Double Stops on the Violin - Different Types - Basics
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
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In this video I go over the basics about playing double stops on the violin. I tell you the different difficulties and where you should start.
I can highly recommend you the Etude Book by Enrico Polo, which I show you in the video. It has many different etudes from more basic to very advanced.
But remember that double stops are an advanced technique already and need good intonation. But also you can make your intonation much better when practicing double stops with open strings.
My Facebook: / simon.streuff
My Homepage/Blog: www.violin-educ...
I'm a guitarist but after listening to some Paganini, I wanted to know how double stops on a violin work. Lovely explanation 👍
Thanks man!
The classification system was very helpful. That is to say, I believe it is much less intimidating to see double stops in terms of type, rather than feeling obliged to dive in and learn all at once. Thanks for the elegant presentation.
Thanks! Glad it helps! It is the way I think on the violin basically. Knowing the intervals and their double stop fingers is a great thing to have in the mind. Simplifying everything!
Videos you make are just fantastic and simply clear
English is not my first language but I can understand all
your videos help me so much in diffulties of violin i have
and make me practicing again violin
Thank you Simon
Thank you so much! Hearing that makes it worth doing!
Great ideas, as always Simon! thanks for sharing!
Thanks man! Holidays soon, which means more music making! You do summer courses or competitions?
Off to music camp for 7 weeks... my heaven on earth! Do you have any special plans?
7 weeks! That must be awesome! I have some plans to record songs with friends...and on my own. Maybe buying a car :D
Great video! Really sets up a sensible plan for learning this skill
Gayvin McGinnes thank you for the comment! 🙂
Thank you. Good explanation of double stops.
Thank you. I will use this book
It is great!
Great explanation.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so very much, excellent explanation!
Thank you for your sharing, Simon. You have big hands! I am jealous as I feel hard to reach 8 octave... Asian girls’ hands are always not big enough.
Besides, would you mind to talk something about how to use the bow with different types of staccato on video? I have been learning these and my teacher finds hard to help me because I can’t relax my right hand to do these. Also, I learned vibrato from your video and I succeeded. Thank you so much. :-)
Wow that is great to hear! I will do a staccato tutorial soon, you are already the second one to request it! Regarding the hand size don't worry! I am sure your fingers are much more flexible than mine and ou can train them to reach very far. I saw small asian hands play decimes easily ;)
SimonS7r Looking forwards to seeing it. ;-)
How long does it take to play double stops well?
I am a (mostly self thought) composer and I always just put in some notes, this really helped me better understand what is and is NOT possible, you have made some future violinist very happy.
Great video! Which intervals can be play in string instruments as this "stops". For example is third is possible ? Which intervals can be play like double stops ?
on the violin every interval up until a decime can be played. But the decime is a stretch...
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Thank you very much. Is it also possible to play these stops in a quiet dynamic? Or will they rather be loud and difficult to intonate? Im just wonder where is better to write as divisi and when not. If i have small amount of players divisi is not also possible thats why im wonder if that way we can get good sounding "big chord" Is there some diffrence with sound quality and character of this stops ?
There’s one more category: when you have to play fifths that would normally be played with the same finger. For instance, E on the D string and B on the A string.
I'm confused about reading double stops. I thought the bottom note was always the open string, but it isn't. How do I know which note is open, and which is fingered?
Great tutorial! Just pulled out the old fiddle after 30 years and what better thing to practice!
I ll be checking on your vid as I m no longer taking violin classes but go on my own.From Costa Rica gracias🇨🇷
Thanks for the tutorial
How can I play alto and treble together on the violin
Thanks so much ❤️💕
Thanks. What intervals are possible for double stops?
I'm writing a part for solo viola.
TIA
clearly explained..thank uuu
Thankyou for this tutorial
Thank you Simon. Clearly and simply explained! Thank you.
I love the way you categorize the double steps. And thank you for introducing us to Enrico polo great book for double steps.
