Help!

im getting so frustrated... i know some of the basics but i just cant figure it out...

i need help reading the tabs... usually i can do this but everytime i play the tab it sounds awful!! please help if you can explain it!!

Either your tab is horrible, you're reading it wrong (upside down??), you're not playing it right (wrong timing,etc...), the song is in a different tuning. If you want to find good tabs I suggest ultimate-guitar.com. All the tabs are rated so you know which ones are good and which ones are bad. Some people are stupid and when they tab they tab upside down... they put the lowE string at the top of the tab instead of at the bottom. If you're uncertain if the tab is right-side-up or up-side-down, just try it both ways. You'll be able to hear the difference. Try to listen to the song (specifically the part that you're learning) and try to copy the timing and the picking pattern. If the song still doesn't sound right... check the tab to see what tuning you're suppose to be in. Your guitar is probably in standard tuning... if the tab is in drop d, drop c, half step down, whole step down...so on, it will sound pretty bad compared to the recording of the song. So check your tuning and try to work it out. good luck.