This is the amateur's exercise to speeding up music. It is the least effective method for getting music truly fast, but it works to speed up music that doesn't have a very fast full tempo.

1. Choose a practice unit. You should already have fingerings and bowings and have the unit “in your fingers,” that is, perfect at ½ tempo.
2. Turn on your metronome at ½ tempo. Play through the unit 1x.
3. Increase the metronome by one click and play through the unit 1x.
4. Continue in like manner. If you mess up a play-through, turn the metronome back down one click and begin again.

You will eventually find the problem with this method: you can't ever quite get it to full tempo (unless the section is not very fast). This is because we are practicing playing the unit slow andnever practicing it fast (as in the other Speed it Up exercises).

EXAMPLE

G.P. Telemann: 12 Fantasies for Solo Viola (arr. Louise Rood, 1960)
Fantasy V