Double Up

Using double-stops in a melody or solo

- CORY WONG

IN THIS LESSON, I'd like to talk about how to solo and create harmonized melody lines utilizing dyads, which many guitarists refer to as "double-stops." Although, technically, the term double-stop means two strings held down with a single finger, it is widely used to refer to any two notes sounded together. The most commonly used dyads/double-stops on the guitar are pairs of notes that are a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th or octave apart.

A great example of how I use double-stops can be heard on the new Fearless Flyers song "Anaheim." If you're familiar with my music, you know that a big part of my sound is harmonizing pentatonic scales. For example, as demonstrated in FIGURE 1, I'm playing the D major pentatonic scale (D, E, F#, A, B) starting on the 6th, B, sounded at the 7th fret on my low E string.