This is not a question about changing chords per se. For purposes of this, assume you are playing an E chord. So, the thinner strings continue to ring each time I strum. I’m not looking to play staccato or to mute them, but when I watch instructional videos, the open chords just sound cleaner with no continued ringing. I get how to mute when doing barre chords but releasing the pressure in your fingers on an open chord only gets you so far.
Hope this makes sense, and someone can suggest a path forward. Thanks!
It’s a bit difficult to understand what you mean without seeing you play the chords (a video is always handy) and of course what you are comparing yourself too…bear in mind “recording” and production will make things sound very different to a simple live recording.
In essence though what I don’t see you mention - and what is covered in this lesson >> Palm Muting | JustinGuitar.com - is palm muting. That is using the palm of your strumming hand to mute the strings (either continuously or between bars) rather than your fretting hand
This could be related to your strumming of the chord. I often found that I could not get the high e string to ring enough to hear it. I noticed that it was totally related to how I am striking it when I get to. If you attack it obliquely and with an end of arm/hand arc motion that has you just glide across it it will not ring much. The opposite is also true. If you glide across most strings obliquely and end your strum on a very direct attack with a slight twist you may be emphasizing that string over all others without knowing it. You can experiment with many different types of hand motions and angles of attack to see the effect.