Double-stops
Two notes played together on two strings, like a tiny chord: fourths, thirds or sixths. Your solos gain body and color, halfway between melody and accompaniment.
- Notation:
- two numbers stacked in the same column.
- Hand:
- Both hands.
- Difficulty:
- Intermediate.
- Style:
- Rock and roll, blues, country, soul.
Listen
e|-5-5-8-5-5-8-5-----| B|-5-5-8-5-5-8-5-8-5-| G|---------------7-5-| D|-------------------| A|-------------------| E|-------------------|
What it’s for
A double-stop is two notes played at the same time, on two strings. The term comes from the violin. It’s thicker than a single note and lighter than a chord: a melody singing in two voices.
Chuck Berry made it the rallying cry of rock and roll: his intros hammer away at double-stops on the two high strings. In the blues, they let you hint at the chord without leaving the solo. In soul and R&B, 1960s guitarists slipped smooth thirds and sixths behind the singer, and Jimi Hendrix sprinkles them all through his ballads. In country, sixths and thirds imitate the fiddle and the pedal steel.
It all depends on the distance between the two notes: a fourth sounds open and rock, a third sweet and singing, a sixth wide and soulful.
How to do it
Here’s the double-stop from the example at the top of the page: a fourth, on the B and high E strings, at the 5th fret.
- Lay your index across both strings at the 5th fret, like a tiny barre: the pad presses the high E, the middle of the first joint presses the B.
- Mute the G string with the tip of your index, barely touching it. The edge of your picking hand rests on the low strings.
- Strike both strings in one stroke, downward, starting from the B string: a small, precise motion, not a full strum.
- Check that both notes sound equally: play them one after the other, then together. If one disappears, press better or change the angle of your pick.
- For a sixth, which skips a string, use two fingers and mute the middle string with the underside of the lower finger. Play the low note with the pick and the high note with your picking-hand middle finger, or play both with your fingers.
The double stop
- Your index lies flat across two strings, right behind the fret: both notes ring together.
- The other strings stay silent: the pick only hits the two strings you play.
Drawn like tab: high E at the top, low E at the bottom.
In tab, a double-stop is written as two numbers stacked in the same column: here, a 5 on the B line and a 5 on the high E line. Anything lined up vertically is played at the same time.
A tip for finding the right intervals. On the G and B strings, two notes at the same fret make a major third; with the B string note one fret lower, a minor third. On the B and high E strings, the same fret gives a fourth. On the G and high E strings, the same fret gives a major sixth, and with the high E one fret lower, a minor sixth.
Examples
The example at the top of the page, in the A minor pentatonic: fourths on the B and high E, at the 5th and then the 8th fret, with your index and then your ring finger laid across both strings. Then two double-stops on the G and B, ending on C and E, two notes of the A minor chord.
Here, thirds from the G major scale, on the G and B strings. They climb the neck, sometimes major (same fret), sometimes minor (B string one fret lower), and end at the 12th fret on G and B, two notes of the G chord.
e|------------------------| B|-3-5-7-5-3-1-3-5-7-8-12-| G|-4-5-7-5-4-2-4-5-7-9-12-| D|------------------------| A|------------------------| E|------------------------|
Sixths in C major, on the G and high E strings: the B string, in the middle, has to stay silent. The phrase opens with a chromatic approach, the same shape a half step lower, one of the great classics of soul guitar.
e|-4-5-7-8-7-5-8-10-12-10-8-| B|--------------------------| G|-4-5-7-9-7-5-9-10-12-10-9-| D|--------------------------| A|--------------------------| E|--------------------------|
Licks
A rock and roll lick in A: fourths pounded out on the B and high E, then the double-stop that wavers between C and C♯, minor third and major third, before landing on A and C♯.
e|-5-5-5-5-8-5-------------| B|-5-5-5-5-8-5-8-5-5-5-5---| G|-------------7-5-6-5-6-6-| D|-----------------------7-| A|-------------------------| E|-------------------------|
A country lick in G, on an acoustic: thirds on the G and B strings, starting from the open strings, then sixths on the D and B strings, climbing up to a G chord.
e|---------------------3-| B|-0-1-3-1-0---0-1-3-5-0-| G|-0-2-4-2-0-0---------0-| D|-----------0-0-2-4-5-0-| A|---------------------2-| E|---------------------3-|
A blues lick in A, with a shuffle feel: C and E, then C♯ and E, over the A7 chord. The second bar plays the tritones of the blues chords: C♯ and G for A7, C and F♯ for D7, two notes that rub against each other and sum up the whole chord.
e|-------8-5-----------| B|-5-5-5-8-5-5-8-7-8---| G|-5-6-5-----6-6-5-6-6-| D|-------------------7-| A|---------------------| E|---------------------|
Practice routine
The G major thirds on the G and B strings, from the open strings up to the 12th fret: G+B (open), A+C (2 and 1), B+D (4 and 3), C+E (5 and 5), D+F♯ (7 and 7), E+G (9 and 8), F♯+A (11 and 10), G+B (12 and 12). Then come back down.
- Start at 60 bpm, one double-stop per click, saying “major” or “minor” out loud.
- Then in eighth notes, two double-stops per click, and go up 5 bpm each time both notes ring cleanly all the way.
- Goal: 100 bpm in eighth notes.
Do it again with the sixths on the G and high E strings, muting the B: C+A (5 and 5), D+B (7 and 7), E+C (9 and 8), F+D (10 and 10), G+E (12 and 12).
Common mistakes
One of the two notes disappears? Your flattened finger isn’t pressing hard enough on one string, or the pick only catches one. Play the two notes separately to find the culprit, then strike from the lower string.
The middle string rings in your sixths? The finger playing the low note has to touch it from underneath, without pressing. With a pick alone it’s almost impossible to avoid: play the high note with a picking-hand finger.
The double-stop sounds wrong or harsh? You used a major third where the scale calls for a minor one, or the other way around. Find the two notes you want in the scale, and check the distance with the fret tip above.
Every string ringing? You’re strumming too wide. Your picking hand only covers two strings, and the edge of the hand rests on the low strings.
Variations
The bent double-stop. You bend the G string while the note on the B string stays put: the two notes rub, then fall into tune. A classic sound of rock and roll and the blues.
The sliding double-stop. The whole shape glides as a block, in a slide, into the next third or sixth. In soul and country, that’s often how you arrive on the chord tones.
With a hammer-on. One of the two notes comes in with a hammer-on while the other holds: a little embellishment with a lot of soul.
With an open string. One note fixed on an open string, the other moving on the next string: in country and folk, the open string drones under the melody.
The fifth: the power chord. Two notes a fifth apart make a power chord. With no third, it sounds good even with heavy distortion.
Acoustic or electric
On an electric guitar, clean or lightly overdriven, double-stops sound full. With heavy distortion, thirds and sixths quickly get muddy: stick to fourths and fifths, which handle distortion better.
On an acoustic, thirds and sixths sound sweet and warm, especially with open strings. Fingerpicking makes sixths easy: your thumb takes the low note, your middle finger the high one, and the middle string stays quiet.
Going further
- To understand the distance between two notes: the Intervals page in the basics, then the Intervals lesson in the course, to hear and play them.
- Double-stops come from chords: the Triads on the high strings lesson.
- To play sixths with the pick and a finger at once: hybrid picking.
- The scales in the examples: the A minor pentatonic, the G major scale and the C major scale.