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mrjay

no idea

but wild guess

if you add tension to a string to raise the note then the string will sound a little flat when detuned

however i strongly suspect that the effect is marginal if you change strings regularly

of course if you had two guitars..........

my guess is that it means harmonic

have a look at this

http://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=44

Its the E shaped barre chord

--6
--6
-----7
-------8
-------8
--6

The notes on the 6th fret are played with the first finger (fingers in brackets below)

--6 (1)
--6 (1)
-----7 (2)
-------8 (3)
-------8 (4)
--6  (1)

its a frequent hazard

somtimes the inside of the guitar is partitioned so you need to get the pick in the right  section by big time shaking then through the F hole by a gentler rockin

but there's  no guaranteed cure

seems that your interest is in electric blues. thats fine but be aware that theres lots of rural blues, jazz blues all good too but very different so choose licks relevant for songs which you like

in other word beg borrow and steal from BB king, Muddy waters and John Lee Hooker if that what you want to sound like

BB king is a good place to start because he has the BB Zone. he played his songs using part of the majo pentatonic

look on the web for turnarounds and intros he used then add them to your pentatonic

or start with a song. I always come back to "Sweet Home Chicago", "Born under a bad sign", "smokestack lightning"... after playing a bit - you can always depart from the progression and introduce some new licks - the more songs you know the easier you can incorporate riffs and whatnot into your improvised bit

don't always go up and down the pentatonic - you'll die of boredom - do some patterns  5 7 5 then back to 7 and then 7 5 7 etc.

and always start and finish on the root note of the scale. don't be tempted to start on the 6th string and go to the 1st string and back   (if you play the C scale start on the C go up to the top string, down to the bottom string and then back to the C)

actually zz top did some good blues numbers ...La Grange... and for that matter skynard did plenty of bluesy numbers ...Tuesdays gone.... I'm probably just kidding you here.

I'm surprised last rebel hasn't suggested "Me and Bobby Mcgee"  - great song for a duet   

the beginnner might do the chords and the intermediate player a bit of lead or a simple riff.  having two musicians also means that one can focus on vocals

everybody who plays guitar for however long is still learning and learning is the fun part,  don't rush it

don't file your callouses unless you have very reason, all guitarist get thick skins on the fingertips its not disfiguring or unpleasant but it will help you hold those frets, filing them (Don't know exactly what it will do but not likely to do much good) 

lighter strings will be easier to fret - consider buying a light set when you replace them

my view is that exercise machines are a waste of time  - a good practice regime (half an hour day upwards will provide enough finger exercise)

looks like a slide - all the way up to the 7th fret - from the open

you've already explained it properly

it usually indicates that the notes shown in the score are played an octave higher than shown. in that case it allows very high notes to be notated without too having too many additional bar lines

so if it read c you need to play the c above the one shown if it has an 8va shown

I dimly recall (tho I may be wrong) seeing this used to indicate harmonics in some scores. however harmonics usually have another flag (a diamond ?)

finally i don't think that the 8va effects the tab (only the notation part) the tab is probably played as shown

These are called power chords

I hope you can read tab

Play the E shape

E---
B--
G---
D---2--
A---2
E----

Play the F

E---
B--
G---
D---3--
A---3
E --1-

Play the G

E---
B--
G---
D---5--
A---5
E --3

There also called 5ths.  some one will no doubt remind me why

Reggae
---------

The key features of playing reggae are playing on the backbeat and staccato strumming

Playing on the backbeat means that you play the chord on the second beat of the bar and the fourth beat rather than the first and third beats as in Rock.

and in some reggae songs the kick and snare drums are played on the third beat of the bar (this is called a one drop groove). it also produces a slightly laid back feel.

You will see in the example below that the guitar is played on the 2nd and 4th beat

Staccato strums is where you use barre chords and lots of left hand damping. Chords which are damped are indicated with a @. This effect is achieved by releasing the pressure on the frets of the guitar with the left hand  (so you mute the chord  immediately after playing it)

Heres an example of a pattern

1..&..2..&..3..&...4...&
...........@..........@...
........V..n...........V......

Check out Junior Murvin and his band playing police and thieves

Another example

1..&..2..&..3..&...4...&
...........@..............@...
........V..n...........V..n.....     

make sure you watch Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in action with a great groove and video  - playing stir it up

You will notice that theres a lot of damping (that chicka chicka sound). It gives a very percussive sound

When I play reggae I can't resist adding a bit of extra percussion. Once every bar I slap the strings with the right hand instead of strumming the chord.

Ska
----

Ska is a great groove because it is very distinctive

It is usually played with barre chords so that the chords can be damped with the left hand to produce a staccato sound (after you have played the chord release the pressure on the left hand slightly to stop the chord ringing)

Another characteristic of ska is that it uses mainly upstrokes and play only the top four strings when doing so . That gives the rhythm its distinctive treble sound

Here's the basic rhythm

1... &... 2... &... 3... &... 4... &...
......n...........n.........n...........n

remember the upstrokes (n) should be stacatto

a variation

1... &... 2... &... 3... &... 4... &
......n..........n...........n....V....n   

and another

1... &... 2... &... 3... &... 4... &
......n....V....n..........n....V....n

famous songs include

shanty town - desmond dekker
maytalls - monkey man
specials - rudi, a message to you

check out the specials

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TGDQ85Dg-ss