How to Choose the Right Audition Excerpt Tempo When the Metronome Marking Feels Too Fast

You pull out the excerpt list for your next audition, and there it is: the Mendelssohn Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream at quarter note equals 168. You set the metronome, play the first bar, and immediately think, “There’s no way.” Sound familiar? You’re not alone. One of the most common dilemmas in audition preparation is figuring out what to do when the printed metronome marking feels impossibly fast—or at least faster than you can play cleanly and musically.

Why Metronome Markings Aren’t Always Gospel

Here’s something that surprises a lot of younger players: metronome markings in orchestral parts are often unreliable. Some editions print tempos that don’t match what major orchestras actually perform. Brahms himself was famously skeptical of metronome markings, and many conductors take liberties with printed tempos depending on the hall, the ensemble, and the musical context. The tempo on the page is a starting point, not a commandment.

In my experience preparing audition students, I’ve found that committees care far less about whether you hit an exact metronome number and far more about whether your playing sounds convincing, controlled, and musical at whatever tempo you choose. A slightly slower tempo played with impeccable rhythm, clean articulation, and beautiful phrasing will always beat a frantic attempt at full speed that sounds like it might fall apart at any moment.

How to Find Your “Audition Tempo”

Start by listening to three to five professional recordings of the passage in context. Not excerpt recordings—full orchestral performances. You’ll notice that tempos vary significantly. The Chicago Symphony’s Mendelssohn Scherzo lives in a different tempo universe than the Vienna Philharmonic’s. Write down the range you hear. This gives you a realistic target zone rather than a single number to chase.

Next, find what I call your “confidence tempo.” Set the metronome to the speed at which you can play the excerpt five times in a row without a single technical hiccup—clean shifts, even rhythm, consistent tone, and accurate intonation every time. That’s your current performance floor. Now bump it up by about five to eight clicks. That’s your audition tempo target for the next two weeks of practice. This approach builds sustainable speed rather than the kind of desperate lunging that collapses under pressure.

The 80% Rule: When Good Enough Is Actually Better

A principle I share with every audition student: if the printed marking is quarter equals 160, and you can play it flawlessly at 136, that’s roughly 85% of the marked tempo. In most audition situations, that’s completely acceptable—and often preferable to a shaky 155. Committees are listening for musicianship, rhythmic integrity, and tonal beauty. They’re not sitting there with a metronome app.

Think about the Don Juan opening for viola or cello. The marked tempo is blazing, but the players who advance consistently are those who demonstrate clarity in every note of those runs, not the ones who blur through them at top speed. The same principle applies to the Mozart 39 Symphony violin excerpt or the Beethoven 5 second violin part—clarity and character trump raw speed every single time.

Building Speed Without Sacrificing Quality

If you genuinely need to get faster, here’s a method that works. Practice the excerpt in rhythmic variants: dotted rhythms (long-short and short-long), grouped rhythms (accenting every third or fourth note), and stop-and-go practice where you play two beats at tempo then pause. These techniques train your fingers to find efficient pathways without the cognitive overload of sustaining full speed for the entire passage.

Another technique I’ve seen work wonders is “tempo islands.” Pick the four hardest bars of the excerpt. Get those bars bulletproof at your target tempo. Then gradually extend outward—add a bar before and after each island until the whole excerpt connects. This is far more effective than running the whole thing at a tempo that only works for the easy measures.

What the Committee Actually Hears

I’ve spoken with dozens of audition committee members over the years, and the consensus is remarkably consistent. They want to hear someone who sounds like they belong in the section. That means steady rhythm, good intonation, appropriate style, and a sound that blends. Nobody has ever lost an audition solely because they were eight clicks below the printed metronome marking. But plenty of players have been cut because they pushed the tempo beyond their control and the whole thing sounded frantic and insecure.

So the next time you stare down an intimidating tempo marking, take a breath. Listen to recordings, find your confidence tempo, and build from there. The right tempo for your audition is the one where you sound like the musician you actually are—not the one where you’re just barely holding on.

Ethan Kim is the founder of Orchestra Kingdom, helping string players win auditions and move up in their sections. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for daily tips.