Professional musicians and college students commonly study orchestral excerpts, but a similar practice has yet to be implemented in the band field. Due to their widespread use in orchestral auditions, excerpts have been incorporated as a tool for musical development. Many college professors regularly assign excerpt study as part of their curricula. In addition, professional musicians teach master classes based solely around the playing and interpretation of these passages. Because of the limited number of professional bands in the United States today, musicians may not think of wind excerpts as a vehicle for technical and musical growth. A well-considered approach to wind literature, however, will open up new material for technical development in an authentic musical context. Additionally, band students at the high school and college levels can reap important musical benefits by adopting the methodology of orchestral colleagues. In this article, the author discusses how to implement a wind excerpt program. (Contains 3 figures, 2 tables and 6 notes.)