Folk Roll (p-i-m-a)
Beginner4/4p · i · m · a ·
The two strings marked in indigo are where the thumb alternates.
One note per beat — thumb, index, middle, ring, straight up the chord. The first fingerpicking pattern most players learn.
Rest your thumb on the bass string between notes. If the pattern speeds up on its own, the thumb is rushing — it should feel like a metronome.
Start at 80 BPM — slow enough that every note rings clearly before the next one is plucked — and raise the tempo about 5 BPM at a time, only once a full pass sounds even. Press Play to hear the pattern and watch the column move across the grid, then play along with it. Fingerpicking is built by the thumb: if the bass line wobbles, slow down until it does not, whatever the fingers are doing.
Pick a style
Filter by style — folk, Travis, classical, blues, country, pop, Latin or arpeggio — and by difficulty. All 24 patterns are free to browse.
Read the grid
Each row is a string (tab order, high e on top) and each column is a subdivision of the bar. The letter in the cell is the finger: p, i, m or a. Switch to Frets to read it as tab.
Choose the chords
Loop a real progression, or drop to one chord to drill the picking hand alone. The diagram shows the shape and rings the two strings the thumb alternates between.
Set a tempo you can hold
Every pattern opens at its own suggested BPM. Play along, then raise it about 5 BPM at a time — only once a whole bar sounds even.
Not sure what to put underneath Folk Roll (p-i-m-a)? Try — I – vi – IV – V.
About Guitar Fingerpicking Patterns
Fingerpicking (also called fingerstyle) is playing the guitar with the fingers of the picking hand instead of a pick, so bass, harmony and melody can sound at once. This tool holds 24 fingerpicking patterns across 8 styles — folk, Travis picking, classical, blues, country, pop and ballad, Latin and Spanish, and pure arpeggio studies. Every pattern is written in standard p-i-m-a notation (p = thumb, i = index, m = middle, a = ring), laid out on a string-by-string grid so you can see exactly which finger plucks which string on which beat, and played back over a real chord progression with sampled acoustic, classical or electric guitar. Set the tempo anywhere from 40 to 200 BPM, loop one chord to isolate the picking hand, or run a four-chord progression to practise changing shapes without losing the pattern.
- 0124 fingerpicking patterns across 8 styles
- 02p-i-m-a fingering shown for every note
- 03String-by-string grid — switch between finger letters and fret numbers (tab)
- 04Alternating-bass thumb strings marked on the chord diagram
- 0510 chord progressions, or loop a single chord
- 06Adjustable tempo, 40–200 BPM, with a one-bar count-in
- 07Acoustic, classical, and electric guitar sound
- 08Beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels
- 09Free — no download or sign-up