Hello Tbushell, thank you for your reply. Yes, 8 down strums - wasn’t sure given that Justin’s example referred to DUDUDUDU - as you say, playing the 8th strum open sounds OK to me so I will persist and focus on being spot on for the next chord. Much appreciated 
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Hi,
Just watched “Open strings between changes” and I am wondering why you would do the up-strum with open strings? Why not just leave it out? Because it sounds better, or?
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It sounds good, keep the rhythm steady and gives you time to change chords without a pause.
There are also times when leaving it out sound better
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Hi @sorenlandberg as @stitch says, sometimes you want it and the sound fits in with the flow of the rhythm, sometimes you don’t strum Up on the and after 4.
ps
I have moved your post.
Do you know that every lesson on the site had a Discussion button below that takes you directly to the appropriate community topic?
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Thanks, that makes sense!
Thanks, @Richard_close2u, I understand.
I wasn’t aware of that as I am a newbie in the community, as I have only been using the app up until now.
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“it actually sounds beautiful… it might not have been right, but it’s still gonna be fine”
This just made me feel so good and optimistic haha, Justin is such a great teacher!
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Here’s a weird question: When I try to strum the “+” after “4”, if the subsequent chord involves fretting the thinnest string (D major is the best example), I often get this kind of “thunk” sound. I think it’s because the ringing open “+” strum gets truncated, since I need a split second to get finger 2 on string 1 before “1”. If I really, REALLY slow things down, I can sort of avoid it if I let the “+” ring out a scootch longer, and then rush my fingers down together for “1”, but this is definitely the opposite of relaxed.
So I find that I tend to semi-fret the open “+” to get around it – for example, if I’m switching from A to D, I’ll leave finger 1 down on string 3 and I’ll also want to put finger 2 down on 1 before the open “+”. So that “+” isn’t – open. I’ll often tend toward something similar when switching to G major.
It sounds fine to me, but … is this sort of overlap a bad habit that I should nip in the bud? Instead, I could just leave out the “+” after “4” until my changes get better (especially when changing to D or G), or just try the extra “+” only if I’m playing much more slowly.
I hope this makes sense.
Carolyn
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That’s the key I think Carolyn.
I tend to prioritise getting a clean 1 chord. Hybrid fingers positions take a role, sometimes muting sometimes ‘walking’ between chords, not that that makes it correct, but hey, it sounds fine to me
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Thanks for sharing your experience. 
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I have a related question. If I’m strumming, for example, an E chord, then switch to D, the bottom 2 strings are still ringing out when they shouldn’t for a D chord.
Is this something I should worry about, and if so, how can I fix it? It doesn’t sound so good when all the strings are vibrating on a D chord.
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Hi @bunnymai, welcome to the community! You are correct, the bottom two strings (low E and A) don’t belong in the D chord - the E sounds especially bad! Try not to hit them when you strum. It will come with practice!
If you have a minute, maybe tell us a bit about yourself on the Introduce Yourself page!
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If changing from open E to open D, then when I play the D chord I would normally mute the bottom E string with my thumb. The ringing A will sound ok as it is the 5th of the D chord (although my thumb can normally mute that too, but it’s not absolutely necessary). As Judi says, normally when playing the D try to only strike strings 1-4.
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I’m assuming you are fairly early in your journey, so dont stress too much about it.
The important thing is to develop the correct mindset that unplayed strings should be muted/ silenced in some way. You’ll then likely develop the skill sort of organically over time.
Justin does cover this concept in general in various lessons, in reference to both the fretting hand and the strumming hand.
Cheers, Shane
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Thanks @sclay, @mathsjunky and judi!
Yes I’m very new in my guitar journey, just working through Justin’s grade 1 at the moment. I try to only hit the correct strings when strumming, but because the open strings are still ringing out from the previous note, it still sounds bad.
I think the thumb muting covers what I was asking about, I’m guessing Justin will cover the technique in a later video. I wanted to know if experienced players did anything when changing chords to mute any open strings they don’t want ringing out.
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Carolyn, if you are not placing your fingers down on to the new chord (D in this example) together and ‘just in time’ for the 1, but separately and before the 1, then I suggest you sacrifice the upstrum on the + after 4 for now.
Try to improve in other ways first, especially simultaneous landing of fingers: try the advice I give in this post.
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If they are still ringing out from your Up strum of the + after 4 then the fix is simple. Do not hit all of the strings on your Up strum. As a general guide, it is musically better if your Up strums only strike the thinner 3 or 4 strings anyway so that will help you to have better control of your strumming.
If the low E and A strings are still ringing from a Down strum then try hitting less hard on the count of 4.
I hope that helps. Cheers 
| Richard | JustinGuitar Approved Teacher, Official Guide & Moderator
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Thank you @Richard_close2u. I will try the suggested drill. Anything to improve the D… it’s a module 1 chord, but it still gives me grief all these moons later! 
Carolyn
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Love the part about playing the wrong chord can still be beautiful. David Gilmour said he discovered part of Wish You Were Here by making a mistake and it sounded good so he left it.
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