Changing double stops into full chords

[funkalicious101]

I have been arranging songs on my phrase sampler/looper quite a bit lately. in many of them i attempt to mimic guitar by playing double stops in very high registers. should i ever try to transfer this to guitar is there any template way of "translating" double stops to full guitar chords?

[DocBop]

Typically double stops are 3rd and 7th's so add the root and 5th. Larger double stops are typically are 10th's a root and 3rd an octave up so add the 5th. They are two notes of a chord so just have to figure out the missing notes of the chord.

[Jared Lash]

Because double stops are just two notes, you really have a lot of freedom in terms of how you would voice them on the guitar.

For instance, a root-fifth double stop doesn't contain a third so it could be played as major or minor.

A root-third or root-minor third double stop gives you a little more direction as this would make the guitar chord major or minor. You still have a lot of options as to how exactly to play it. And since it's just an octave up, the same goes for root-tenth double stops.

A root-fourth double stop could either be a suspended fourth chord or a inversion with the higher note actually being the root.

A root-flatted fifth double stop means a diminished chord.

In general, just use the notes of the scale to build your guitar chords. Remember that for the major scale, the chords built on the root, fourth and fifth are major, the chords built on the second, third and sixth are minor and the chord built on the seventh is diminished.

Most of the time you would incorporate the two notes in your double stop, though if voicing them together, it is often interesting to have the bass voice a note that the guitar doesn't, so experiment.

Good luck.

[funkalicious101]

hmmm okay. i really do need to brush up on my theory, but this does help.

thanks

[Deacon_Blues]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Because double stops are just two notes, you really have a lot of freedom in terms of how you would voice them on the guitar.

For instance, a root-fifth double stop doesn't contain a third so it could be played as major or minor.

A root-third or root-minor third double stop gives you a little more direction as this would make the guitar chord major or minor. You still have a lot of options as to how exactly to play it. And since it's just an octave up, the same goes for root-tenth double stops.

A root-fourth double stop could either be a suspended fourth chord or a inversion with the higher note actually being the root.

A root-flatted fifth double stop means a diminished chord.

In general, just use the notes of the scale to build your guitar chords. Remember that for the major scale, the chords built on the root, fourth and fifth are major, the chords built on the second, third and sixth are minor and the chord built on the seventh is diminished.

Most of the time you would incorporate the two notes in your double stop, though if voicing them together, it is often interesting to have the bass voice a note that the guitar doesn't, so experiment.

Good luck.

I'd like to expand this a bit... if you're playing a major or minor 3rd interval, you can use it for a large number of chords. A major 3-note chord consists of a major 3rd followed by a minor third, and for a minor chord it's the other way around. If you move to four- or five-note chords you can use the intervals in a much larger variety of chords.

Also a comment on the root-flatted 5th doublestop: This interval is a very common doublestop in major dominant 7th chords, when one of the notes is the 3rd of the chord and the other the flatted 7th.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by Deacon_Blues

I'd like to expand this a bit... if you're playing a major or minor 3rd interval, you can use it for a large number of chords. A major 3-note chord consists of a major 3rd followed by a minor third, and for a minor chord it's the other way around. If you move to four- or five-note chords you can use the intervals in a much larger variety of chords.

Also a comment on the root-flatted 5th doublestop: This interval is a very common doublestop in major dominant 7th chords, when one of the notes is the 3rd of the chord and the other the flatted 7th.

Using fifths for double stops is ambiguous because they could be root and fifth, but also the 3rd and 7th of either a Ma7 or Mi7 chord. To me the tritone and 10th's are the double stops that really define chords, after that you have to look at the context they are being used in.

[Deacon_Blues]

One more thing: I use fourths for mi7 and ma7 chords, where the lower note is the 7th and the upper the 3rd (or 10th). If you play them the other way around, you should play a fifth instead...