simply, what are they?

Playing two strings at once (a chord is three or more)

gotcha. thanks

is that all there is to it?? why is it called "double stops" in this context?

i`ve heard that it`s playing two notes together before, but wasn`t sure if it was right - doesn`t seem to sound right.

i had the mental impression of playing a note very quickly twice, like a quarter note or less.

but i also believe the above explaination of playing two notes on different strings is right.

Just two notes, that`s all. I suppose technically it`s two stopped notes (ie. both notes fingered, no open strings) but in practice no one makes any distinction.

liz

a double stop can be two open strings.

you all are absolutely correct- it`s simply playing two strings at one time. three strings at one time would be a Triple stop, and four at once is difficult, however if you press VERY hard and use a spicatto technique with a fast bow, it is possible. A good example of Quadruple stops is the first phrase in the 3rd Movement of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto.

Just playing the notes the way the normally come when you do double stops will not tune them 100%. The frequency of one pitch vibrating through your violin affects the other, ever so slightly. So you have to experiment a bit to play them.

many fiddler`s use double stops, and they are quite common in classical music as well.