It's my first time learning double stops ....and I partially understand yo explanation ...I guess I'll b revisiting this video until I fully understand the way to go ...😊 Thanks
I am a beginner ,and I keep hitting other strings when i don`t want to. also I have difficulty with fast bowing . and I noticed when you do the close up motion and go up .you kind of moving your index finger, does that related to the speed and smoothness of the bow?
hi i am still wondering how to play double stops: both notes fingered
BUT:
on D string: E (first finger)
on A string : B (also first finger)
how to shape the first finger so that it's in both strings together?
this also can be found at the first double stop of bach violin partita no.3 in e major gavotte en rondeau
I got you, try this video: ruclips.net/user/shortsECn_CdERKIA
What you are talking about are "fifths", which are not easy to play and should also be practiced regularly on the violin. I hope the video helps!
okay but what about 3 on top of each other
You teach? Email please?
simonstreuff at gmail.com
I got that! Thank you so much🥰
God bless you! ❤❤❤
Thanks a lot! 🙏🏻Very helpful for teaching, it was never clear to me what order would be the best.
Hat's off ! I like the way u teach and the struggle u r taking for us
Thanks for a clear explanation!
awesome, this helps me write more idiomatically! I guess sixths, fifths, some forths are the easiests to play
Super teaching master
Whether the bridge has to be adjusted for playing double notes.
No, if the bridge shape is "regular" and "correct" it should be possible to play double stops. If the bridge is shaped wrong, it has to be reshaped or replaced anyways.
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation ok. ThAnk you.
So much fingering ughh
Brother Simon ,cant play double stop putting 2 fingers at the same level on different strings, e.g. E and B on the 2 middle strings
Is there any tip??
I got this question many times, I always wanted to do a tutorial about this, maybe I will do a short video about this topic. Stay tuned!
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Thank you so much bro
Thanks for you effort it really help thanks again
Thanks a lot for your effort if very Beneficial iam study violin from three years and it little hard to play double stop some times the sound really weird I will try to do your advice thanks again 👍
Thanks for the comment! I hope the video helps!
Are you German
yes, mostly
When playing double stops does always a unique lower note harmonizes with the high note? Eg:- C note always haminize with F# ... if someone know pls tell🥺
The simplest form of harmonizing is to play in thirds. That doesn't work all the way though and depends on your tonality, which notes you play exactly. C and F# are dissonant to each other, but depending on the situation dissonance can also work. For example in G major you can develop the C and F# to B and G. This is the usual way of harmonizing that interval you mentioned. In general it is important to distinguish consonant, dissonant and pure intervals:
consonant: 3rd, 6th
dissonant: 2nd, 7th, and the augmented 4th
pure: prime, 4th, 5th and octave.
the easiest way of harmonizing with 2 voices is to stay pretty much in the region of consonant and pure intervals between both voices (try which ever sounds best (usually thirds and an occasional 4th). right before the end of a phrase there can be a dissonant interval before the solution into another consonant/pure interval to end the phrase.
I hope that helps and was the question you are asking for. Let me know!
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation yeah i got it.. the problems is that i'm not playing the violin with the standerd tuning(G D A E). And i used to tune it as G C G C from the beginning. so it's hard for me to learn double stops from youtube videos🤕. Btw i got the answer i needed.. i think 'try which ever sounds best' rule will help me😄.. thanks brother❤
spend years perfecting posture so you don't hit other strings while playing now you are encouraged to do so (groans in pain)
ha ha ha
Thank you
You are welcome!
I know nothing of violin. I can't stop laughing at all the fingering
Thank you for making this Video. For the description which combination are easier/harder to play, I would agree on one side, but I have a question: Would you say the combination "1.finger in lower string and 2. finger on higher string" is still easier, if the 1.finger has to be flat, so that the gap between them (not interval, just the geographical gap :p) is not a semitone, but a whole tone? I mean that, because, if you have to put a finger lower the "fingertrack" is always diagonal and kind of leads to the next string. I hope you know, what I mean :D I asked this, because I am wondering I much I should remain in the generel handframe and much I can/need to adjust the handposition. For example bach sonata 1 adagio, first chord: for the b flat can I move down my hand a bit backwards? And then again forwards for other tones and chords and so on? Thank you so far :) Happy Practising
Sorry I saw your comment so late. In the end everything that works is fine. Or as Nathan Milstein, a great violinist said: "You can't explain everything"
Sadly there is so much dogma in the classical music world, that it is often overlooked, that the best in our craft find their own ways to do things. Don't be shy to experiment with different positions and adjust your hand. Always do, what works best for YOU! But keep in mind to keep changes minimal, so that your movement translates well into fast tempo for example. But for double stops certainly there are many nuances and one has to look very individually how the hand can play it. Practice and experimentation helps to find own ways. Think of it like a navigation system in the car: There are many possible routes, but we most likely will chose the shortest and most comfortable one. Same with the movement of our left hand: Keep the distances as short as possible, but in a comfortable way.
