Submitted by Kate Palk, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Idea posted February 17, 2003

My students love Recorder Karate. They blew through the belts in nine weeks last year, and then with no more belts to earn, they lost interest. This year I was ready for them.

White Belt - Hot Cross Buns
Yellow Belt - Gently Sleep
Advanced Yellow Belt - Au Clair De La Lune (GAB)
Orange Belt - Merrily We Roll Along
Advanced Orange Belt - Mary's Little Cha Cha Cha (GAB)
Green Belt - It's Raining
Advanced Green Belt - Wayfaring Stranger (EGAB)
Purple Belt - Old MacDonald
Advanced Purple Belt - Jolly Old St. Nick (DEGAB)
Pink Belt - Sailing and Hokey Pokey (GABC')
Blue Belt - The Saints (GABC'D')
Advanced Blue Belt -
Red Belt - Twinkle Twinkle
Advanced Red Belt - This Old Man (DEF#GAB)
Brown -
Advanced Brown - America (DEF#FGAC'D'E')
Black - Ode To Joy

For each week, I give the copy of the songs, one side with the color and the advanced song on the back. For the less motivated kids, they have a whole week to learn one song, and the more motivated kids have one week to learn two songs. They test for one or two songs, depending on what they practiced. The belt colors vary with the song, the yellow belt gets a bright yellow string while the advanced yellow gets a pale yellow. Some of my students will earn 17 belts and some will earn less, depending on their motivation.

The other most helpful things I've done for my students is photocopy the songs onto color-coordinated paper. So, when I ask them to play "Gently Sleep" for me, they know to pull out the yellow paper. That has dramatically cut down on the time it takes for them to be ready to play.