The strumming hand stops when you start singing. What helps?

You can play a short excerpt without singing, but when the words start the right hand slows or stops. For this try, shorten the excerpt, simplify the strum or use the voice without full singing. You do not have to practise the whole song from the start, or pass a series of tests.

Make the playing easier for the try

Open a song you already know well. In the song view you can mark a short bar range to practise.

Keep the simplest strum you know. If the pattern steals your attention, strike the strings only downwards. In Frère Jacques, count “one, two, three, four” and strike only on “one”. That is the start of the bar. Slow down to a tempo where the right hand moves calmly through the whole excerpt.

Try humming or speaking the words

Now pick one of two tries. Hum the tune without words, or speak the words in time without singing the melody. You do not have to do both. Listen for which version makes it easier to keep the same right-hand movement.

If one try already feels freer, sing the excerpt normally after it. Still use the simplified strum. When voice and hand start to work together, put back one harder element: the earlier pattern, or a longer excerpt.

What if the hand still stops?

Simplify one more thing: choose a shorter range, slow down, or strike only at the start of the bar. If the hand stops on a particular word, say that word in this try instead of singing it. Come back to the melody when the word no longer changes the hand's movement.

Also check the same excerpt with no voice. If the hand still stops on the G to C change, practise that change on its own in Chord Changes. Treat the result as a clue to whether the difficulty already starts with the chords.