Originally Posted by: Simon Hudson

When do you start moving you fingers to the next chord?[/quote][p]As soon as it is necessary for you to get to the next chord on time.

This can vary with your skill level or the musical context.

If you are a beginner, then it's might be necessary for you to stop strumming on beat 2 or 3 in order to get your fingers in place to play the next different chord on the down beat of the next measure.

If you have the skill & dexterity, then you can play right up until the last 1/8th note of the measure & confidently get your hands to the next chord.

If the music has a fast tempo or complex chord changes then you might need a little more maneuvering time regardless of skill level!

[quote=Simon Hudson]

Once you start moving your fingers in place for the Am chord the following will occur to the strings that are currently ringing out.

[p]Some of that muting can (and should) be done with your picking-strumming hand. Don't lift your frettting hand completely off the strings. They should almost always be in contact with the strings to stop unwanted sound from happening.

Some players get away with open strings ringing (even all the open strings!) if it's a strummy acoustic piece. This happens sometimes with quick chord change transitions. The last 1/8th note is just all open strings that ring while the player changes chord shapes.

Hope that helps!