Making sense of tab

[Beth Alexander]

I am new to baroque guitar, finding deciphering tab and the various symbols used a bit confusing, at best.

That said, I'd like to pose a specific question... In James Tyler's book, the first piece in the section for the B tuning/stringing is a short prelude by Corbetta. The symbol dot-slash-dot is used and I take this to mean that you start on the main note, hammer-on to the next higher note, then pull-off to the main note.

Although I admit that sometimes it makes more sense to me to sometimes sound the main note, pull-off to the lower note, then hammer-on back to the main note.

In one location only, an "x" is used on the high e string, 5th fret. Would this refer to a 4-note trill? Or perhaps a vibrato?

Apologies if the answers seem obvious to you... But different countries, different composers, and even sometimes the same composer use symbols differently. Any information is greatly appreciated.

[Peter Sinnaeve]

I'm not an expert, but...

- the ./. sign is only used when it's preceded by a higher note on the same string, so I'd start with that note and use a trill (the final ./. is an arpeggio of course).

- the x looks an upper mordent to me.

[Beth Alexander]

Thanks!