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
Frequently Asked Questions
They are the standard fingerstyle abbreviations, taken from Spanish: p = pulgar (thumb), i = índice (index), m = medio (middle), a = anular (ring). The thumb plays the bass strings — 6th, 5th and 4th — while the index, middle and ring cover the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings respectively. The little finger is not normally used. Every pattern on this page labels each note with the finger that plays it.
A straight p-i-m-a roll — thumb on the bass string, then index, middle and ring on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings, one note per beat. It uses each finger exactly once, in order, so there is nothing to memorise beyond the order itself. Start it at around 70–80 BPM on a chord you already know, such as Am or Em, and only speed up once every note rings at the same volume.
Travis picking, named after Merle Travis, is a fingerstyle technique where the thumb plays a steady alternating bass — swapping between two bass strings on every beat — while the fingers play melody and harmony notes on the off-beats. The alternating thumb never stops, which is what makes the guitar sound like two instruments at once. It is the backbone of American folk, country and ragtime guitar. This page has three Travis patterns, from a bare-bones two-finger version to a full roll with pinches.
In everyday use they mean the same thing — playing with the fingers rather than a pick. If a distinction is drawn, "fingerpicking" usually refers to the folk and blues tradition of repeating right-hand patterns under chords (what this tool covers), and "fingerstyle" is the broader term including classical technique and solo arrangements where melody, bass and harmony are all fretted parts of one piece.
No. Bare fingertips work perfectly well and give a warmer, softer tone — most folk and blues players use them. Nails give more volume and attack and are standard in classical and Latin playing. Thumb picks and finger picks are a third option, common in country and resonator playing. Learn the patterns first; the tone question can wait.
Slow enough that every note of the pattern rings clearly before the next one is plucked. Each pattern here opens at its own suggested starting tempo — between 50 and 95 BPM depending on how dense it is — and you can move anywhere from 40 to 200 BPM. Raise it about 5 BPM at a time, and only once a full bar sounds even. If the bass line wobbles, you have gone too fast, no matter how the fingers feel.
That is the entire point of this tool. Pick a progression, then switch patterns without changing anything else: the same four chords become a country boom-chick, a bossa nova, a Travis roll, or a slow ballad arpeggio. The chords supply the harmony; the picking pattern supplies the style.
Eight: folk and acoustic, Travis picking, classical, blues, country, pop and ballad, Latin and Spanish, and arpeggio-based studies — 24 patterns in total, tagged beginner, intermediate or advanced.
Yes — completely free. No account, no download, and no payment required. It runs entirely in your browser.
Yes. On a phone the play, stop and tempo controls sit in a bar fixed to the bottom of the screen, so they stay in reach while you scroll the pattern grid. The pattern list and the tempo, metronome, count-in and guitar-sound settings open as bottom sheets you can swipe down to dismiss. The grid itself scrolls sideways with the string names pinned on the left, and it follows the beat automatically so the column being played stays on screen.