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 courseware as the sole curriculum for a guitar class they may teach.

The text of the USOE Review is published below:

“This is a blended learning (book and internet) beginning guitar program. The program is easy to access and simple use. The lessons are sequential with an internet menu that is easy to navigate. The information concerning guitars in general, replacing strings, and other tips is very helpful. There are video clips of professional players as role models. These clips are also readily accessible to motivate and inspire students as well as provide a benchmark for students to strive for. The internet instructor is concise and uses student friendly language. Pacing and explanations are clear and focused. Each lesson lists the specific skills to be learned as well as practice material. The classroom teacher can instruct with the internet videos and lessons and students can also access this site at home in order to practice or to make up lessons.

The lessons are sequential and cover the state core for guitar. A PDF file is available for teachers that specifies the objectives and topics for each lesson. The program is quite comprehensive covering a broad amount of chords, note playing, and specific guitar playing techniques. It also covers a good variety of literature and genre for solo and ensemble playing. The accompanying student book provides for written music and samples of the songs used in the internet lessons. It also has supplemental material that further explains the skills. The book also includes blank staff paper, tablature paper and blank chord charts that teachers can use for various purposes including composition and assessment. The program also logs how many times the student has viewed the lesson. This can be used for tracking purposes.

The internet componenet tracks student progress and practice. A teacher can upload a file to the system for supplementary materials. It also has a teacher forum (blog) for sharing and discussion purposes. It also has a calendar so students know when assignment are due. The lessons themselves can be used as assessments and also as intervention for students who are struggling with a skill. Pricing options are available and seem reasonable for this product.”

Here’s the link  to the official review on the Utah State Office of Education site. Click Here