One of the unique features contained in the Consonus Music classroom guitar curriculum is the availability of layered learning materials. I have demonstrated the use of layered learning at many workshops and have done webinars on the subject, but I think that it is so valuable I would like to briefly mention it here and Read the Rest…
Hats Off To Educators
I have had the good fortune of traveling around the country being a clinician and presenting guitar workshops dealing with a myriad of topics ranging from playing Brazilian music and improvisation to developing curriculum for classroom guitar incorporating blended learning. My audiences have ranged from advanced players and experienced teachers to those who are just Read the Rest…
What Classroom Guitar Teachers Need to Know about the Core Music Standards
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the new core standards for music. Consonus presented a session at the recent NAfME National In-Service Conference in Nashville on Blended Learning, and mapping guitar curriculum to the new Music Core. Here are some questions we heard frequently and thought you might be wondering about. Are the Core Read the Rest…
Northwest College Guitar Teacher Training Workshop
We traveled to Powell Wyoming for a Level I Guitar Teacher training workshop hosted by Jeff Troxell and the Northwest College music department. Attendees traveled from up to a 2 hours drive to participate. If these dedicated teachers are any indication, the future of classroom guitar in Wyoming schools is in great hands. Mike provided an Read the Rest…
Consonus and NAfME Present – Understanding the New Music Core Standards for Guitar
On June 4th, 2014 The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards and NAfME released the new national Core Arts Standards. Of particular interest to K-12 music teachers, who teach classroom guitar, are the standards related to the guitar & harmonizing instrument strand. In the standards there is a clear emphasis on the creative process and Read the Rest…
Getting Started With Improvisation On Guitar
There are many ways that improvisation can be approached. Here is a sequential format that has been used successfully with many guitar students and provides a solid foundation for further study of improvisation. It seems as though guitarists come out of the womb playing the minor pentatonic scale. The E minor pentatonic scale is easy Read the Rest…
Mike Christiansen performs on Utah Public Radio – December 20th at 9:00AM MST
Consonus Music Institute’s Director of Curriculum Development – Mike Christiansen will be the featured musical artist on a prerecorded program that will air Friday, December 20th at 9:00A.M.. The program can be heard on KUSU FM 91.5 in Logan, Utah or at www.upr.org streamed live and from station’s archives.
Guitar Fundamentals Receives Highest Recommendation in USOE Review
On December 12th 2013, The Utah State Office of Education released the results of its Fall 2013 Instructional Materials Review and Consonus Music Institute’s Guitar Fundamentals – Beginning Course was given the highest adoption recommendation of Primary Curriculum by the review commission. As a Primary Curriculum teachers in Utah public schools may adopt the CMI Read the Rest…
CMI presents at Association for Middle Level Education 2013
CMI will present a session on Blended Learning in Instrumental Music at the Association for Middle Level Education 2013 Conference on November 8th in Minneapolis. Mike Christiansen will conduct the session. He will discuss what some of the trends in K-12 music education which are driving the need for additional instrumental music options utilizing technology Read the Rest…
CMI Partners with Hard Rock Café and Fender Music Foundation
On August 9th Consonus Music Institute clinicians Mike Christiansen and Abe Lagrimas, Jr. traveled to Springfield Massachusetts to be part of a new event that may be coming to your community in the future. The event was a 2 day music workshop sponsored by the Hard Rock Café and the Fender Music Foundation that brings Read the Rest…
