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.
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Latest Homework from Gergely
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Saturday, May 30
Jack
I used Imperial March as a way to introduce triplets to Jack. The first half of the melody is engraved in his brain, but the second half not so much. I wrote it down on one of his handout and we will continue strengthening feel for that rhythm next class. We also revised on how to play the melody on xylophone, remembering the three positions the mallet go to.
Nova
We used the Blue Book to work on triplet and some flam variants. With triplet, I ask Nova to think about always going towards the next beat, and if the triplet is followed by another note, connect towards it. I assigned Solo #15 for them to work on playing triplets musically but also differentiate it from eighth notes. For Sparkles, we revised the first page, and Nova was able to connect the two phrases we worked on so far. Now we are on to the second page. This is a simple but very interesting pattern. Note that the main beats here are 1 and 4, everything else should feel like tip toe. I want Nova to work on the first two lines of the page.
Adam
We worked on the two bar batter no12 from the Drumset Musician book. Then for Under the Bridge, it seems like Adam forgot how the bridge pattern goes (one remembered by blueberry) because Adam has not been able practise on the drums. Once he has access to drums again, solidify that pattern and we will move on to second page next week.
Jonah
We worked on Audition Etude no1 by Joe Kelly this week, in preparation for TSYO audition. The ornament on the first note should be played ahead of the first beat, and should not sound the same as the 16th note triplet. The 16th note triplet should be slower, but both should be phrase similarly towards the final note. Then we revised on American on Paris, recording how things sound, evaluating that the lick should be more left hand leading, to ground to the beat better. We ended the lesson with a brief revision of Super Bad, which Jonah remembered it very well and executed the groove with taste.
Finn
Finn’s practising this week showed great result, that he was quickly able to play the complicated tom groove for bridge after one week. This time around we talked about how to play it more at ease, with a focus of thinking of the RH on floor tom like dribbling a basketball. Everything that is not on the beat should feel light and bouncy. Once more familiar with the pattern, practise playing the lick 7 times in a row, and wrap it up with the last line on the handout. We will try to play with the melody a bit next class.
Homework for May 27-June 3
Nova
Excellent work today! Here’s this week’s homework:
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: A minor and E minor scales, If I Were A Rich Man, Mixed up Song
How to Practice:
Scales- Be aware of which accidentals to use when. Remember that natural minors have the same accidentals as the relative major, and harmonic minors are the same except they add a raised 7th. Review the circle of 5ths.
If I Were A Rich Man- fix staccato sections. Practice the straight eighth section with abnormal rhythms and round fingers. The section at the bottom is called a sequence- a pattern repeated on different starting notes. Add dynamics.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide. Remind them to work on staccato.
See you next week :)
Efe — April 18th
Hi Efe!
I know this week will be super busy for you, so I’m making this practice plan super specific. So that you don’t waste time practicing anything you don’t need for now. Remember, our priority is for you to play at the recital. It’s only 2 weeks away, so that’s all we’re gonna be working on for now.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Google Drive Apr 18th. The newest video is in this Google Drive link. This is the only video you need for this week.
— For all the parts you would be playing alongside the video to practice, slow the video down to 0.5x speed. — Remember, 168BPM might not be what you’ll actually play it at on the day of. I just want you playing it comfortably.
- 84BPM is what I want you practicing this piece at, if you don’t have access to this video.
— At about 15 minutes in, the sound quality of this video is awful. It only gets worse from there. I didn’t have time to fix the issue. So I have run down what is covered when in the video. Seeing it with the information below should help you navigate the video and practice with it.
— The rundown:
- Specific exercises are detailed in the first 15 minutes. There are no major sound quality issues in this excerpt of the video. — Most of these involve playing pairs of bars individually; so two bars at a time, and with a bar of rest right after. Keep repeating this. Each exercise consists of repetitions of the given bars with a bar of rest right after. — Do this for all the pairs of bars that are highlighted in this video.
