Changing chords on the 'and' of 4: the open-string trick

G, C, D and Em in down-up eighths, with the last upstroke of every bar strummed on the open strings while the fretting hand is already on its way to the next chord. It's how working guitarists change chords without a gap in the strum: the open strings fill the moment the hand is in the air, and the ear barely notices them. Here the trick is written in, so you learn to let go of a chord early on purpose.

Changing on the 'and' of 4: 4 bars of 4/4 in E standard, written at 90 bpm.

The strum: an arrow down or up for each strum, a cross for a muted one, a dot for a single note, and a faint arrow where the hand keeps moving without touching the strings.

Practise it at 54 bpm

Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 90 bpm. No account or microphone needed.

Goal tempo: 90 bpm
Starts at: 54 bpm
Length: 4 bars, looped
Tuning: E standard
Time: 4/4
Level: Beginner
Plays with: Drums

How to play it

Lift the fretting hand off on the last 'and' of each bar and strum the open strings as it travels.

The strum is down, down-up, down-up, down-up: '1, 2 and 3 and 4 and'. On the last 'and' of each bar the fretting hand lets go of its chord and heads for the next, and the upstroke catches the open strings while the fingers are in the air.

Lift the fingers as the downstroke on 4 sounds, not after it, so they have the whole of the 'and' to travel. The open strings ring for an instant between two chords, so lightly that the ear hears them as part of the strum.

The chords are G, C, D and Em. Em to G, back at the start of the loop, moves every finger: that's the change to watch.

Mistakes to watch for

Letting go too late, so the open strings land on the beat instead of the 'and'.
Strumming the open strings hard. That upstroke should be the lightest in the bar.
Using the trick to change late on every chord. It buys an eighth note, not a beat.

A speed plan

The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:

That's 16 loops and about 4 minutes before you're playing at 90 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one. Strums are checked for when they land, not for which strings rang.

Questions

How fast should I play Changing on the 'and' of 4?

The goal is 90 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3 strums a second. Start wherever every strum is clean: the player begins at 54 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.

Isn't strumming open strings cheating?

No, it's how most working guitarists keep a strum going through quick changes. The open strings sound so briefly, on the weakest stroke of the bar, that they're heard as part of the rhythm rather than as wrong notes.

Should I always change chords this way?

Use it whenever a change would otherwise be late. As your changes get quicker you'll need it less, but it stays useful at fast tempos and on hard changes like the barre F.

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