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!
Coming soon!
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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 – Feb 21st
Hi Efe! Sending you strength for this Ramadan!
Here is this week’s material.
Google Drives
— Em pentatonic scale – Feb 14th & 21st
This week’s Drive has the picture for the last set set of frets for this scale. The Feb 14th Drive gives you access to the other recent frets I assigned in this scale. Improvise with all of these on this backing track. Cool blues
— F#m scale – Feb 21st
This week’s Drive shows an F sharp minor scale. This is what Greenday uses when playing their melodies and the solo of Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
- Start getting used to playing it in this position.
- Start to remember what it sounds like.
— Octave chords
- Try playing those octave chords I was showing you in class. Fingers 1 and 4 only.
- Bottom 2 strings: 2 frets over and 2 strings up. This “square” shape makes the octave. Make sure finger 1 is muting the string in between.
- Middle 2 strings: 3 frets over and 2 strings up. The “rectangle” shape makes the octave. Make sure finger 1 is muting the string in between.
- We’ll be using these chords in Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
— Boulevard of Broken Dream – Feb 14th
- Last time’s Drive has the video to practice the same chord progression with. Please keep going with this. Really well done on this today!
- Listen to the song some more. YouTube link — You’ll hear the chords that sound like the octaves I was telling you about.
— Acoustic Open – Feb 7th
- Keep playing the first 12 bars.
- Try playing bars 13-15.
- (Bars 16-19 are a good challenge IF you have time for this. Not urgent.)
Efe – Feb 14th
Hi Efe! Wishing you guys a great week!
Here is this week’s material.
Em pentatonic scale
We’re almost done this scale now. Once we get to the 12th fret, you’ll have access and the ability to solo all over the guitar neck for many, many songs and pieces in the Em key.
This week’s pictures show the added 9th and 10th frets to the scale.
– Please memorize these.
The new backing track to play over: Cool blues
Chord game
I was impressed with your work on the chords over the past week, Efe. Here is the next challenge to help you work on the proper transitioning techniques.
- I’ll have the required videos uploaded to this week’s Google Drive tomorrow.
- Practice these transitions alongside the Muse Score video in this week’s Drive. — It’s geared toward making your skills in this sharp; especially regarding Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
- The other video has me describing what fingerings to use, and how to execute the transitions properly.
Acoustic Open — Until bar 12
Keep using the ideas I gave you today to help decipher (or just read, haha) the musical notation. It was a great class of you learning the methods to deciphering the musical notation. The tips to remember:
- Where is Middle C? And where is my finger in relation to it? Close? Far?…
- See what string your Left Hand finger is on. Then go over the note names (the letters) all the way up to the fret your finger is holding down. — HINT: The only notes that need one fret (that is, one semitone) to get to the next letter are B to C, and E to F.
- Be mindful of the shapes of the melodies written. If they recur, but on different notes, then they might be played in the same way. For example: Bars 5 & 6 have a very similar shape to bars 9 & 10.
- “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”
- “FACE”
- A note on a space right beside a note on a line is just one letter over. Same goes for the opposite.
Strumming
This is the least important homework. It’s more just for fun, if you have time. Keep working on that flicking style strumming we were talking about today.
- Outsides of the nails.
- Thumb and index finger, or thumb and middle finger.
- Don’t move your arm too much. The strength is in the fingers for this, more than anything else.
I’ll soon make the decision on which song you’ll do for your recital, Efe. Smells Like Teen Spirit or Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Thank you for your patience.
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
