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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Homework for February 4-11
Great work today students! Here’s this week’s homework:
Nova
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Juggler, Ode to Joy, C and G scales, Ruler of My Heart
How to practice:
Juggler- review
Ode to Joy- Great dynamic buildup! Watch rhythms, make sure they are steady
Scales- Good work, especially C in right hand! Remember to alternate transitions between fingers 3 and 4. Keep fingers round, but do not exaggerate them. When comfortable, increase the speed.
Ruler- Will send score. Practice chord transitions hands separate, slowly. Review the notes. Modify as needed. We are taking out the E in the left hand GDE octave chord.
How parents can support: Listen and guide as needed.
Maya
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes per day
What to practice: C-D-E, C-B-A, Marching
How to practice:
CDE, CBA- Ta notes (one beat) and too notes (two beats). A too is the length of two tas. Practice these songs with a metronome to get exact rhythms. Start with a tempo of 69 and when comfortable, gradually move up to 80.
Marching- Pay attention to notes and rhythms. Practice with a metronome at a tempo 69-80. No stopping between when right hand plays and when left hand plays; it should be a smooth transition.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide, help her with rhythm and using the metronome.
See you next week :)
Thursday, January 29th
Josh
We continued working on Numb today. The 16th note bass drum note in bar 2 is what tricks Josh the most. I encourage him to continue zooming in to smaller chunks, practising the coordination slow, before trying to play the full bar. Look forward to introduce more grooves from the tune to him in coming lesson.
Aleksander
We started When I Come Around today. Aleksander was fast to pick up the song today and we even had a chance to play it with the song today at roughly 60% speed. We read through until the end of first page. I told Alex the best tip for how to phrase the groove is listening to the guitar riff here. Play the two bar grouping and phrase towards the first beat of every second bar. Try to work till bar 26 by next class.
Zico
We continued on Fly as Me. Zico is now playing the groove way smoother and better. Watch out for the fill at 19, again practise the coordination slow before you try to play at a faster speed. We have now moved on to the Bridge section. Try to get a grasp of the groove by taking out the hi-hat right now. Aim to phrase the bar, rather than a groove that goes beat to beat. Then add in the hihat to practise the coordination.
Noah
We started with a play through this class. The 32nd note lick at first still posed as a challenge, but was made possible when I talked to Noah about how to use relaxation as a tool to play something fast like that. Eventually he was able to play it at speed. Very good work. However I would like to do more technique work with Noah starting next week, making sure while being able to do flashy things, we are doing it efficiently with good technique. Will start a new song next week.
Finn
We continued with DARE this class, and Finn is pretty much mastering the main groove now. I introduced a new groove from the song to Finn which is written on the handout. Give that some practise this week and we will start a new song next week. Perhaps we can try a song from the new Gorillaz album?
Mateo
We revisited Your Love and Mateo did a good job doing a play through despite having not played it in a long time. I will just say, rather than just read through the score, recognise patterns in the song, how many times each pattern is being repeated, and how the song is made up by sections, so you are not lost. We began playing some grooves from Labios Compartidos. I notated a two bar groove for Mateo to work through this week. If it ever gets confusing, strip out the hihat and just learn the drums first.
Henry
We went on with working on the Enter Sandman intro beat. We spent a good amout of time working out the coordination to include the bass drum into the beat. Keep practising that and we will introduce variations to that pattern next class, and try play a chunk of the song with the music.
Jared
We continued working on Master of Puppets. We worked through old material and although Jared was able to play the patterns, I would like to see it practised more so we can drive up the speed soon. We also visited the 4/4 to 3/4 gear shift, much better sense now. We went into pre chorus as well as the chorus today, and this is a section where I would like him to understand the pattern through listening to the song. The 16th notes are quite fast, but don’t play it out of proportion fast. Chorus is a really interesting section where it follows the traditional 4 bar phrase of most rock music, but with a twist, where the second bar is a 2/4 bar. Listen to the song to get a good idea of how it goes.
Koel
We started on Master of Puppets this week as Koel wanted more experience playing rock tunes. He was fast to pick up a lot of the mix meter nuance of the song. Will just like him to count more carefully and subdivide carefully, making sure 16th notes are faster than 8th notes in proportion. I have sent Koel all the pages, and will like him to try reading through the guitar solo section that is timed a 104 bpm. It is a slower section, but not easier. Listen to the song to get a grasp of how the ornaments should be played. Get as much material read and we will review them next week.
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
