I'm having trouble with my strumming. Although I can play most basic chords...

I follow a lead sheet and strum the chords indicated, but it doesn't quite the way they play it on the CD...

A songbook I have only indicates chords, not any picking or strumming pattern or how to play a song...

I'm having problems with my strumming patterns for different songs. I'm pretty much stuck...

I recently received guitar music from my youth director...

I'm having trouble with my strumming. Although I can play most basic chords and some barre chords, all my strums sound the same. Can you help??

There are many ways you can make your strumming more interesting:

1. By creating or learning a variety of strumming patterns that consist of various rhythms.

2. By appropriately using articulations (accents, staccato, tenuto, etc.) and adding more contrast and feeling.

3. By incorporating several techniques such as muting, hammering-on, pulling-off, etc. into your playing.

4. By learning and playing alternative chord forms instead of just the same old basic open chords.

These are some of many things you can do to bring your strumming to the next level. Also, pick a song or two you really like that use strumming, and try to emulate it. It not only helps you to learn various strumming patterns, but also allows you to get the "feeling."

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I follow a lead sheet and strum the chords indicated, but it doesn't quite sound the way they play it on the CD. What am I doing wrong?

It's a little hard to give precise advice without knowing exactly what kind of lead sheet or tablature you are following. However, the discrepancy may arise either because:

1. The chords you are following may be incorrectly written, or 

2. The chords are correctly indicated, but the fingerings--or chord voicings--may be different from the originals. 

In either case, you may need to listen to the recording very carefully and figure out exactly what chords and forms they are playing. As shown in More Guitar Chords and Accompaniment and Jazz Guitar Chords and Accompaniment, there is more than one way to play a chord. Even if it says Cm, one needs to be aware that many other ways to play the same chord exist and one voicing sometimes can sound very different from another. After you know what chord voicing is being played, check out your accompaniment against the recording and you may notice that the actual rhythms may be different from what's written on the lead sheet.

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Many lead sheets and songbooks do not provide accompaniment patterns or specific performance instructions. So, it's often up to the player to figure out how to accompany a song, based on the musical style and some other info specified on the lead sheet.

What you've started realizing is very important and is often taken lightly by many beginners. Yes, as the people you've contacted have advised you, listening to an actual song or recording is very helpful in learning how to play the song or accompaniment. However, it takes long hours, patience and a lot of practice before you'll be able to listen to a performance and copy it accurately. 

As you've already figured out yourself, you can greatly minimize your effort and most efficiently use your time by first learning the fundamentals, such as common and basic accompaniment patterns and skills along with various forms of guitar chords. Once you have the basics under your belt, it's MUCH easier to emulate whatever songs or performance you'd like to play on your guitar. It also opens a lot of doors and adds much fun to your overall guitar learning. Check out Guitar Chords and Accompaniment, which progressively teaches you the basic concepts and techniques.

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I'm having problems with my strumming patterns for different songs. I'm pretty much stuck on the same pattern and can't change. Can you please help me? Thanks, Steve.

If you feel you are stuck with a limited number of strumming patterns, it sounds like it’s time to explore different patterns and styles! You can pick some CDs or music that you are currently interested in, and then start imitating the patterns that you like. This'll take time and patience, and it may be difficult without learning some basics at first. An alternative to this approach is to get a book that lists a collection of strumming patterns. Instead of learning all the patterns, you can pick one or two at a time, and gradually increase your repertoire over time. Combining both listening to music and learning from an instruction book will further accelerate your learning. 

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I recently received guitar music from my youth director. I was wondering if you could tell me how I can figure out the strumming pattern for the music. The notes are listed above all the regular music, but I have no idea on the strumming pattern.

Which accompaniment style or strumming patterns you apply really depends on many factors, including the song’s:

1. Musical style  
2. Arrangement  
3. Instrumentation  
4. Tempo  
5. Number of other accompaniment instruments in the band

The best thing you can do is to talk frankly with your music director or conductor and tell him/her that you’re having trouble figuring out the guitar part and would like to know exactly what kind of guitar accompaniment he/she is looking for. Based on his/her response and advice, review the lead sheet one more time and experiment with various accompaniment patterns. Through trial-and-error, you should be able to come up with something that is compatible with the song arrangement and the director’s intention. 

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