tab question

I've noticed that some tab notation shows an unplayed string "sandwiched" in between played notes at the same point in time. For example, in Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down," there is a line that indicates the following: 3rd fret for low E, nothing for A string, open for D and G strings, 3rd fret for the B string, and nothing for the high E string. How do you not play the A string and still play the others? Thanks for any help.

Pretty sure that's a G chord if I'm visualizing it right. Either way, you can mute it with the finger that is on the 3rd fret of the low E string. Just angle your finger down a little more so it touches the 5th string. Then when you strum, it will be dead on that string.

Thanks for your response. I thought that may be the case, but often tab seems to put an "x" on a muted string. Thanks again.

Ya, there is usually an "x" when they specifically WANT you to play the sound of a muted string. You'll usually see that with full dead strings though. In this case, your technically not "supposed" to play the dead sound because the G chord doesn't use it. But in this case for strumming, muting the note is the easiest way.

Technically, you can do it by just fingering each string. You do this a lot more in classical or any time you aren't using a pick. You can hit the Low E with your thumb, then at the same time pluck the bottom 3 strings with your index, middle, and ring fingers. That way they are all played simultaneously without a dead/muted string thrown in there.

Thanks Hunter. That clears things up.