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Double Stops, Explained! First Steps with Harmonized 3rds, 6ths, 10ths
Lesson #597 • Aug 22, 2025
About This Lesson
In today’s lesson I’ll introduce you to double stops, diving straight into a handful of fun & approachable riffs you can learn fairly quickly. The term “double stop” refers to two notes being played at the same time, which you might think of as a two-note chord. Double stops can be used in various styles, from fingerpicking to lead guitar to general improvisation. They go a long way in making simple melodies sound more full & rich, which is never a bad thing.
This initial lesson will focus on harmonized 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths — which refer to the interval (distance) between the two notes in each double stop. Aside from using these terms, I won’t stray into the music theory at all for now — as my priority today is to get you playing simple riffs that sound good as quickly as possible.
If you’d like to go deeper with this concept, get my Double Stop Handbook — which is available below! It includes tabs for everything I teach in today’s lesson, along with plenty of details about the music theory & other details about how double stops work. I’ll be adding additional video lessons on this topic in the future… so stay tuned if you’re looking for additional tutorials. Enjoy!
Get My Double Stop Handbook!
I’m excited to offer a 16 page guide, diving deep into the topic of double stops. This includes some beginner riffs, an explanation of the music theory concepts, and several “cheat sheet” reference guide showing harmonized 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths in the most common keys.
Membership to Song Notes Premium is required to download this handbook. If you're not a member, please consider joining today! Members get access to all my instructional PDF guides, which you can download and keep forever.
Lesson Discussion
Bonus Videos
Here’s a few zoomed playthroughs, with tabs on screen, where I play You Are My Sunshine using harmonized sixths. As I say in my main video above, these two arrangements use the exact same “pattern” of double stops, even though the musical key and strings used are different.
This demonstrate how every key uses the same spatial pattern of these double stops. Learn the pattern once, and then it’s just a matter of knowing the starting points… and you’re off to the races.
You Are My Sunshine, Key of C
You Are My Sunshine, Key of G
Lessons I’ve Made That Use Double Stops
Harmonized 3rds
Harmonized 6ths
Harmonized 10ths
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