Ultra Presto: Meaning, Speed and Practice Tools
Ultra Presto (Beyond conventional speed) covers 201–300 BPM in the classical tempo tradition.Beyond the conventional range.
How fast is Ultra Presto in BPM?
Ultra Presto is the final band, running 201 to 300 BPM. It is not really a marking composers use so much as a category for speeds past the end of the conventional scale — at 300 BPM you get five beats a second. It appears in extreme speed studies, some contemporary works, and in modern contexts where the metronome itself is the subject.
Ultra Presto in classical music
- •Beyond conventional tempo ranges
- •Appears in extreme speed studies and contemporary experimental work
- •Far more a category than a practical performance marking
- •Used in modern contexts exploring rhythm itself
- •Typically explored through metronome practice rather than repertoire
Famous pieces in Ultra Presto
Étude Op. 10 No. 7
Frédéric Chopin (1832)
Often discussed as pushing towards the limits of the marking range.
The Flying Fingers
Scott Joplin (1902)
A ragtime showcase written to sound impossibly fast.
Speed Etudes (metronome studies)
Various
Written specifically to be practised against a metronome at maximum settings.
Try the Ultra Presto metronome
Try Ultra Presto here — set to 250 BPM, limited to 201–300 BPM for this marking.
How to practise at Ultra Presto
Above 200 BPM the metronome is usually the exercise rather than the accompaniment. Use it to test timing accuracy rather than to accompany repertoire: tap along and check that you can stay locked to it without the click feeling like it is fighting you. Most players find 200 to 250 BPM genuinely useful and 250 to 300 BPM a curiosity. Push beyond only if you have a specific reason to.
Related markings
Questions
How fast is Ultra Presto?
Ultra Presto covers 201 to 300 BPM.
Is Ultra Presto playable for most musicians?
It is useful for training timing accuracy, but at these speeds very little standard repertoire is played — it is more a study range than a performance one.
What is the fastest tempo on this site?
300 BPM, which works out to five beats per second.
Do composers actually write Ultra Presto?
Rarely as a marking, but the range is referenced in extreme etudes and in contemporary work that treats rhythm as the subject.
All markings
Browse every Italian tempo marking from Larghissimo to Ultra Presto: