Spanish Lady

It's kinda hard to offer much advice without hearing what you are doing, or at least having a fairly detailed description.
Do you have a recording of yourself, or a link to the version you're trying to play?

I've found a version of the song here on youtube. The chords and lyrics he is using are here.
To me it seems he is strumming Ddududu.

Can you describe what you're not hearing in your performance (yeah, I know it's not an easy thing to do).

With a bit more information someone here should be able to point you in the right direction. (hopefully someone more skilled than I am, but I'll throw my opinion in too)

Hopefully you can pop out an example of where you are right now, as kent_eh says.

Looks like he's doing a bunch of easy open chords. Also seems like it's one of those songs where chord striking emphasis varies greatly. Strumming pattern some too, to a degree. While that can be a challenge, it's a great way to add loads of personality to standard stumming practice.

So, what I do when I learn most new songs is to sit down with chord chart in front of me and imagine the beat or rhythm of the entire song in my head. I start singing the song. Each time a chord change i called for, I strike it once. On the really hard ones, it takes a few goes. Sometimes I nail it first try. What does happen eventually is that you start adding bits and peices as you go along until you get to a point where all of a sudden you've got the whole rhythm thing going. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies. I have the actual sheet music for the song, so the chords and lyrics are not a problem. I was just trying to come up with a strum pattern that would give it that Irish folk music kind of lilt. The song is in 4/4. I have tried a dduddu. I will try the ddududu pattern. Any recommendations on where to accent on each strum (Iwould think the first down of each measure)?

-- Rob

Any recommendations on where to accent on each strum (Iwould think the first down of each measure)?

-- Rob
That's what it sounds like the guy in the video is doing. At least on most measures.

Here's another version done by a full band.
Again, it sounds like most of the time the accent is at the start of the measure, but it does vary.

I think that variability is part of the traditional "home made" kind of sound that makes it sound more like an authentic pub song, and less like a concert hall performance.