[Desi]

Hey, Guys.

I'm in need of some advice. Throughout the time I've been playing I never noticed how much of a workout I've been giving my right hand. You see, I have developed tremolo picking speed while my left hand is left in the dust, it's so much slower than my right hand's picking speed it's not even funny. I can't coordinate both hands when the speed increases, my fingers tense up and become sluggish.

What would you Guys say is the best way to practice left hand speed and coordination? And also, I'm having a bit of trouble string crossing at higher speeds. Must be because I lose the feel of my alt picking and end up crossing on an upstroke when it should've been a downstroke and vice versa. A little help here?

All advice will be greatly appreciated.

[right_to_rage]

First bit of advice I can give comes from john petrucci is stretch before you play. Try massaging each finger, stretch your wrists to make things limber. Practice legato exercises lots, because those work entirely your left hand. Try learning a few 3 note per string scales and practice running up and down them picking only the first note on each string. Do it slowly at first and try to keep your hand relaxed but snappy and precise. As for the right hand string skipping, slow it down and make sure your doing the movements right and then speed it up. It will come with time if you focus on your movements.

[Bound]

I can't say it enough; Troy Stentina's Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar.

Helped get both my hands moving. But there's some excellent left hand work in there. I still warm up with a bunch of the finger exercises in it.