Band Belts

In martial arts, such as karate, colored belts are often used to represent the advancement or growth of a student.  Our band and orchestra belts function in the same way.  When a student can masterfully perform the task linked to a certain colored belt, they will be rewarded with that belt to attach to their instrument case.  Students may not skip ahead to the benchmark belt pieces, but must complete all assigned material in order.  


Pieces must be performed all the way through without stopping, at a steady tempo (tapping foot on beat). Belt test pieces are taken from Standard of Excellence Enhanced book 1.  Student should reference the play-along tracks provided here to assist in their preparation.



2. Yellow Belt - #17 Au Claire De La Lune


3. Orange Belt - #23 Merrily We Roll Along


4. Green Belt - #24A/B Lightly Row Duet (must perform both parts)


5. Purple Belt - #41 Go For Excellence (with repeats)


6. Blue Belt  - #61 Go For Excellence (with accurate slurring)


7. Red - #84 Go For Excellence


8. Brown- Part 1 - #111 Go For Excellence (dynamics)

Part 2 - # 116 Alouette (with dotted quarter notes)


9. Black - Part 1 - #139 Manhattan Beach March (with repeats)

Part 2 #152 Grandfather's Clock (with D.C. al Fine)


Pop- Up Belts

Lime Green Belt - "The Note Quiz" (A timed note/pitch identification assessment)

Pink Belt - "The Rhythm Quiz" (A timed rhythm identification assessment)

Light Blue Belt - "The Counting and Clapping Belt" (analyzing, labeling, counting & clapping assessment)

Rainbow Belt - "The Concert Ready" Belt (Perform all spring concert pieces)

Gray Belt - A Midterm Vocab Assessment (Year 2&3 - January)

Khaki Belt - Chromatic Scale at 100bpm (Year 2&3 - May)


White Belt 12.mp3

White Belt #12

Yellow Belt 17.mp3

Yellow Belt #17

Orange Belt 23.mp3

Orange Belt #23

Green Belt 24ab.mp3

Green Belt #24a/b

Purple Belt 41.mp3

Purple Belt #41