double-stop

Definitions

1. 1

   to play on two stopped strings of a stringed instrument simultaneously.

   • Divisi in the orchestra greatly reduces the need for double-stopping, per se, in this form of string playing.
   • Some Greek musicians have used open tunings on the violin and double-stopped the strings to produce a drone.
   • The whole movement gives the soloist an opportunity for hair-raising virtuosity, from rapid arpeggios and spectral harmonics to languid parallel sixths, double-stopped trills and, in the trio, a stratospheric cantabile, again on harmonics.
2. 2

   a chord or combination composed of two notes played on separate strings simultaneously.

   • There has been some question concerning whether the downbeat of m. 19 should be a triple-stop with the open D string as the bottom note or a double-stop with the open A string as the bottom note.
   • You can play a double-stop on adjacent strings or on nonadjacent strings (by skipping strings).
   • If you're a beginner player, you can always choose not to play a double-stop and instead play just the top note.

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