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Dont worry about being late. Thank you for your answer. I am very happy about it and I have to say, that it was just recently that I came to the conclusion you just wrote. Its nice hearing it from you, as well. Same with double stops: the handframe changes as far as necessary. And mostly you need to feel. :) thanks for your answer and Happy practicing. :)
Hi. I just can't do the third type of double stops, which is the one with the lower note fingered. I can't, even if I push the string I'm pressing with my finger to the side, the sound is always scratched. I don't know if it's a problem in the position of the strings or the height of the bridge, could it be that? I never took my violin to adjust the bridge.
usually it should be possible. String height due to a too high bridge can make it difficult though. The first thing is to determine if the bow causes the problem (doesn't catch the string correctly) or if it is the left hand finger, which doesn't stop the string properly or touches the other string. One suggestion: Try placing the finger away from the upper string without pushing the lower string to the side. The finger doesn't have to stand centered on the string!
I really enjoyed learning from you and I just order the book which is you recommended. I am taking classes and I have violin book it calls O’Connor violin method volume 1
I'm here because my teacher did not even tell me how to do them and he have me a piece that have 3 bars of double stops. If you guys have anybook that can help me progress at a fast rate for violin plz leave a reply that will mean the world to me i want to progress because i am a intermediate and i feel left out .
Enrico Polo double stop etudes!
where did you get that violin from I to want to buy it! Nice video By the way.
It's an Italian instrument by the maker Lorenzo Bellafontana. His instruments go for around 7k and mine is a good and healthy instrument with stable sound qualities. It's an old maker though, so you have to find a violin from him first.
Please can you tell me how I can learn what combinations can be used - how do you know which 2 notes will always go together? Your video was very very useful and the only one I have seen that explains it so well, so thank you.
To answer that, you have to go into music theory much deeper than it's possible right here. It even can differ regarding the style of music you play, what double stops fit the best. I think for most basic tunes, three notes down is a good try. I often times harmonise my students like that with a second voice. Doesn't work always though!
I don't know if my bridge is to round of if I'm doing something wrong but I cannot do any two strings at the same time without putting a not of pressure on my bow does anyone know what I might be doing wrong
That will not have to do with the bridge shape! For neighbored strings there is always a level, where you can bow them at once! try to find that level with open strings first!
Simon can you help me please with the the stops from prelude from partitue in e major?what fingers should i use?
Good Idea! I will plan a video about pieces like that and talking about fingerings. It is very special though. If you want I send you my fingerings for that place.
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation thank you,i can't wait to see the video 😀😁,if you want to send me your fingerings,here is my gmail vaseaernu@gmail.com
I just reviewed the fingerings in my score of the E-Dur Preludio. I would not recommend them actually. Or at least I will have to review them before I send them to you! I will look through them!
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation i appreciate that and i am looking forward to receive it😁😁
Thanks for the very helpful videos! Regarding double-stops, please let me know your advise on the technique for making a double stop with a single finger, for example playing A on the E string and D on the A string using the ring finger. My fingertip is a little too narrow:(
good idea, I write that down for a future video!
This is really helping me... I love your contentT_T
Glad it helped := Thank you for your comment!
Thx so much 😍😍😍
You are welcome!
Thank you. I'm a composer, and it helps to know how violinists play double stops - This video helped me consider what's reasonable and possible for readers to play.
Great to hear that! Show me some examples and I can look over it if you want!
There are actually some tricks to even play chords with more than 4 notes, E. Ysaye uses this techniques in his Solo Sonatas for violin. Also one could use tricks, like harmonics for intervals bigger than 10th's. But will it sound good is the question in the end :)
Hello ,please do you have a music sheet for happy birthday with double stops ?
Sorry, I don't. If I would write one arrangement, it wouldn't be easy I guess.
My hands can't stretch to extended fourth. :(
That is why we need a smaller violin for short finger :(
Thank you♥️
You are welcome! :)
Vielen Dank für dieses nützlichen Beispiel!
Danke für deinen Kommentar! :)
Awesome! Thank you so much.
Ave Caesar! Haven't I seen you already on this channel?
Yes, I replied to your another video too.
