Support

Fingerstyle & Strumming

Something wrong, confusing, or a shape you’d play differently? The quickest way is in the app: Settings → Send feedback (or “Send feedback” at the foot of the home page). It sends your words with the app’s version and the page you were on, and nothing else. For a reply, email support@bendigogames.com and a person will answer. For a chord, say which tuning and capo you had set; for anything else, your phone model and iOS version help.

The chords

Why is one string gold?

Gold always means the thumb’s bass: the lowest note of the shape, the string your thumb plays. Every other colour in the app means something else, so the bass is easy to find in a box, a pattern or the finder.

Why does C say x32010 and not 032010?

The first shape on a chord’s page puts the root in the bass and plays the top strings, as chord charts list it. When another chord note is lowest, the app names it as a slash chord: C/G is 332010, and D/F♯ (2x0232) has its own page. The chord finder names them the same way.

My chord book shows a different shape.

Every shape is worked out from the tuning and checked against what a hand can hold, and the usual open shape leads the page where there is one. More shapes follow up the neck. If yours isn’t there, or the fingering looks wrong for your hand, please send it: real players’ shapes are how the search gets better.

Which tunings are there?

Settings, Tuning: standard (EADGBE), drop D (DADGBE), DADGAD, open G (DGDGBD) and open D (DADF♯AD). Custom lets you set each string. The letters always show beside the name.

The capo

The frets on the boxes look low with a capo on.

They’re counted from the capo, as capo charts are. The chord names are the notes as they sound: G shapes at capo 2 are named A. The capo goes up to the 9th fret.

Why does a key suggest a capo?

When a key’s home chord has no open shape, the key page offers the lowest capo that puts it on open shapes: B♭ is capo 3 with G shapes, F is capo 3 with D shapes.

Picking patterns

Which string does the thumb play?

The patterns keep the fingers fixed and let the thumb’s strings follow the chord: the bass, then the alternate (string 4 under a bass on 6 or 5, string 3 under a bass on 4). Over D the fingers move up a string to make room. In “Travis, four-string bass” the thumb also reaches the far bass string, and on C your 3rd finger hops to string 6 for the G.

Are the patterns right?

They’re taken from published teaching sources, and each says where it comes from. Teachers disagree on a few details. If one sounds wrong to you, send feedback from the app and say which and why.

What does the tempo count?

Quarter notes, so a 4/4 bar is four clicks. In 6/8 it counts dotted quarters, two to the bar. Change a pattern or a chord while it loops and it switches on the next note.

Strumming patterns

How do I read a strum?

Every slot of the bar has an arrow with the count under it: ↓ is a down stroke and ↑ an up stroke. A faded arrow is a miss: keep your hand moving that way without touching the strings, so the next stroke lands in time. Smaller arrows are light strokes, “>” is an accent, ✕ is a chuck (the strings muted under your hand), a dot means the stroke is stopped short, and a string number is a single bass note. PM means palm-muted all through.

Why do down and up strokes sound different?

As on a real guitar: a down stroke sounds every string the shape plays, low to high; an up stroke catches the top strings, high to low, and lighter.

What are “swung” and the sixteenths?

In a swung pattern each up comes late, long-short, as in blues and shuffles. Sixteenth patterns split each beat into four, so the hand moves twice as fast; try them slower first.

The tuner

It names the wrong string.

Pick one string at a time and let it ring, away from other noise, and check the tuning in Settings matches your guitar.

Does it record me?

No. It asks for the microphone only when you start it, analyses the sound on your phone as it arrives, and never records, stores or sends it. It stops when you stop it or leave the page.

Everything else

Where are the finder and the tuner?

Both are under Tools in the tab bar.

There’s no sound.

Check the volume and Settings, Sound. On iPhone the app plays with the silent switch on.

I’m left-handed.

Settings, Left-handed mirrors every box and the finder’s neck.

My saved pages are gone.

Saved pages, recent chords, your progressions and settings are kept on your phone only, so deleting the app (or clearing this site’s data, for the web app) clears them. There is no account to restore from.

Does it need the internet? Does it cost anything?

No and no. It works offline, with no account, no ads and no purchases. When it’s online it sends anonymous usage statistics and session recordings, with anything you type hidden, so we can see what works. Settings → Help improve the app turns that off.

Android?

The web app works in any phone browser, Android included, and can be added to your home screen.

Privacy

No account, and nothing you type is sent. Usage statistics and recordings are anonymous and can be turned off in Settings. See the privacy policy.

Last updated: 14 November 2026