My daughter has been using this book this summer to learn clarinet so she can join the school band in the fall and it's working out very well in combination with the Rubank Elementary Method. The other kids already have a year under their belts, so she needs to catch up to them over the summer. This book is great because it gets the students playing familiar tunes right away, and it appears to be well paced for a student working with a private instructor. The play-along CD has demonstration tracks so the student can hear what a good clarinet tone sounds like, as well as background tracks that the student can play alone on. Duet pieces are also included so the student can play with the CD or a teacher. The one thing the book doesn't have much of is basic technical exercises for scales, rhythms, etc. That's ok because the approach of this book is to learn by playing tunes. The Rubank book complements this book well because it provides the other piece that this book doesn't have. Students often don't care for the beginner Rubank books because they are dry and don't include many familiar tunes. But using these two books in combination offers the best of both worlds so students can build both their technique and their musicianship.I usually teach advanced saxophone students, so I had to do some research into which books might help get a beginner clarinet player up to speed quickly. I've found that the band method books most of the schools use aren't well-suited for private lessons. However, if you have a student who is getting the basic technique from the school band method book and school lessons, New Tune a Day is still a great supplement if you have a child who loves the instrument and wants to play other things.