I have been working on speed and using a metronome and everything and my left hand is doing pretty well, but my picking hand cant seem to keep up and it slows me down when I play. What can I do about this?
My teacher gave me an excercise when starting out to get speed in my picking hand by turning on a metronome to sixteenth notes, and then alternate pick the low e string for 5 minutes. It helps build up some strength and speed.
I've found that my right (picking) hand is the first to tense up during a long practice session, but I think it's all in the forearm.
Both the hand itself, as well as the fingers, are driven by muscles within the forearm, and thus strength here will provide you with greater speed and stamina in picking. Some of the best exercises for the forearm are forward and revers wrist curls.
Use a light weight, such as a small bottle of water, and do three sets of 15-20 curls, curling the wrist either forward (palm facing upwards) or backwards (palm facing downwards). Do this once per day for a couple weeks, and you'll start to find that your picking hand is becoming faster than your fretting hand :D
8)
Use the Big Muff, Luke
