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 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 :)
Saturday, May 23rd
Jack
We continued working on Imperial March on the xylophone, but this time with a note reading component added to it. We start learning about the staff in treble clef, and drawing a connection between the keyboard and the staff. Together we notated the first phrase of the march on the staff, and will try learn more melodies, building that connection and rudimentary note reading skill.
Adam
I have assigned two new two bar phrases pattern for Adam to work on in the Drumset Musician book, as well as worked through the first page of Under the Bridge with him. Despite having no access to the drum set at home, Adam has a strong memory of the pattern, and was able to play through big chunks. The only pattern that needs slight reminding, is a pre-chorus drum solo, that has the rhythm “blue berry” starting it. We will work on to second page next week.
Jonah
We continue our journey through orchestral excerpts, working on the main excerpt of American in Paris. I emphasise the importance of getting it right the first time with Jonah for audition purposes, and how to mentally prepare for such occasions. We also slightly dipped into Shostakovich Symphony no 10 looking at the snare drum excerpt, with a brief introduction on four-stroke ruffs.
Finn
Finn’s Otherside is coming together super well, now playing the rhythm and the pattern fairly accurate. We spent most of the class connecting the main chorus pattern with the fill that ends the section. Next I introduced him to the Bridge pattern on page 2. I assigned the right hand to play all the floor tom notes with left hand doing everything else. By remembering that, it minimises any unnecessary movements.
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!
Efe – Mar 14th
Hi Efe!
Here’s a rundown of the material I’d like you to look at for the next couple weeks.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
— The Google Drive of the previous week
— Here is the latest Unlisted YouTube video covering the bullet points below: Link
- The riff that transitions from the main one into the chorus
- The riff that transitions from the chorus back into the main riff
- Everything in the ending riff of the song
— The solo of this song is played with the octave chords we’ve been talking about. When I see you next, we’ll be working on the solo.
— I added a picture to this Google Drive. It has the new set of chords we agreed you’d be playing for the Octave Chords’ game. The frets are different, because reaching them where the video says is not a comfortable reach for you on your guitar.
F#m scale
— Keep working on this scale. From the last Google Drive. Starting on fret 9.
Final note
I know you’ll be gone for 3 weeks from here, Efe, so I’ve assigned all this in such a way that it’s realistic for you to be able to sound very good on all of it. I’m not giving more because I want you to really work on feeling comfortable playing and knowing the parts I’ve assigned here.
Wishing you a great 3 weeks! Take care!
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
