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 – Jan 17th
Hi Efe! Wishing you and your family a great weekend. Here’s what I’d like you to work on this week.
This Google Drive will have all the required material for this week. I’m having a delay right now. Everything will be there during the day on Sunday, January 18th. Efe – Jan 17th
Regarding my notes on last semester’s student report, I’ve implemented a plan here that gets you to practice a half hour a day.
Experimenting with new Powerchords — 5 minutes
For these, remember to use fingers 1 and 4 on your Left Hand. — Only use fingers 1 and 4 for the powerchords I give you for now. (There are powerchords with more notes in the actual chord, but I’m not going into that this week. I just want you understanding the most basic type of powerchord for now; we’ll get to those other ones later.)
- Play them anywhere on the bottom 4 strings. (E, A, D, G.) Don’t go up to the B or high E string with these; we’ll talk about those strings next time.
- ^ This is to say: Find the notes of this scale on the bottom 3 strings only. From here, you have to play that chess-like game I told you about :) which is when you start from the root note (the chord’s letter name), and then move 2 frets sideways and then 1 fret up.
Smells Like Teen Spirit — 15 minutes
There’s a video of me demonstrating the main riff of this song at 60BPM; half the original speed. Dedicate some time to playing this riff on repeat; exactly as you see me doing here.
- Don’t worry about the percussive picking you see in this video. As I told you in class, I’ll be showing you that technique a little later.
- There are 2 pictures in this week’s Google Drive that pertain to this song. 1: the 4 main powerchords that are played in this song. 2: the G powerchord. Be mindful of this chord. So many guitarists overlook this chord in this song.
- Make sure you’re sticking to the exact same strumming pattern that I’m using in the video.
E minor pentatonic scale — 10 minutes
- The Backing Track: Backing track in E minor
- There is a picture of the additional frets I’ve added to this scale.
— Well done on memorizing this. Keeping playing around with this over the backing track.
— Feel free to add vibrato on any of the notes in this scale so far. Remember your term, the “wiggle” :) this is what I’m referring to.
— We’re forgetting about the B major chord for now. I was mistaken in attempting to push you to learn this chord; it’s a bit high-level for you right now. You’ll get there eventually.
— Play the E minor, E major, and G major chords over this.
Final words
A little bit of practice everyday is far better than a huge amount of practice in one day. I’m strictly stopping you from doing a ridiculous amount of of practice in one day, because I don’t want you to risk hurting your hands. This is, indeed, a risk that some guitarists overlook and end up hurting their hands with.
It was a good lesson today, Efe. Thank you for your hard work. See you in a week!
Assignments from January 17th
Hello Everybody!
Great lesson today!
Berke:
For practice this week please continue to work on Telemann’s Andante in G minor. Berke is to review the right and left hand of the A section before attempting to play them hands together. Count out loud to help rhythmic accuracy and pay close attention to the designated fingerings of the left hand specifically as this will help Berke when putting both hands together. When playing hands together please do so slowly and focus on when the hands line up on the beat. Berke can also practice the right hand of the B section. Again, please pay close attention to the designated fingerings to ensure an easy and smooth playing technique for these phrases. To help encourage proper fingerings, Berke can name his fingers out loud like we did in class to help him remember the pattern (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 1). Please also encourage Berke to check in with you at the end of his practice sessions. Giving him the opportunity to explain what he is learning and working towards will help solidify some of these techniques and concepts in his learning. It may also point out any areas Berke might still have questions. It is also a great way to keep you informed of his progress! We will look at the left hand of the B section in class together next week and try the A section hands together.
Thank you!
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
