Playing a chord in the 4- step picking pattern

Hi there, brand new to Guitar Tricks and just finding my way around the guitar and finding it a bit daunting but excited at the prospect of learning to play the guitar. One thing confusing me at the moment is in the lesson playing a chord in the 4-step picking pattern for beginners, when you select the E-minor chord on that pattern you don't actually play any of the strings that make up that chord, as you only play the low E the G,B, and high E. Can anyone explain to me, because the way I see it your only playing the above strings open and skipping the fretted strings A & D.

Thanks

John

E-minor chord contains notes E , G and B. It doesn't matter what order the notes are played, or what strings are used and in which octave each of the notes are played, it is still the Em chord. When skipping A and D strings, you pick a base note on low E string, and then Em triad in using strings 1-3.

Thank you.

John