What do "X"'s mean on guitar sheet music?

Question

I have some sheet music, and there are chords that are just a bunch of XXX's instead of notes. How do I play those? What do they mean?

Answer 1

In standard notation, there are two common meanings. One is a notation for rhythms. The other is a notation for noise.

You can tell if the X's mean rhythm because they will be attached to note-stems. The stems ( and their flags or beams) indicate the time duration of notes; i.e. quarter notes, eighth-notes, sixteenths, etc. If you see the "rhythm" X's, they will usually repeat for each measure. Sometimes, instead of repeating the actual rhythm, you will see the "as before" sign that looks like a dot, two forward slashes and another dot. I can't get Yahoo's type-font to show this accurately but that sign looks something like this: *//.

The way you play those X's is to read the rhythm indicated and change chords as written. If you see the "as before" sign, just keep playing the same rhythm, but apply it to each new chord as they change from bar to bar. You still play the chord-changes, but you repeat the rhythm.

Other X's can mean the scratching sound (Noise) of the pick over muted strings. That type of modern sound is usually noted in words somewhere on the sheet music. Sometimes that verbal annotation may be the only clue as to whether the X's mean the rhythm of the chords, or just a noise. Typically, you wouldn't have a long section (many measures) of noise. So that can be another clue. If the X's are not attached to stems and they only happen occasionally within the piece, those X's probably indicate the scratching noise.

If you are talking about "chord diagrams" then the meaning of the X's is simple... do not play that string.

Keep reading! That's the fastest way to understand music theory!

Good luck and best wishes!

Answer 2

Tablature is one of the terms for guitar sheet music. X's are usually not shown on the six lines that represent the six strings. O for open and Arabic numbers define which fret has the finger placements.

An X in chord diagrams, however, indicates that the string is not to be played.

Slashes found on the staff (treble clef) of music for the guitar means rhythm strokes in each measure.

Answer 3

An x in a chord diagram means you don't play that string - you can either avoid hitting it or damp it with a finger so it doesn't ring.

Answer 4

Generally, that is just designating a rhythm that you strum with the strings muted (left fingers on the strings, but not pressing them down far enough to produce clear notes).