In traditional guitar notation, the letters p, i, m, and a are used to refer to the fingers on the picking hand. Taken from the Spanish language, here’s what the letters represent:
- p = pulgar (thumb) 
- i = indice (index or first finger) 
- m = medio (middle or second finger) 
- a = anular (ring or third finger) 
You see a visual example of this Spanish fingering system in the following figure. Occasionally you come across pimac, where the letter c stands for chico, the pinky finger.




