Picking Pattern Trainer Overview

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Picking Pattern Trainer Overview

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Bring your chords to life – explore, learn, and master fingerpicking patterns!

The Picking Pattern Trainer combines your chords and chord progressions with a wide variety of fingerpicking patterns. It’s both a trainer and a dictionary, perfect for beginners who are learning the basics and professionals looking to expand their fingerstyle repertoire.

🎸 Whether you play guitar, ukulele, banjo, or bass, this tool helps you develop rhythm, coordination, and creativity — making your songs more dynamic and expressive.

📱 Play, practice, and experiment — your songs will sound completely different with new picking patterns!

⭐ Highlights

  • Discover and learn easy and legendary fingerpicking patterns
  • Access a huge library of more than 430 picking patterns
    • 92 for Ukulele
    • 36 for 5-string Banjo
    • The majority are playable on Guitar
  • Listen, compare, and explore – hear how different patterns change the feel of a song
  • Apply patterns to any song, chord progression, or chord list
  • View the result in TAB format and see how fingerings are played
  • Create exercises and practice your patterns with the Practice module
  • Speed Trainer and Timer support your learning progress
  • Save, favorite, and sync your patterns and chord lists across devices
  • Fully integrated into smartChord

🎥 Watch the Picking Pattern Trainer in action:

YouTube player

🎵 Features

  • Comprehensive picking pattern dictionary – a sound explorer for every level
  • Interactive TAB view – touch to hear how the pattern sounds
  • Gesture control – swipe left or right to switch between patterns
  • Favorite mode – optionally switch only between your favorite patterns
  • Filter function – quickly find patterns by typing a finger sequence
  • Create and save exercises for regular practice
  • Link picking patterns directly in your Songbook songs
  • Tap a pattern in the Songbook to show or listen to it instantly
  • Use Speed Trainer and Timer to gradually improve your accuracy and endurance
  • Store unlimited variations and combinations of chords and patterns for later use
  • Sync across devices – always keep your progress and patterns up to date

You can add …

The sequence means that the chords are added as they are placed in the chord progression or song. The set means that every chord is added just once.

This screen displays a comprehensive list of picking patterns. To help you find what you need more easily, you can filter the patterns by:

  • Time signature
  • Pattern number
  • Type / Genre
  • Maximum number of fingers required
  • Favorites

You can additionally filter the patterns by entering the finger sequence.

The pattern naming convention:

  • v – variation
  • PP – picking pattern
  • 44 – time signature (4/4)
  • r – repeat basic pattern
  • ab – alternate bass

🖐️ The PIMA System

In the pattern view, the letters represent the Spanish finger names commonly used in classical and fingerstyle notation:

  • P = Pulgar (thumb)
  • I = Índice (index finger)
  • M = Medio (middle finger)
  • A = Anular (ring finger)

This helps you understand and visualize which fingers to use for each note in a picking pattern.

⚙️ Settings

  • Swipe control: Switch between patterns or only among favorites
  • TAB playback: Play notes by tapping directly on the TAB
  • Sound settings: Choose how the picking pattern is played
  • Practice settings: Define exercise duration, tempo increase, and playback behavior

🧩 Integration

  • Works seamlessly with the Songbook
  • Apply picking patterns to any song or chord progression
  • Create custom exercises from your favorite songs
  • Print or save your practice material for offline use
  • Linked with other smartChord tools like the Metronome, Speed Trainer, and Chord Dictionary

The smartChord Picking Pattern Trainer is your complete companion for developing a natural and expressive fingerstyle technique.
It helps you learn, practice, and create – transforming simple chords into rich, musical arrangements.

smartChord – everything you need for your rhythm, harmony, and creativity.