questions for a beginner

Thanks for the reply.  So when you see:
--3---3---3---3- | --3-----3-3-----   | --0-----3-------    | --0---2---3---3- |
--3---3---3---3- | --3-------3---1-    |  --1-------1---1- | --1---3---3---3- |
----------------    | ----------------      | ----------------    | ---------------- |
----------------    | ----------------      | ----------------    | --------0------- |
------2-------3-  | ------3-3-3---0-   | ------0-0-0---3-  | ---------------- |
3---------------   | ----------------      | ----------------     | --------------3- |
I know you pick the the low e first, then do you strum the b and high e at the same time?  That is the confusing part to me because that doesn't look like a chord.  I know I probably sound very elementary in regards to this.  I can learn the chords in order to play this particular song, but it seems like some songs sound better picked.  This is an exerpt from More than Words by Extreme.

Well for more than words I'd hit the low e then pluck the high E and the B together with your fingers, then you'll pluck the A at 2nd fret, the E and B all together and so on. The chords shown over most tab like this just gives you a workable finger positioning for the picking (for example I would guess the first chord to be a g) Or at least thats what I would be using. for the picking hand I'd use my thumb on the root notes and keep my next 3 fingers on the g,b and e strings for the plucking. Hope that helps a little...Peace!

Sounds like you're having the same problem I did. If you're really having trouble with reading tab try the book "Guitar for dummies". It helped me learn the basic techniques (including how to read tab), and it has a list of 96 chords in the back. You can buy it for around £10 if you shop around.

The highest string notes in the tab above are "double-stops". You play them both at the same time. As johncross21 said, any time when the fret numbers on the tab are directly above each other, you play them at the same time. Therefore the C major chord that gitaardocphil mentioned would look like this in tab:

0
1
0
2
3
-

(the - meaning that you don't play the string)

Man!!!This has really helped out a lot!  I can't wait to get home from work to start practicing.  My wife won't like it though.  Again my thanks to all, this is helpful.

Guitarpix, did I read it correct, that you can play "More than Words" by EXTREME?
I want to play this already for years and sometimes I am real close without reading tabs. WHY?

I am not a rhythm guitarist, and I can play only a solo for a few seconds. I play maybe in a strange way. My style is, as a lot of people I know have told me, that using riffs and licks, quit difficult to play, and my "skill" depends a lot on the "how I feel" problem, I play something, it sounds fantastic (TO ME!), and the next day, even remembering the song, it sounds awful, I think a lot of stuff you play, depends on your mood, see electric when feeling more aggressive (I AM ALMOST NEVER AGGRESSIVE) and acoustic, when calm. I wanted to say that your mood affects a lot the way you play. So, most of people tell me that I am more a lead guitarist, playing a song in such a way that you recognise the song very fast.
So, if I am a lead guitarist, and I would play in a band, there are very few solos, and isn't that necessary to be a lead guitarist? I am also very lazy, I studied 7 years at the university to become a Medical Doctor, but I studied 1 month before the tests. I am also someone who doesn't like to read manuals, like for my BOSS BR 600. Conclusion: trying tabs is, knowing me, not my thing, but I think I should try harder to learn reading tabs. DO YOU KNOW A SITE, OR INFORMATION TO LEARN TABS THE EASY WAY? IT WILL IMPROVE MY STYLE, IT IS JUST SINCE A FEW MONTHS (THANKS CHORDIE) THAT I START TO LEARN READING TABS.
Can I have some advise? knowing that I am lazy? Almost never I had to learn, because I think I am blessed with a very good memory, and this fact is not realy healthy, a lot of jealousy, when I was student, and the same when practising. Everything was to easy for me, so a lot of work, and living like a god, and always the first to start with the newest techniques, like laser.
Sex, drugs & Rock 'n Roll AND an awful lot of patients (a lot called me Rockdoc), again causing jealousy between the other doctors and me.
So I am glad that I wrote this, it relieves me and I am not lying or exaggerating things