Originally Posted by: enochthestrangeI cant do it, i mean, i can go realativily fast, i can hit eithnotes at 120bpm

but i couldnt go into the fast stuff, my friend has been playing not even as long as i have and she picks pretty fast. its like it came naturally to her

I use thick piicks, im not sure thats the problem tho haha
anybody have any lessons for hand exercises?

Using thicker picks really shouldn't hurt your picking at all. Pick thickness, is really all about personal preference and what feels right for your playing style. The big name players out there are all over the map as far as that goes....Paul Gilbert uses a .60mm Tortex (pretty thin), Dave Mustaine uses a .73mm, Hetfield and Hammet use .88mm picks....Vinnie Moore used to use an Extra Heavy pick filed to a point (not sure these days)....Guys like Eric Johnson and John Petrucci use the Dunlop Jazz IIIs....Some of the real uber-shredders like Francesco Fareri use those little 2mm and 3mm Dunlop Stubby picks. Myself, I prefer the little 1.14mm Tortex Jazz picks....
There's no real right or wrong answer on that...It all just comes down to the feel that you prefer. Do you like a little flex or "snap" to you pick? Do you like the pick to be more rigid and responsive? Or somewhere in between it all? The more that you play & practice, more that your own preferences will pan out with time. Picks are a fairly cheap item to mess with...So try buying 1 or 2 of many different styles, sizes & thicknesses and just mess around with them until you find that few that fit your own feel preferences.

As far as exercises go...There are sooooo many out there to mess with, that it's impossible to really list them all here. But some of the best starter routines are still just the good old 3 & 4 note per string chromatic drills that are not so much scale oriented, as much as just drills for building up the physical picking skills. Just start at the 1st fret of the low E string and using your Index, Middle and Ring fingers...Just go 1-2-3 on the E, 1-2-3 on the A, 1-2-3 on the D, 1-2-3 on the G, 1-2-3 on the B and 1-2-3 on the High E. Move up 1 fret and reverse the pattern to come back down to the low E string again...Move up 1 fret & keep on repeating this whole pattern up & down the neck. To do it with a 4 note pattern, simply add in the pinky finger to the pattern...So that it goes 1-2-3-4 on each string & repeat until your fingers bleed. :eek: LOL

Be sure to try and always work with a metronome or drum machine to help you keep time....Which really is important. A tightly played slower lick, will almost always sound better & more impressive than a ridiculously fast, sloppy one. So start off right, by paying attention to the meter/tempo that you are working in. Start with a tempo that is exceedingly easy for you to execute and work with it until you can do it without having to think about it at all. Focus on keep the movements of both hands as minimal as possible, while still articulating the notes clearly & evenly.
Once you can complete the routines pretty regularly start bumping up the tempo bit by bit. When you start to struggle with execution or consistency..drop the tempo well back within your comfort zone and focus one the fundementals again for a while. You can use the trick of going a bit beyond your threshold to help you break out of a rut and onto the next level...but always make sure to go back and drill on the fundementals again within your comfort zone, to keep from developing any sloppy habits.

As far as on the site here....I've got a 3 note per string "Shred Lick" tutorial goign, that I just started putting together that uses the A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor) as it's base & is geared more towards the intermediate/advanced type player.
3 Note Per String Shred Licks
But when you really get down to it....It's just a 1-2-3 type drill, but using a scale instead of just chromatic runs. So it's really only as difficult as the tempo that you choose to play it at. No reason at all, that you couldn't slow it down and tackle something along those lines as well. There is also many good speed related lessons by The Jonezter on this site as well...so you could try giving those a search as well.

Best of luck to ya!

Don