This was so helpful
Thank you for your comment! :)
Hi Simon. Nice tut! I'm studying the Bach cello suites on both violin and viola. This music has a LOT of fifth double stops. I'm alway struggling with that. Flattening the finger is not feeling comfortable but playing with the tip seems almost impossible. Do you push one of the strings towards the other in order to be able to get them both? If you would be able to make an instruction video for this fifths issue I would be very, very greatful!
Good idea with the video. fifth double stops are indeed very special. In 95% of the time I would recommend to keep the finger tip rather vertical. But there are some limitations when it comes to this technique. Especially higher up the fingerboard the distanes between the strings are bigger and also the distance to the fingerboard. So flattening the finger is in that case a must. It will get more comfortable with time! On a viola I guess it is much more common even in lower positions.
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Thanks for your kind reply, Simon. I'm awaiting your specialized video on this :-) In the mean time: this question of mine about maybe pushing one string towards the other... Does that make any sense or do you think that it's a wrong approach?
@@KeesdeHaan Anything that works! It is a possibility, but controlling intonation could be hard that way, but it is anyways, so yes, that is a solution. I don't use it usually because I never had to, but I recommended it to some students, who had smaller fingers and difficulties playing a fifth the usual way. Sometimes what happens if you play the usual way is, that you spread the strings. That might also be a problem here! Sometimes it is hard not to, in that case your solution is great!
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Indeed the spreading of the strings, specially with the pinkey, is what happens. Even THEN I manage to produce a sound fifth now and then. But it's pure luck, no science... So oké, fine to hear that one may try anything that works :-) Keep up the good work!
If u could pls make a video on double stops on 5ths with special focus hand n wrist position. I m struggling with 5ths
I'll do a short video about that, because the topic isn't as big for a long video. Stay tuned! :)
Great
Can you please let me know how to get your book you showed us I would like to buy thank you
Lina
you can look for "enrico polo 30 studies for violin"
Tolle Erklärung
Danke! :)
I am wonderung, do need twice the amount of bow weight for double stops?
No and yes: It is a common misconception that one needs twice of the amount on the bow and also this problem appears with chords of 3 and 4 notes. Maybe a little more weight from the bow can be beneficial but not without adjusting the contact point towards the bridge. Especially with chords beginners tend to be too close to the finger board and with too much weight. Better think of the right bow speed and contact point. It all plays into it though. But it is not twice the amount. Just a liiiitle bit more if you stay with the same bow speed and contact point.
what if we play there 3:51 E note and not with C but with B note?
should I push the both 2,3 string with 1st finger? at the same time?(I mean, lay? the finger)
Or 1st finger on E and 2nd finger on B?@-@ (I don't think it's possible but...)
Or 2nd finger on E 1st finger goes down B? @0@
Usually you play that interval with the same finger on both strings! It is hard to get in tune tough. In some rare cases you use different fingers for those notes!
ooohhh...would be better with the same finger
if different fingers? I don;t know...my fingers are twisting...hahahh
and you have gentle voice...thanks
Thank you :D If the notes are a fifth apart the same finger is better than different fingers! Only in some very special situations you need different fingers for a fifth interval. For example if you play a chord on three strings with the notes all a fifth apart, you have to play one of the fifths with a different finger, because you cant use one finger for 3 strings... but you can and should use one finger for a single fifth any day!
Simon, thanks for the video, it was very helpful! I'm having some trouble writing for violin and I was wondering if its ok to play a tremolo with double-stops... Is it harder than with an ordinary bow technic?
sorry the late answer: playing double stops in tremolo isn't much different to ordinary bow strokes. You should be good to go!
Can you make a video for how to practice double stops in very high positions (6th and up, also on the lower strings)? I often struggle with the intonation and it feels quite awkward for the hand too.
A video on ricochet bowing would be greatly appreciated too. :)
that is a great Idea! But also very specific. I want to cover the basics first, because many principles are the same in higher positions. What pieces are you playing, which have those high double stops?
Thank you for the suggestion! Can you name the piece as well, where you need it? Maybe I could use it as an example in the new video
Recently I've played Paganini’s sonata no 6 in e minor and used it as an exercise for double stops. When the allegro theme comes the second time an octave lower I play it using only g and d strings.
The ricochet I need in Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella.
Thanks! Do you mean the Sonata for Violin and guitar and the section where it goes in thirds? I never played that piece, but looks like an good etude to me ;)
Introduction and tarantella is really something! Ricochet is a question of finding the right amount of momentum and control combined with the right contact point and bow section. I hope I can help with that in a video in the future!
