Double stop
Two notes played together, most often on adjacent strings, forming a partial chord used melodically.
Double stops sit between single-note playing and full chords and are the mainstay of country, blues and rockabilly lead work, where they imply harmony without committing to a chord. Common shapes are thirds and sixths in the same key, and the octave pair, all of which stay consonant as they move. Playing them cleanly needs both notes fretted accurately and the pick angled so neither string is favoured, which is why they are a standard test of left-hand tidiness.
Example: A country solo that moves a pair of notes up the neck in sixths, rather than playing single notes, is played in double stops.
See also
Related
- PageDyad
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley
- PageAd-Rock
- ReferenceCircle of fifths