If you would like to gain full access to all our Guitar Teaching Materials please visit the Secret Guitar Teacher Site and take a free tour: http://www.secretguitarteacher.com/youtube/ssb.php?lp_id=395 Here's the complete transcript: In the last mini lesson we got as far as using a simple four-notes-to-the-bar finger-picking pattern. But let's move on now and extend this pattern by two notes...We'll hold down an Am chord with our fretting hand Then with our picking hand we start with the thumb playing the root note A on the open fifth string...The index finger then picks the third string, the middle finger the second string and the ring finger the top string So far that's exactly the same as our simple four note pattern, but now we are going to add two more notes on the end. We hit the second string with the middle finger again followed by the third string with the index finger again . So the whole pattern has six notes played thumb...Index, middle, ring, middle, thumb. Here's a little tip about how best to practice this. First start slowly and aim for a steady rhythm 1 2 3 4 5 6. To begin with, pause deliberately after each bar and reset your hand if needed. The thing to look out for is that your hand remains as stationery as possible and it's just the fingers and thumb that moves like this rather than like this. Once you are happy that this is going well, gradually connect each bar so that you are playing with a continuous connected rhythm...And then gradually speed up. Some people find that anchoring their hand helps with stability. You can do this either at the heel of the hand...or using the pinky. which method works best will probably depend on the size and shape of your hand and your guitar, so I suggest trying out different approaches to find out which works best for you. Once you have the picking hand sorted out, then it's time to work through some chord changes. You can use any sequence you like of course to practice with, but make sure if you choose a song, that it is one that is in a 6 beat time - so that it naturally falls into the six notes per bar rhythmic pattern. Here's a great example, a song that almost everyone has heard: House of the Rising Sun. Be sure to pick out the right root notes with your thumb Here's the rhythm chart again if you want to practice this one for a while. There's also a printout that comes free with this video for you to download. Finally the bit of the lesson you have all been waiting for. The answer to the title question: 'What is the PIMAMI finger-picking pattern?' Well it's the pattern we have just been over on this video. Here's how it gets its name. Coming originally from Spanish guitar, fingerpicking instructions are often described using abbreviations for the spanish names of the digits on the picking hand. So that's P for 'Pulgar' meaning thumb, I for 'Indice' meaning Index finger, M for 'Medio' meaning Middle finger and A for 'anular' meaning Ring finger. And when we describe our 6-beat pattern in those terms it spells a sort of word: PIMAMI. A useful way of remembering the picking sequence! If you found this little video useful, please click on the ‘Like’ button if there is one, or leave a comment, and do feel free to share the video with your friends. And if you’d like to gain full access to all our guitar teaching materials please vist the Secret Guitar Teacher site and take a free look round at what's available there. See you again soon!