Balance

[fm81]

Ok guys, I'm a very mediocre guitar player of three years experience.My problem is that I used to be a black metal drummer which means the right hand side of my body is more devloped than the left.When I play guitar my right hand starts of at 190 bpm and just gets faster while my left hand is pretty slow and jerky: lots and lots of muffed notes etc.

My question is,how can I co-ordinate left and right? Are there any specific legato techniques you would reccommend? Where can I buy one of those finger and hand strengthening devices?


Cheers!

[rgr]

Originally Posted by fm81

My question is,how can I co-ordinate left and right? Are there any specific legato techniques you would reccommend? Where can I buy one of those finger and hand strengthening devices?

Congrats, you are starting at the same place as every other right handed guitar player.

A) To build coordination, don't practice legato.

B) Legato exercises are great for strengthening your left hand which will help with the coordination, but don't build coordination per se.

C) Those hand exerciser thingies can be bought at most music stores, ordered online, and lots of sporting good stores (maybe packaged different, but the same thing). Be aware, if you use them incorrectly, it is possible to do more harm than good.

D) There are tons of great exercises, for a start, check here www.ibreathemusic.com, look under technique.

Hope this helps,
Roger

[JazzPimp]

Metronome

[lyconxero]

What I always have to do is just to start off slow. I generally want to just jump in at full speed, but I find it much more difficult to actually play through what I'm trying to do slowly and then SLOWLY increase the speed. But doing this has really helped out with the whole control thing (and it makes your playing sound sooo much cleaner).

[fm81]

Cool,thanks guys. I raised my action to about 1.5 cm which pretty much means I'm having to learn all over again.I'm finding that I REALLY have to play clean and slow at first this way, which keeps ol' righty from jumping in at 200bpm and screwing everything up.

[rgr]

1.5cm, wow!!!! 1.5mm maybe?

[fm81]

nope, 1.5cm:takes some adjusting on a Floyd Rose let me tell you: I couldn't go any higher but it really works for forcing you to be precise and slow in your playing.