Ok...so I know some of you know that when reading tab or a chord diagram, there is the X...which means mute the string. I'm just kind of confused on how to actually mute a string...like...do i just touch it enough so it doesn't make a noise?
You're pretty much on the money. An "X" means that the string is simply not played, whether muted or not. On something like an open C chord:
e--0--
B--1--
G--0--
D--2--
A--3--
E--X--
...you can either strum carefully enough to miss the low E string completely, or you can mute it. I actually mute the low E with my thumb on that chord most of the time, just in case I'm sloppy - which is often. :lol:
There's a variant of the G chord that I have NO idea what it's called, but it looks like:
e--3--
B--3--
G--0--
D--0--
A--X--
E--3--
In that case, with the A string in need of a good muting, I just lay my index finger (which is fretting the low E) down a bit and touch it so it doesn't ring out when strummed.
I'm sure someone else could come up with a much better explanation than this, but I hope you get the general idea of what I'm trying to say. :)
I think Pilot's explained it pretty well.
There's also the case of palm muting an individual note such as in Wild World (see David Hodge's lesson on this site).
Oh, and I've just recently encounted the case in Pilot's second example above. See the Time of Your Life lesson at guitartutoronline (click on the free songs section and click Time of Your Life).
Hope this helps.
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There's a variant of the G chord that I have NO idea what it's called, but it looks like:
e--3--
B--3--
G--0--
D--0--
A--X--
E--3--
The notes, that you play here, are: G (6/3), D (4/0), G (3/0), D (2/0) and G (1/3) - so only G and D are played, making it a G5. Muting the A string removes the only note that would make this a "real" chord - the 3rd degree of the scale (B) - would give Emaj. You could mute the A string, but play the B string open and get an Emaj chord, as well.
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There's a variant of the G chord that I have NO idea what it's called, but it looks like:
e--3--
B--3--
G--0--
D--0--
A--X--
E--3--
The notes, that you play here, are: G (6/3), D (4/0), G (3/0), D (2/0) and G (1/3) - so only G and D are played, making it a G5. Muting the A string removes the only note that would make this a "real" chord - the 3rd degree of the scale (B) - would give Emaj. You could mute the A string, but play the B string open and get an Emaj chord, as well.
Playing the B string open would be Gmaj wouldn't it? G D G B G? Or Emin if you threw in an E on that D string instead of playing it open.
