Others involved in musical work picked up instruction to play fast (6)
I believe the answer is:
presto
'fast' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'others involved in musical work picked up' is the wordplay.
'others' becomes 'rest' (I've seen this before).
'involved in' is an insertion indicator.
'musical work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'picked up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'op' in reverse letter order is 'po'.
'rest' put inside 'po' is 'PRESTO'.
'instruction to play' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for presto that I've seen before include "Immediately" , "In quick tempo (mus.)" , "Hey ..., said the magician" , "fast to the maximum" , "Hey ..., according to the magician" .)