Finger-style percussion?
 

I was wondering about how to play the tabs on a finger-style song when it has 2 (x)s on either side of a note. For example, an x on the 6th and the 4th string, but a note is played on the 5th string. What does it mean, and how is it played?

"x"'s are muted. So if you have;

X
X
0
2
2
X

you are playing only the A, D and G strings. Sometimes the x's are not directly on the staff, and that usually means that there is some kind of percussive element involved, but you have to decide that based upon what tab you are working with/ what song.

I don't know, man. Sungha Jung uses this technique a lot, so do many other finger-style guitarists.

Hey I think there are a lot of different ways to do it. Depending on the songs and the player, the X means different things in different tabs. Some are just muted notes. Some are using the inner side of the thumb to slap the bass string while hitting the other strings with your AM fingers. A lot of Candyrat artists and guitarists like Kelly Valleau do that. Or you can do it like Kotaro Oshio or Tommy Emmanuel (in songs like Only Elliot) and use the AM fingers' nails to hit the strings to get a ''percussive" sound. Then for songs like Revolution by Conny Berghall you are hitting other places of the guitar as well, they're also marked as x on the tab.

Maybe a better way would be to link us the video, tab and tell us where to look out for it. X can mean absolutely anything

I'm guessing you mean percussive thumb slap that yields a drum snare sound?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1uXNtotVsg

There is also several other additional parts, but this should get you started

Thanks guys, but a good example of what I mean is Sungha jung's cover of Billie Jean.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVqX0a49HM

In the absense of other explaination on the tab I think the X usually means mute the string (and strike it). This will obviously give you a somewhat percussive sound. If you play fingerstyle I've seen a few different techniques for the sort of attack you can use on a muted string. Sungha Jung is awesome at it...

I do a lot of muting when I play with a pick and less so finger style. Playing fingerstyle it takes quite a bit of technique to get a sharp, clear sound IMO (that may sound like a contradiction as the string is muted, but I think most will know what I mean)

As others already mentioned tabs not always follow the same rules.

If you want good lessons for the technique used by Sungha, I recommend Gareth Evans (already linked in this thread) and Jon Michael Swift.

I'm old school play be ear , hit play and just keep practicing to it . :)

OP is right. Is very confusing indeed.

It would have been a lot easier if you mentioned which instances in the song had that technique with reference to the tab.

But I've found the tab you're referring to: http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/sungh...-tab-s268648t0

What Sungha and Rafferty do is basically an emphasised palm muted downward strike on the string being played creating a click/slap sound in conjunction with the bass note.

However, I find that more often than not, especially on the 6th string, the note is not even heard, just a slap. Alternatives you can do to get a cleaner sounding note with the intended percussion would be:

X5X:
1) Mute the 6th string (and 4th too if you can or need to) with available fingers and turn your right thumb 45 degrees clockwise (so that your thumb is pointing towards the treble side) and do a bass slap (swift flick of the wrist and recoil) on the 6th/5th(4th) strings
2) Hammer on the 5th string with your left hand while you use your right hand to just slap the 6th string

5XX:
1) Same as above except muting the 5th(4th) string(s) instead, and rotating your thumb anti-clockwise in this case might be more appropriate as it is the protruding part of your thumb contacting the intended string which causes the note to ring out
2) Same as above except hammer on the 6th string with left hand while right hand slaps the 5th(4th) string(s)