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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Saturday, January 24th
Jack
Jack came up with a more complicated 4 beat pattern today and what was most impressive was his resilience to repeat it more than 4 times in a row, playing them back to back. We will try to add in some sort of foot coordination next class. There is a video of him repeating the pattern on the drive folder.
Nova
Nova did a great job mastering the guitar lick for Blink Gone this class, but seeing what is challenging for Nova, I would like Nova to practise two exercises from a page of Hamilton Green’s Beginner Xylophone book.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18oF_3nZdvJ_le71TzPHoyPPixOQqEDgj/view?usp=drive_link
I would like for Nova to work on first part of both line 4 and 5. There are also two video demonstrating these two exercises. Please play them in repetition. The goal for this exercise is to minimise any unnecessary movement and try to move as fluidly as possible.
I would like for Nova to also practise the few drum set patterns for the song. Let’s aim to put an end to it next class.
Adam
Adam has high expectation for himself and has been showing huge progress every class. His practise session with his brother playing Back in Black together is clearly paying dividends, and allowed him to play with the song at around 80% speed. However once we hit the verse section, Adam had a hard time hearing the guitar pattern, which made it hard to stay in time. I am happy to move on from the song, but would like Adam to familiarise with how the vocal part relate to the four bar pattern. We have started on Enter Sandman (notated on a handout) which I think will be a fun project for the coming weeks.
Santino
Santino informed me that he would like to start on a rock song, so we picked Living on a Prayer. I saved a copy of the score on Santino’s Drive folder, and I would like for him to work on the first two lines. I strongly believe he has the ability to read through the music, and would like him to have more confidence in himself.
Nicolas
I notated the rest of Hedwig’s theme for Nicolas. He is fast to learn songs, and is showing exceptional musicianship. I would like to start him on more advanced mallet repertoire and develop stronger mallet dexterity.
Jonah
We started Fly as Me this week and Jonah is swift to learning the pattern. However I asked JOnah to consider the quality of sound he is making, as I ask him to play a more delicate and concise sound on all instruments. That require a smaller and faster stroke and exploring using the tip of the stick. Our goal for the week is work through till verse. The groove is highly reliant on the hi hat played on the backbeat, so lock that in and even if you play the wrong pattern, it will still stay in tact.
Thursday, January 22nd
Josh
Over the Thursday lesson and Saturday makeup lesson, we first worked out the 3 over 2 pattern on Ticket to Ride, then we started on Numb by Linkin Park. I encourage Josh to still practise the 3 over 2 pattern a bit at home, but next lesson we will continue working out Numb. Right now, the 16th note bass drum note in bar 2 is what tricks Josh the most. I encourage him to zoom in to smaller chunks, practising the coordination slow, before trying to play the full bar.
Zico
We started Fly as Me this week and Zico is swift to learning the pattern. However I asked Zico to consider the quality of sound he is making, as I ask him to play a more delicate and concise sound on all instruments. That require a smaller and faster stroke and exploring using the tip of the stick. Our goal for the week is work through till verse, and let’s try to get the groove down before adding in the open close hihat. The groove is highly reliant on the hi hat played on the backbeat, so lock that in and even if you play the wrong pattern, it will still stay in tact.
Noah
Noah was able to fix all the problems we picked out from last class. Especially happy to see the stick movement efficiency improving. The 32nd note lick is still posing as a challenge, but is getting closer. We will try to play through the song next week. If Noah wish to try to play through the song this week, practise starting at a speed that he can play the whole song at.
Finn
We continued with DARE this class, and Finn did a great job mastering the original pattern rather than Finn’s version. We tried playing with the song at 80% speed, and Finn in class is able to follow the song for at least 2 repetitions. My challenge for him this week is to try to follow the song for at least 4 repetitions or until the song enter another section. That requires relaxation and concentration. Take some breaks during practise if you are tensing up.
Henry
We continued working on the Back in Black pattern, and I would like for Henry to practise it just a little more this week. I have also notated out the beginning pattern of Enter Sandman for Henry to try out at home this week. He can try just playing the Snare and floor tom layer first, and slowly add in the bass drum layer, which beats every other two tom hits.
Jared
Jared has informed me of his new found love for older rock tunes, so we started on Master of Puppets by Metallica. He told me he is interested in playing the song later with his band, so right off the bat, my first advice for him was to mute the cymbals according to how the guitar strums. Then at bar 15, somehow the 16th note lick is slightly tripping him up. Listen to how the song goes to get a rough idea of how it goes. The main task this week is to learn the 4 bar pattern fro bar 20-23. The entire song is roughly based upon that 4 bar pattern, and it always is a 4 bar cycle. Once he has mastered playing the pattern, I encourage him to feel the groove in two bar chunks. Next thing I would like for him to practise is the sudden transition from 4/4 to 3/4 (see bar 41-42). Listen to the music for a hint to how it sounds. It should sound like a sudden shift of gear. Right now he is able to play it at 50% of the song’s speed. To speed it up, I encourage him to work up the coordination between right hand and right foot, practise playing consecutive hihat to kick drum on eighth note level. Practise that with metronome.
Koel
We worked on Killing in the Name of for another week and did a play through. Koel was able to play everything effortlessly, but Koel should get in the habit of starting the song at a speed he can play everything at. This poses as an issue as we enter page 2, as all of a sudden the playing speed dropped almost 10 clicks. Next time Koel play a song, he should sing in his head how fast he could play the trickiest section, take the pulse of that, and start in that tempo. In the case of this song, it would be line 2 of page 2. We will start next lesson with playing with the song and move on to a new song. Right now he is at roughly half speed. Koel also informed me that he has been working on four mallet material in band at school. I would like for him to try out the exercise I introduced to him in class to build mallet control. Also observe what kind of things he is having trouble with so I can tackle those with him.
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