- 15:15 — The “another ending” part of Riff 2 described. All down-strummed. This part’s about remembering to count for yourself where you are in the music. — In this case: count 16 quarter notes of the B5 chord.
- 16:05 — The updated Riff 3. Powerchords, now. Instead of the single notes I was gonna get you to play. All down-strummed. — For where you see the powerchord with frets 2 & 4: As described, do fret 0 on the low E string and fret 2 on the A string. Fret 2 being held with finger 1.
- 16:45 — Powerchord with frets 3 & 5 instead of frets 5 & 7. The C5 chord on the A & D strings.
- 16:55 — More powerchords with the same idea; practice it two frets down from what the video shows.
- 17:10 — A fairly hard transition. It’s a pretty big jump with fingers 1 and 4.
- 17:35 — 17:10’s pair of bars to practice.
- 18:20 — The frets 3 & 3 unusual powerchord. (Frets 1 & 1 for this week.) Use finger 1 on the A string and finger 2 on the D string. Just these 2 strings. Remember: A challenge with the powerchords will be to hit only the 2 (or 3) strings that are in them.
- 19:55 — Riff 3 w different ending — All down-strummed.
- 20:15 — The very ending. — This is played twice as fast as its preceding powerchords. — Same practice plan: do that bar, do a bar of rest. Repeatedly.
- 21:48 — Me giving some closing remarks that you won’t be able to hear, haha.
— The PDF of this song is also in that G Drive. I recommend that you print it out and work with it, too.
— I am pushing you to do a little bit each day. These goals are made so that they’re all realistic for you to be able to achieve in a maximum of 2 weeks’ time.
You’ve got this, Efe. I’ve seen that you know what to do. Now you must push on to be better for next week! I’ll see you then!
Efe — Apr 11th
Hi Efe! Wishing you a great week!
Here’s the outlook on this month.
The recital is May 2nd. The priority for you right now is to perform for the recital. Hence we’re putting the music reading and other guitar studies on hold for the time being.
You’re going to be playing the 3 main riffs of Boulevard of Broken Dreams for the recital.
— Practice the first 2 of these in Em (E minor); the way I showed it in class.
- The first one: Em, G, D, A.
- The second one: C5, G5, D5, Em. (The 5’s just mean that they’re powerchords. Remember to use fingers 1 and 4 for these.)
— The 3rd one: Use this Unlisted YouTube video to practice it with. March 18th Video. The key here is F# minor. Slow the video down to 0.75x speed when practicing with it.
- At minute 4:50 is where I start demonstrating this last riff.
- Regarding the vibrato: Just try to do some with your Left Hand fingers going left-right-left-right-left-right. The thumb must be located directly behind where the fingers are doing the vibrato on the guitar neck. Also, whatever number of finger is on the fretboard must have your other Left Hand fingers pressed down on the frets to its left. It is stronger and therefore more comfortable vibrato this way. Examples: Finger 3 vibrato means fingers 1 and 2 must also be on the fretboard. Finger 4 vibrato means fingers 1, 2, and 3 must also be on the fretboard. — These other fingers on the fretboard should each be on a fret, all right next to one another. (Not the most important thing out of this week’s work; I’ll tell you more about this next week. Just give it a try.)
I’m going to make an arrangement of these riffs in one seamless piece of music.
— This arrangement is now here, at this Unlisted YouTube video link: April 15th Link
- Slow the video down to 0.5x speed when practicing with it. For now. I know the video says 0.6x, but that’s a step I’m hoping you’ll be able to achieve in another week.
- Regarding playing speed: We’ll soon choose the final speed as a goal at which you’ll be playing this for the recital.
Enjoy the strumming patterns. Playing strumming patterns is one of the exciting things about playing the guitar.
Remember to do at least a little bit of practice for this everyday.
Good seeing you again today, Efe! I’ll see you in a 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
