what are double stops?

[iconic]

Is a double stop simply two notes played together...possibly outlining a chord....say a root and 5th or root and 3rd.

Just been reading something about mark adams (slave) and his 'amazing' double stops....the start of stone jam has the bass playing 2 notes together?

Cheers and thanks for any help

[HowieBass]

Yes, and I usually associate a stop with fretless playing ('cos you obviously can't fret the string), so a double stop could well be the root and 5th and then with care you can do a sliding double stop (whilst trying to maintain the correct intonation).

[iconic]

Thanks,

hmm double and triple stops....why not simply say a chord?

"I just threw a double stop in" does sound sexier though!

[HowieBass]

If you have a fretless it's fun creating sliding harmonics too

[tinyd]

[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1392765955' post='2372620']
Thanks,

hmm double and triple stops....why not simply say a chord?

"I just threw a double stop in" does sound sexier though!
[/quote]

As far as I know, the term is an old one that comes from the world of violin, cello, double bass etc. Instead of 'fretting' a note, you 'stop' the string on a given note, which kind of makes sense on a fretless instrument.

From a bass-playing perspective, if you say that you're 'playing a chord', that could either mean that you're playing multiple strings at the same time, or that you're playing a line over a given chord, so maybe 'double stop' is just more unambiguous? But I agree that it does sound sexier as well....

[iconic]

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1392801555' post='2372814']
As far as I know, the term is an old one that comes from the world of violin, cello, double bass etc. Instead of 'fretting' a note, you 'stop' the string on a given note, which kind of makes sense on a fretless instrument.
[/quote]

interesting