Practice

reading charts & patterns

2 min read

the pattern vocab for all three games, plus how i approach them. ordered roughly from "fine" to "send help."

maimai#

pattern	what it looks like	how i play it
jacks	the same button repeated fast	alternate hands if possible. if not, wrist, not arm
trills	two buttons alternating	one hand per button. stay relaxed
streams/spins	taps going around the ring	follow with both hands, leading hand on the outside
crossovers	hands have to cross	decide the hand early. watch ahead, not the note
slide spam	lots of slides overlapping	prioritize the starts (taps), then trace slides lazily. zones, not lines
wifi (fan) slides	slides that fan out to 3 endpoints	flat palm sweep
touch spam	touch notes in the centre and inner ring	tap with fingertips, don't press hard
break-heavy	lots of breaks	slow down your mind. breaks are worth 5× + bonus

chuni#

pattern	what it looks like	how i play it
trills	two lanes alternating	two fingers, not two hands
jacks	same lane repeated	alternate hands on the same lane
slides	long moving holds	keep the hand flat, follow the path
air spam	lots of air notes in a row	lift from the wrist, not the shoulder
air-action	hold in air with notes	hand in the beams, wiggle on the beat
crash	taps + air at the same time	ground hand first, then lift
damage notes	avoid them	don't rest on the slider during damage sections

sdvx#

pattern	what it looks like	how i play it
chips	BT taps	fingers, not wrists
trills	BT alternating	two fingers on adjacent buttons
lasers	coloured lines	follow with the knob, use the whole arm for big swings
slams	right-angle lasers	snap it, don't overthink the timing
one-handed	BT + laser at once	the hard part. practice with knob in left hand, BTs with right, then swap
FX + BT	FX holds with BT chips	thumbs on FX, fingers on BT

general reading tips#

look further up. the note you're about to hit is already decided. look at what's coming
chunk patterns. don't read 8 notes, read "a trill and a jack"
relax. tension = misses
watch handcams before trying a hard chart
speed (hi-speed) matters. my settings are in about. change them slowly