A). If you have any questions about the notation and sheet music we can discuss these in class next week.
Berke:
I have provided a new homework sheet for this week. It is similar to the note book from last week but focuses on Major keys with flats and their key signatures. It also asks Berke to identify and write out the key signatures for minor keys. Remember; to find the relative minor of a major key, find the 6th scale degree of that major key (C Major = a minor). Please complete this sheet and bring it back next week so we can discuss this further. When practicing the andante in g minor this week Berke can practice the A section hands together. Focus on any spot where there is a pause between notes or bars. Isolate these spots and review them on their own before adding them back into the full phrase. For the B Section, please review the left hand. Make note of any parts in the B section that are repetitive to help you learn the structure of the song. Review the right hand of the B section and ensure you are using the proper fingerings to help you navigate the contour of the line. When you feel confident navigating the left hand of the B section you can slowly try playing this hands together. We will try this in class next week.
Thank you Everyone!
Happy Practicing!
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
