Question about acoustic guitar tabs? (with link)?

Question

http://www.fretplay.com/tabs/m/metallica/nothing_else_matters_acoustic-tab.shtml

I can play this but what does it mean when it says "p" or "h" and then in the 7th, 8th, & 9th line, it says "D" "D" "D" "C" "Em" what do those mean?

I'm a beginner :)

Answer 1

p means pull-off

for example 3p2 means you hold down the string on the third and second frets, play the note, then release the finger holding the third fret so the note on the second fret still holds without strumming again. you can't just let go though, hence the name pull-off.  you have to pull down as you let go so it's like strumming the note again except with your finger

h means hammer-on

for example 2h4. this technique is done by strumming the note on the second fret then quickly putting another on a higher fret to play a higher note without strumming again. for this you simply put your finger on the higher note quickly after strumming the first note. like strum the 2nd fret, put another finger on the 4th fret of that string to continue the sound on a higher pitch

you can also pull-off to open strings like 3p0, in this case you use the same technique except you hold no fingers on the frets below 3 and pull off

you can hammer on from an open string like 0h2, use the same technique as any hammer-on, just strum an open string and hammer-on to a higher note on that string

"D" "C" and "Em" or E minor, are all chords, chords are when you strum more than one string at a time, just play them as the tab says like D is

   D

e---2----

b---3---

g---2---      

d---0---

a---x---

E--x----

to play the D chord hold down all the frets that the tab says and strum all the high e, b, g, and d strings at once ( sometimes the a string can also be strummed)

hope this helps and good luck with your guitar playing