How to accelerate the tempo.

[faa2010]

It's not very difficult to play in a moderato or a lento, but in a pace like a presto or a vivaz is really difficult.  How can I play faster?

Thanks for your suggestions.

[pianist1976]

There could be many methods that work. The one that I (and many colleges) use is to distribute the study time in something like this:

Study slow and detailed, rehearsing every movement, listening to every note. Sometimes bringing up the tempo to playing moderately fast and finally trying (the less times) "a tempo" or almost "a tempo", as an experiment to prove how can it sound and see if we are now able to play it right. If the piece is very difficult and/or very new to us, this tempo may not be reached yet. Patience. Another day we will can (or not, who knows, I still cannot play Feux Follets on tempo   ). Rehearse always by sections, not by playing the entire thing 40 times from beginning to end "a tempo", as some people seems to do.

I think that it's important to try the pieces (or parts of the pieces) a tempo (or, as Arrau used to say, "even faster") but not abusing of this because you can finish exhausted, create bad habits and ruining a piece you used to play well. My opinion is that the most time spent on learning a piece must be used on section and slow practicing. This will give you a better control when you play (the less times) on tempo.

But this is useless without an essential component: time and constancy to rehearse. Two (minimum at all) to four hours a day practicing, no speed will be reached with no practice. In my opinion nobody can do anything serious on classical piano below this practice hours (just my two cents, if somebody knows  another and easier way, please, tell   )

[jbmorel78]

Mental groupings.  Maybe someone else could elaborate, since I don't have much time to do so at the moment, but the basic idea is similar to "chunking." 

To get a better idea, watch Mr. Zander's head bobbing in the following video:

Also, B. Berman treats the subject in his book "Notes from the Pianist's Bench," using the fifth Chopin étude as his example: In the beginning, the student plays four "beats" per bar, then two, then one, and so forth.

Please tell me if this helps at all . . . I will try to post a better explanation later.

Sincerely and with best wishes,
JBM