Right/Left Hand Synchronization

[Autumn]

I was wondering if there were any exercise that could improve the coordination and synchronization of the left and right hand?
I've found that any time I try and go above about 80bpm, one hand wants to go faster than the other.
Does the synchronization just come with practice or are there exercises that I can do to help with hand synchronization?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Rute Rodrigues]

Yeah you can do alternate picking exercises with a slow metronome. That will help you. You could practice scales too, with a slow tempo and going incrising the tempo. If one hand wants to move faster than other is maybe because you want to play faster than you can, so what you should is to practice slow and go incrising when you feel comfortable. Strumming can also help

 

[Autumn]

Yeah you can do alternate picking exercises with a slow metronome. That will help you. You could practice scales too, with a slow tempo and going incrising the tempo. If one hand wants to move faster than other is maybe because you want to play faster than you can, so what you should is to practice slow and go incrising when you feel comfortable. Strumming can also help

Thank you for the tip! I'll try it out!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Practice definetly does the trick. Slowly and daily. But as for exercises string skipping stuff should be especially helpful

 

[Cedric L]

Agree with @Rute Rodrigues. I used alternate/economy picking exercises to play more synchronously.

 

[idssdi]

Go from slow to fast. Once your hands are synchronized at 80 BPM you can move on but that doesn't Nescecarily mean they will instantly be syncrhonized at 85 BPM sometimes trying going slightly faster than your ability can do the trick too. For example, set the metronome at 90 BPM for a bit and after a while go back to 85 BPM. 85BPM will feel slower and for some reason that makes it easier.

 

[Autumn]

Practice definetly does the trick. Slowly and daily. But as for exercises string skipping stuff should be especially helpful

Technique wise this is something I haven’t yet tried! When you do string skipping, is there a specific picking technique to try? (Alternate picking, down picking, economy picking, etc) Should I try to mix them together or practice the techniques separately?

 

[Adin Shepherd]

Technique wise this is something I haven’t yet tried! When you do string skipping, is there a specific picking technique to try? (Alternate picking, down picking, economy picking, etc) Should I try to mix them together or practice the techniques separately?

I would stick to alternate and down picking, leave economy picking for moving to adjacent strings. Feel free to mix and match if the passage you are practicing calls for it though.

 

[Ezequiel Romanko]

also try to practice diferent excercises that involves different movements like the 24 permutation lesson or the etudes and practicing 2 3 4 and more notes per string do it slow as everyone says cuz its really the trick there! in a couple of weeks you will notice an enormous difference!

 

[Donovan Etue]

Alternate picking scales is my go to if I want to work on syncing up my hands. Go with a scale you know by heart or one close to that and while you're doing that pull up a youtube video or a tv show you enjoy and practice while you're watching that. I find that if I focus on the fretboard or my fingers too much I mess up more often. If I'm watching a tv show or one of my favorite YouTubers new video and practice then it seems to work it's way into muscle memory faster. Good luck dude.

 

[Autumn]

Alternate picking scales is my go to if I want to work on syncing up my hands. Go with a scale you know by heart or one close to that and while you're doing that pull up a youtube video or a tv show you enjoy and practice while you're watching that. I find that if I focus on the fretboard or my fingers too much I mess up more often. If I'm watching a tv show or one of my favorite YouTubers new video and practice then it seems to work it's way into muscle memory faster. Good luck dude.

You're a genius!! Thank you!! I think I'll start bingeing The Bachelor!

 

[Firsty Lasty]

80 bpm, but many notes per beat? Are we talking like one note per metronome click or like 16th notes or what?

I can think of a couple of things you might enjoy trying, and I do want you to spend more time with things you enjoy vs things which aren't as fun.

#1 If you're trying to learn a picking thing, maybe try learning the thing perfectly with your picking hand only until it's as easy as breathing. Then slow way back down again and learn the other hand. One challenge at a time. When I do this kind of thing I take my left hand and lay a finger across the strings on a harmonic, usually at the 12th fret. This way it feels like I'm picking fretted notes (vs picking muted strings). You can also tune the strings down a whole step to minimize fatigue, but I usually don't bother.

#2 Try spending some time practicing with no "autopilot", in other words be in control of every note one at a time. Slow down so much that you can always think ahead to the next note. It should be literally impossible to make mistakes practicing this way. I don't always practice like this, but when I do I always see obvious improvements in economy of motion.

#3 Maybe tension is making muscular control more complicated for you. Frequently relax and massage your forearms, front and back. Or maybe this isn't a problem at all, how would I know? Just another thing to think about.

 

[Donovan Etue]

You're a genius!! Thank you!! I think I'll start bingeing The Bachelor!

Tell that to my family lol No problem man! I always enjoy sharing tips after having a lot of cool folks do the same for me!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Tell that to my family lol No problem man! I always enjoy sharing tips after having a lot of cool folks do the same for me!

But seriously, that's a great tip, I do it all the time. Can't Tell If I'm really progressing but Hey, practice is practice

 

[Donovan Etue]

But seriously, that's a great tip, I do it all the time. Can't Tell If I'm really progressing but Hey, practice is practice

I had heard someone mention it just shortly after I had started learning to play and it made that first month a bit easier. Then a little while after I had been roaming the SGS Forums, I read Syn giving the same tip to a fellow newbie and that sort of cemented to me that it was a solid tip and to keep using it. So whenever I see someone having issues relating to trying to sync up their hands or trying to work on their chord changes, scales, or whatever you are trying to repetitively work on I make sure to bring it up. There are certainly days where I feel like I haven't progressed at all on guitar until I go look at the beginner videos on here or on JustinGuitars beginner course. That feeling of flying through lessons that once were just a pain in the ass for you is great. Yup. Just keep on practicing man!