Now that we have our simple C major chord and G major chord, let's put them together! In this lesson we will practice strumming them and going back and forth between the two.

Start with the C major chord. Get your fingers in position. Strum it three times downward. Stop the strings (mute!) from ringing. Change your fingers to the G major chord position. Strum it three times downward. Stop the strings (mute!) from ringing. Change your fingers back to the C major chord position.

Repeat this over and again.

Congratulations! You are playing music!

Eventually we want to focus on rhythm. This means keeping good time with our strumming. We want to make sure that each strum is evenly spaced apart in time. Notice that we are starting with a pattern:

1st Strum

2nd Strum

3rd Strum

Pause (mute)

We do this as we first learn to play chords in order to have a good way to stay in time rhythmically. The pause (mute) is useful in helping us have time to get our fingers from one chord position to the next. Gradually, we can try to practice playing chords on all four beats. But using idea of the pause (mute) in place of a beat is a useful tool for guitarists of any level.

Keep practicing until you can get all four strums in there and switch effectively between the C major and G major chords.

And, again ... Congratulations! Happy playing!