I would also please give me your music in violin I would like to get book in second and third position practice book and the 3 position thank you
I use "Doflein" School most of the time! 2nd and 3rd position is in Book 3
What advice do you have on fingering fifths, especially in higher positions?
fifths are pesky things on the violin! I always try to play them with the finger tip and not flattening the finger. this way I have more control over intonation. In higher positions it is all about the right placement. I would advice to play regularly scales in fifths. This is generally too often neglected by violinists. Practicing them regularly helps a lot over time!
Simon Streuff Violin-Education Thank you. Hopefully my patience will be rewarded. Keep up the great videos!
Pavel Vorako patience and persistance will be rewarded! 😏
I've seen some double stops in a book of sheet music I'm trying to learn, but I've only been playing for a few months and so far I've avoided those certain numbers like the plague...suppose I should give it a go, though? I can't avoid them forever. 🙄
Elevenzies you should check if they are difficult or more basic double stops. Try it if they are not too complicated. Maybe prepare the bow with open strings first. What piece are you playing right now?
SimonS7r Will do, thanks. :) Right now I'm doing some Harry Potter selections (John Williams and Patrick Doyle) A lot of it is above my level but I figure I'm more inclined to practice everyday if I really love the music...so far it's worked out okay.
I think it is always important to play what you really want to play. Of course there are good etudes and exercises, which can supplement the learning process. But more important than to achieve a perfect technique is to be happy with the music one can play. If the goal is to play Paganini Violin Concerto, then of course one has to play lots and lots of scales and etudes for years or even decades just to even get there technically. But good music must not be difficult!
could you give me an advice as a beginner which violin would be the possibly best for me ?
This is very hard to say! But I wouldn't go with the cheapest one. There are ok violins, which you can get online. Some of my students ordered online and were very lucky. But I would go for over 400$ not cheaper. I will do some research on that topic and make a video about it, when I tested a student violin, that I can recommend! Thanks for your question!
SimonS7r I am looking forward to it
Which country are you from? Because it depends also on where you live!
SimonS7r Germany
Das macht die Sache etwas leichter! Ich frag mal meine Schüler, wo die bestellt haben! Hoffentlich wissen die das noch! Lieben Gruß!
my pinky is t small i cant reach my extended four
You can support your pinky with the hand and instead reach back with the 1st and 2nd finger. This works even for very small hands/short pinkies. Also you can bend your wrist a little bit, to support this spread!
What’s up with that mute ? 🤔
It is just to keep the sound levels right, sinse i don't have the greatest microphone... yet
I am curious why you used the mute during the video recording?
This has to do with my microphone setup. An unmuted violin is very loud and when I switch between talking and playing the audio in the end is easier to edit when I use an mute on the violin. I do not do this often anymore but that means I have to do more editing of the audio.
self use 3:37
"I'll be back".
Arnold for president!
I can't find the link :(
Which link? Did I miss something?
AH, now I know! Just look for Enrico Polo Etudes on amazon and you will find it. I wanted to post a link, but I have a worldwide audience and amazon has different departments and homepages for different parts of the world, so posting a link would only help some people. Until they fix that, I will not post amazon-links. But this one is easy to find!
... When the terminator teaches you the violin.
I wish I had that muscles! :) Thanks for your comment!
No entiendo nada porque no sé inglés :c
¿Ayudaría si hiciera subtítulos en español? Tengo un amigo que habla español. ¡Le preguntaré! Gracias por tu comentario!
Oh qué amor! Me ayudaría muchísimo, gracias! :)
Perfecto! ¡Llevará algo de tiempo!
💓💓💓👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you for your comment :)
Ich würde dir empfehlen es mal in Deutsch zu erklären. Das ist vermutlich deine Muttersprache.... 👍👏😎
Ist richtig. Mache ich jeden Tag, wenn ich arbeite. Auf RUclips möchte ich aber nicht nur den Deutschen helfen. Und Zeit für einen zweiten Kanal auf Deutsch habe ich leider nicht..
@@SimonStreuffViolinEducation Habe ich mir schon gedacht, gut dass ich multilingual bin 🍻
6:16 doesnt make so much sense: laughs in sibelius
true, there are some places where you will need that technique! But it's rather rare.
That's all cool and everything but did you really have to eat peanut butter before making this video
Jonathan Damron can you explain to me the meaning of this?