There is always a bit of trial and error when working out strumming on songs.
I just had a quick go at the Sam Cooke song off the top of my head and I think it might be half a bar of E, half a bar of D and then the A is a new bar*
I played old faithful up until that split bar where I changed it to DDU DDU (E-chord D DU, D-chord D DU, A-chord back to old faithful).
In saying all that, that was just off one listen to refamilarise myself with the song which I haven’t listened to for a while.
Great song, I might add this one to my repertoire
*edit. Having listened again, I am now playing it with a rhythm push to A but that is far beyond this module and not necessary.
I can do 55 chord changes per minute by now and I still haven’t been able to play any song and get it to sound actually decent. This is getting frustrating.
Chord changes in songs are not as easy as one minute changes.
Omc’s are repetitive and quite fast, backwards and forwards between two chords. In songs, you’re holding a chord for at least a bar, then suddenly have to change. Quick!
Try strumming the chords only on beat1 for a while. That way you have the rest of the bar to get to the next chord - ready for beat 1 of the next bar.
Next, strum the chords on beats 1 and 3. Now you have a lot less time to get to the next chord.
If you build it up like this, you will eventually be able to strum on all four beats.
You need to take a temporary step away from your strumming pattern. It is rare for a song to have just one pattern all the way through - that is what you tend to arrive at when simplifying a song to make it accessible for beginners.
Go from Old Faithful to four Down strums per bar so each chord can have one or two strums at most.
Or reduce your strums to match the number of chords and play each once only.
Examples.
Hi, for some reason I seem not to be able to remember the correct series of chords to be played for any song which results in not being able to play a song. Are there tips and tools to help remember the chords and strumming patterns?
Thanks John
John @jondewi
I don’t think there is any easy answers. What I do is type out the chords for each lyric line, and look for a pattern, if you on module 2 songs then the sequence should not be too complex unless you have stepped beyond Grade 1 songs.
In terms of strumming if you are only on Module 2 I am surprised you are looking at any other patterns than 4 down strums per bar. Having said that I started to try different patterns early on but it made things difficult.
Hope this helps
Michael
I had to brute-force-repetition my learning of songs. I have very few because it takes me a long time.
I tend to do better at learning these early in the morning, and do very poorly after a long day or when tired. If I am required to do a lot of memorizing at work, I do very poorly with learning a song during that time.
See if this stuff helps:
See if you can adjust when you are trying to learn a song to be in your best part of the day or week
listen to it a lot: driving, doing mindless stuff (making meals, yardwork, etc)
think about the song for a minute or two before sleeping and as you wake up in the morning
Hello!! I haven’t heard any songs from you yet that are Christian/Gospel. My goal is to play at church, and it would be amazing to have you teach some of the songs I hear on Sundays!!
Hi Stern,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun and …
learn the basics of playing guitar with Justinguitar and then you can look up and find the music/chords sheets on the internet and play what you want
Greetings,Rogier
I’ve been trying Sonny’s Dream by Ron Hynes (The Once version which is in A, other chords are D & E). It has worked very well me and is a well know in Canada.
Hi Samuel @Whyx147, welcome to the community! Isn’t it great when you find a song that speaks to you and is just perfect to practice what you’re working on? If you have a minute, head over here and tell us a bit about your guitar journey so far!
and …