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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Homework for March 18-25
Henry
Great work today Henry! Here is your homework for next week:
Duration to practice: 5-10 min per day
What to practice:
- Theory page 37- complete dynamics exercise
- Birthday Party/Sandman’s Near review
- New song- Baseball Days
How to practice:
- Theory- order from loudest to softest
- Birthday Party/Sandman’s Near- Practice Birthday Party loud and Sandman’s Near soft, but play both pieces at the same speed. Try playing each piece loud and soft but keeping the speed the same if this helps.
- Baseball Days- practice switching from right hand to left hand; if the line is on top of a note it is played with the right hand, and if it is under a note it is played with the left hand.
How parents can support practice:
- Theory- if he is having trouble help him with the order. The trick is that it is the same as the exercise we did in the lesson, just backwards.
- Birthday Party/Sandman’s Near- reinforce the idea that you can play something loud and soft and still remain at the same speed.
- Baseball Days- Guide him through learning the piece. If the stems of the notes are pointing up, that means they are played with RH and if they are pointing down, they are played with LH.
See you next week! :)
Tuesday, March 18th
Lila
Warmups:
–8 on a Hand
–Single strokes
–Double strokes
–Paradiddles
Basic Beat Level 3.5 same as level 3, but RH plays on the Ride Cymbal
Step 1) Count “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ”
Step 2) Play the Hihat with your Right Hand (RH) on all the counts
Step 3) Add in the Bass Drum with your Right Foot (RF) on “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”
Step 4) Add in the Snare Drum with your Left Hand (LH) on “2” and “4”
Visual Drumset Method: exercise 12
–great! Number 12 still needs a bit more work to be consistent and comfortable
White Stripes: Seven Nation Army
–Great job!
NEW SONG ACDC: Back in Black
–This week, practise playing the basic beat along with the song
Josh
Warm-ups:
–Learn to sing along to Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Then, play along to the melody on your snare drum while keeping the beat on your bass drum, just like you came up with in today’s lesson!
Groove Essentials Rock Groove 5
–This week, add drum fills in every fourth measure
–Practice the skill of knowing when to deploy each fill. Depending on how long they are, they’ll start on a different beat
The Beatles: Ticket To Ride
–Awesome! Let’s start thinking about a new song to learn
Myles
Drumset Musician p83 Twelve Bar Blues playalong
–See handout to help visualize the 12-bar Blues form
–Add in drum fills prior to the different segments
==Xylophone==
Warmups (Three keys):
–Scale, one octave, ascending and descending, saying the note names as you play them
–Arpeggio
–Broken thirds, ascending and descending
Cirone Book: “Step Six” ex. 5-8
Eartraining: identifying thirds and fifths
Tones and I: Dreaming
–See Worksheet in google drive PLEASE PRINT NEW VERSION
Finn
Warmups (30sec each, counting aloud):
–Single Strokes
–Double Strokes
–8 on a hand
Visual Drummer: p19 ex 16-18
NEW SONG Bon Jovi: Livin on a Prayer
–The main beat for this song alternates between Visual Drummer ex. 13 and 1. Practice getting these up to speed to play this song
–Try learning the opening drum fill by ear
Koel
Warmups (1min each):
–Triplet Ex. 130bpm***
–Sixteenth-note exercise 95bpm***
–Sixteenth-note exercise ON THE BASS DRUM goal tempo: 70bpm
—-Try adding the sixteenth-note subdivision into your metronome to help with your rhythmic precision
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials: Groove 14 Slow (in google drive)
–This week, learn the main beat
–as a bonus, try learning Variations A and B
Francisco
Warmups:
–Stick Control first page ex. 14-18 (4x each, 120bpm goal tempo)
–Play eighths ca. 120-160 bpm (gradually building up the speed) using accents on the beats to help with the push-pull strokes
Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials book: Groove 1 FAST
–See the cheat sheet I made for the solo section in your google drive folder
–This week, work on building this solo up. We’ll finish this song off next week
Begin working on Groove 14 Slow (Groove Essentials) in yoru google drive
Noah
Warmups (1min each)
–Paradiddle Combo Exercise with Bass Drum on Quarter Notes (goal tempo 126)
Groove Essentials: Groove 14 Slow (in your google drive folder)
–Learn the basic groove and Variation B, try playing with RH on the hihat and then hand-to-hand sticking
Please bookmark the following links:
Your personal google drive folder
The “Frequently Used Resources” Folder
Aviva
Warmups (1min ea) goal tempo = 150bpm, playing two notes per beat (aka eighth notes)
–Single strokes (LRLR…)
–Double Strokes (LLRR…)
–Paradiddles (LRLL RLRR…)
Accent Exercises worksheet
–Work on these with a RH lead this time
–Play ex. 5-8 like fills (3 measures of beat, then exercise, followed by crash)
Drumset Musician p12, ex. 11-15
–polish these off for next week
–feel free to go on to the following page
Groove 1 FAST
–Try playing along to this MUCH faster track using a quarter-note cymbal pattern (use the starred examples from your folder)
Groove 2 Slow (chart and track in your personal folder)
–Learn the main groove and variations for next week
–Ignore the left-food hihat “chicks” for now, we can add those in later
Hole: Celebrity Skin
–Work on flowing through the intro section (false start)
–Correct the rhythm on snare in beat 2s of the Chorus groove
–Learn and build up the speed of the Chorus fill (bottom of handout)
Preferred Books for Gergely’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
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
