How to play Double-stops (Diads) with a pick??????

[cachalote]

Hi Everybody!!!!

I know that this could be a silly question but as a beginner I was wondering about what is the best way to play double-stops (diads) with the pick?. In this moment I'm re-studying the Jody Fisher's method "Mastering Chord- Melody" and I found some exercises that require to play double-stops. What kind of pick movement should I use to play these exercises?

A) Down Strokes and Up strokes
B) Only Down strokes
C) Hybrid picking (Pick with midlle finger)

This is an example of one of the exercises that I'm practicing.


I'll appreciate your help.

[TOMMO]

I guess I'd use hybrid (pick and middle finger) for that but I'm just so used to it that it comes naturally to me without any consideration if that's the right way.

[Hep To The Jive]

I use any of those variants as I wish at any moment. There is no best, they are all good, you make the choice based on what you like or more comfortable for a situation.

In your example, assuming you strum the chords, I'd downpick all of it.

[joe2758]

I would probably down pick it, but I would suggest practicing down pick and hybrid

[pauln]

The score for the exercise is without marks that would indicate how to play (no ties, no accents, etc.) for a reason - for you to explore.

Some double stops are played in synchrony, others with a deliberate "double plink", others staggering and overlapping the second note slightly, etc... to get the sounds of Funk, Latin, Country, etc...

Experiment with techniques to play double stops in as many ways and musical styles as possible so that when reading a song score with marks indicating how they are intended to sound, you'll be familiar with that style's specific sounds and the method(s) to achieve them.

[cachalote]

I use any of those variants as I wish at any moment. There is no best, they are all good, you make the choice based on what you like or more comfortable for a situation.

In your example, assuming you strum the chords, I'd downpick all of it.

I would probably down pick it, but I would suggest practicing down pick and hybrid

Thanks for the advice, I'll practe these exercises with both techniques (downpicking and hybrid picking).

[Jonah]

In that sopecific case I would just strum downwards

or other most probable thisb I would do is playing it with muddle and ring fingers... (which is not in your list I guess)

[Steven Herron]

I would play those double-stops (major and minor thirds) using downstrokes only.

And if the highest note of the double-stop is on any string other than the 1st string, I would be doing rest stroke picking as well - where my pick would end up resting on the 1st string if the highest note of the double-stop was on the 2nd string (as an example).

Regards,
Steven Herron

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm feeling bad because if the tempo on the up-side, I would play those double-stops "down-up", and a bit sloppy. It's not like I have an option...

[whiskey02]

The first thing I suggest doing is to ignore the TAB. If I knew for absolute certainty that Jody himself tabbed that out, (little surprised if he did) I would play it that way before exploring other options across the fingerboard. If I knew for absolute certainty that Jody did not specifically tab that out, I would completely ignore the tab as presented because I don’t like it.
Jody Fischer is amazing. I’ve got one of his CD’s and it is mind blowing how good he is. I’m not a huge fan of solo electric guitar but for sure there’s no one out there that does it better than Jody.
Oh yeah, to answer the OP, play it every way you can think of and choose the technique that sounds best, realizing that in a different piece of music, a different technique may be what works best. Choose the technique that serves the music best.

[cachalote]

In that sopecific case I would just strum downwards

or other most probable thisb I would do is playing it with muddle and ring fingers... (which is not in your list I guess)

Thanks, that's a good idea! I'll practice these exercises in that way too.

[cachalote]

I would play those double-stops (major and minor thirds) using downstrokes only.

And if the highest note of the double-stop is on any string other than the 1st string, I would be doing rest stroke picking as well - where my pick would end up resting on the 1st string if the highest note of the double-stop was on the 2nd string (as an example).

Regards,
Steven Herron
College Level Chord Melody Guitar Course

Thanks for the advice.