A double stop is when you play two notes (or more) at the same time on the violin or viola. These notes can be fingered or open strings.

Here are 3 steps to practice double stops:

1. Practice the two lines separately (one note sounding at the same time)
2. Play the double stop with your left hand, but only bow on one string. You should hear the same thing as in step one, but your fingers already practice the double stop position.
3. Play the actual double stop with your left hand as well as the bow, but really really slowly. Listen to how the notes sound together. In double stops the melodic line should be in tune, but also the notes should sound in tune together

The final step is to play the piece in the original tempo.

If you want a dedicated book on double stops, go for ’30 Double Chord Studies’ for violin by Polo (click here to buy). Of course there are also many etudes in which you can practice double stops, for example the Kreutzer Etude nr 38 (click here to buy) from which I played a small line in the video.

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Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions or struggles on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com and I might dedicate a Violin Lounge TV episode to answering your question!