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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Thursday, May 14th
Josh
Regular practise is paying dividends and Josh is seeing improvement both with his reading skills and basic technique on the drums. We continued working on Wonderwall today spelling more sections together. We are now in the chorus section and I would like Josh to still focus on practising the pre chorus section especially to try and piece the entire phrase together. We will likely try to play with the song under speed next week.
Aleksander
We studied Smells Like Teen Spirit today and touched on the concept of dotted 16th rhythm and differentiating that with the shuffle beat we previously picked up on Holiday. Especially try to practise the first lick with metronome and try to get it as even as possible.
Zico
Zico is making fast progress with The Trooper and since he is able to play the licks at ease, I would like to demand more from him, in the musical sense. I want him to approach every 16th note end of phrase lick differently as if they are different stories. Phrase them differently, build up dynamics, and think of climax to push towards. We will hope to complete the song next week.
Noah
We had a one hour lesson this week which we worked through a handout titled The Routine that is now saved onto his drive. I encourage him to work through the first two pages by himself this week. These exercise will help build fundamental techniques as well as strengthen his rhythmic sense. Warming up with those exercises then gave us a good foundation working through Smooth Criminal. We worked through till bar 49 during class and I encourage him to try work through the entirety of second page and perhaps play with the song under speed.
Koel
Koel didn’t have too much time to practise this week so instead we worked on The Routine handout together and talking about how routinely practising those patterns could help with improving his technique. We will continue our work on Fool in the Rain next week.
Efe — May 16th
Hi Efe!
Sorry to post this homework late. Here is what to look at.
What to listen to
— Django Reinhardt — Jazz guitarist
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxQxajcOyCI — The 6.5 minute long video we saw last class. Rewatch this as something to more specifically remember what kinds of things you like in jazz guitar.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUmPhZpoFZU — This one’s a 12 minute long video. It has a number of examples of Reinhardt’s playing. Several other wonderful pieces are played here. (Audio only.)
I’m glad we’ve found that you like jazz guitar, Efe. We can definitely do some work on that kind of music next year. I would be happy to make simpler arrangements of jazz guitar music for you to play. Working on something like this is a plausible idea for your progress on the instrument next year.
Acoustic Open
- Continue to work on the first 16 bars. I saw some improvements today.
- Try the ending chords. Remember to make the last one cut completely short.
- If you have time, then keep going with the piece. Keep trying to play more and more of it. — Since there is no imminent performance goal, I’m not pushing super hard in terms of what you must learn. But one day, a good goal will be for you to memorize the piece.
Thanks Efe. An important reminder: I won’t be there this coming Saturday. We’ll get back to all of this on the following Saturday. Have a great two weeks and I’ll see you then!
Efe – Mar 7th
Hi Efe!
This week’s material.
The main tasks are below.
F#m scale — Go all the way up and down this scale.
- Goals: Get used to using fingers 1, 3, & 4 of the Left Hand. Get the F#m sound in your head.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
- The last link has me explaining what to do. Recent video
- The newest video is now here. As with the last one, it’s Unlisted on YouTube. It only differs from the last one because I’ve given those new frets for certain chords, and because of one new strumming pattern we went over in class today. Newest link, March 8th. This is the one to practice with for this week.
Posture related questions
Remember, the way to achieve good posture in your body and in your hands can be done by pushing your guitar pretty far forward from your left side. The right side still touches your body.
See you in a week, Efe!
Efe – Feb 28th
Hi Efe!
Here is your homework for this week.
Google Drive of last week: Feb 21st
- The drive has most of the things you need. Here’s what was missing: BOBD Feb 28th. For whatever reason, Google Drive is refusing to let me upload videos whose speeds you can change. This link is an Unlisted YouTube video link where you can change the speed to 0.75x, as my video points you to do.
- For that video: If there are still issues, then I’ve uploaded a PDF of the games described in the video that I want you to play on the guitar this week. – Play these games at 90BPM.
— Em pentatonic scale
- Keep going with this. You now have all 12 frets to improvise something on. Remember the limiting rules; these can help spur your creativity.
- Backing track. Cool blues
— F#m scale
- Keep playing this scale. Same area of the fretboard as last week.
- Remember: No finger 2, here.
— BOBD — You’ll soon see videos and pictures in the Drive that pertain to the items below.
- The melody with the octave chords we talked about in class today. — Try this melody. Make sure your Left Hand wrist is not too bent.
- The melody with the sliding single notes.
- The usual chord progression; the one you’ve been playing. — Try it both slowly and also play it at the song’s original speed.
- The powerchords of the chorus.
— Acoustic Open
- Keep trying this. But go back to the start.
- I’ve included the file for this in the Google Drive here.
— Get a capo. Here is the one I recommend: Amazon link
If it’s harder to practice on a week, then just do smaller amounts of practice each day. Even 5 minutes of practice a day is better than none at all.
Thank you, Efe. 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
