Patterns
Written by: Luna Flina
Notes:
This list is unofficial. All names of these patterns below are according to a personal view or from other games, there are no official terms for them, so take them as references.
A charter shouldn’t focus on what patterns to make, it is better to chart according to how they feel about the song and the patterns will just be a natural outcome. So this list is just to show what those patterns can be.
Remember that visual examples are just examples. A pattern can differ a lot through each charts.
The list is categorized by difficulty level, which is about how hard it is to make them, how common they are, or how technical they are. This is not about how hard it is to play them.
Level 1
Single note: The most basic pattern. Requires a single tap to register.
Chords: Double chords, triple chords and quadruple chords (usually called doubles, triples, and quadruples). Requires 2 or more fingers to tap.
Doubles are common in most charts, while triples and quadruples are fairly rare cause they are much more difficult, especially for thumbs players.
Simple long note: Requries to hold until the scan line reaches its tail.
Straight drag: Pretty much easiest to make drag pattern, and to play.
Level 2
Grace notes: Almost like a chord, but 1 note has a slightly later tap time than the other. It can be 1/8 beat or 1/16 beat. This pattern is somewhat rare.
Alternating: A pattern that requires player to alternate tapping between hands. This is usually in 1/6 beat or lower (most common is 1/4).
Trills: A common pattern that also requires player to alternate tapping, but at a higher speed. This is usually in 1/8 beat or higher (most common is 1/8). It can be straight up/down or leaning to left or right.
Jack patterns:
Minijack: Requires 1 finger to tap fast in (usually) 1/8 beat twice.
Normal jack: Requires 1 finger to tap fast in (usually) 1/8 beat 3-5 times.
Jackhammer: Requires 1 finger to tap fast in (usually) 1/8 beat more than 6 times.
Diagonal drag: Drag notes that go a straight line in left, right or both directions.
Zigzag drag: A drag pattern in zigzag, can be any beats.
Shields: Combination of click and hold in 1/8 or higher beats. There are 2 types like in this example.
Flick drags: Like flick notes in Cytus 2, but in a certain direction. It can be any beats higher than 1/8. It can also be combined with click notes.
Burst: A quick burst of notes in faster beats in a short time. This is usually in 1/16 beat.
Level 3
Note layering: Combination of multiple simple patterns in each hands.
Pedal points: A pattern that requires one hand to play the bass/sustained instrument (highlighted notes), while the other hand to play the main instruments. Both sides can be any kind of notes, but the pedal points are mostly in click notes. A clear example for this pattern is the multiple click patterns in Codename : Zero.
Stairs/Reverting stairs: Combination of click notes in 1/4 beat or higher in a diagonal line. It is called reverting stair when it goes in more than one directions. This pattern is rare, and is only used in high level charts like L2B.
Roll: A repeat pattern of multiple stairs, usually in 1/8 beat or higher. It can be either click notes or drag notes. This pattern is rare, but common in L2A.
Bracket: Can be either click or crossing drag notes. Extremely rare because how much it surprises players. This pattern can be seen in Biotonic.
Wall: Combination of many hold notes to form a wall. It doesn’t need to be always in a straight line.
Trees and jumptrills: More advanced types of trills. Tree is a pattern with 1 part as a straight line, while the other part is random. Jumptrill has both parts random. These patterns can be seen in Halcyon and Total Sphere.
Half chain/Chain drags: A drag note in the position right-left-left-right or vice versa is a half-chain. A chain drag is when 2 of them are combined, forming a pattern like a chain.
Level 4
Streams: Combination of trills, jacks, and/or chords in 1/8 beat or higher. This pattern can be seen in The Ricochet and Entrance.
Advanced drag notes layering: Can be in any beats. Can be seen at charts that use heavy amount of drags as gimmick like L.
Advanced hold notes layering: Can be in any beats. Usually seen at charts of songs with violin as main instrument, like the entire chapter L.
Wave drags: Drag pattern in a wave form, usually in 1/8 beats or higher.
Convex (Parabolic) and Concave drags: Usually in 1/8 beats or higher.
Velocity changing drags: Drag patterns that require player to move at many different speeds. These drag patterns are usually seen at dubstep songs.
Bricks: Multiple straight short drags, looks like lines of bricks falling.
Revolving drag+click: Infamous pattern in Freedom Dive and Blue Eyes, but not practical to use in many situations.
Level 5
Easter Egg: This comes in many kinds of patterns so its level is also variable. Easter Egg is the name for patterns that reflect an image, a word or a meaning about the song. It requires a high amount of imagination and patterning, plus the charter’s knowledge about the song, thus making it appearing in the highest level.
Polyrhythm: It means the simultaneous use of conflicting rhythms. In charting, it shows multiple patterns going with each other at the same time, each patterns reflect an instrument. This can be seen in L2 and most songs of chapter L. It requires a really high sense of rhythm to be able to use correctly, and also really hard to master because using it is easy to cause ghost notes or cause many annoying or sudden difficulty spike patterns.