How to Double Stop on Mandolin and Jam Along to Anything

Often you will find yourself jamming along to the radio, or with friends and not know the chord progression to a song. No need to feel left out or embarrassed! This is where noodling comes into play. Noodling on the mandolin is when you make up licks, or strings of notes, to fill in the music you’re playing with. Think of how blues artists will sing a line and then play a lick. That’s a form of noodling.

Sounds great, huh? Everyone wants to play along to any song that pops up, but how is it accomplished? It’s all about practicing and trial and error. You need to do two simple things:

Memorize one pattern along the fretboard
Discover what key the song is being played

Let’s start out with the finger shapes. We’ll go along with the theme of our previous lessons where we covered two-finger major and minor chords, but this time explore up and down the neck.

This way of playing is called double stops. It’s when you play two strings at once, instead of all the strings like a chord or a single note. A double stop provides more volume and texture than plucking a single string and offers more of a melody than a chord. Like a blend of picking and strumming.

The Double Stop Pattern

To begin the pattern all you need to do is find where the root of your key can be played in this familiar formation:

Which is your index one string above, and one fret behind your middle finger. It is the same formation as the two-finger C chord. So, if the key your playing in is C then the pattern will begin with the C chord. If the key is G then the two strings you play will be the same as the two-finger G chord. Etcetera.

After you know where to begin you move onto the next finger configuration by shifting your index up one fret, and your middle finger is replaced with your ring finger placed two frets up from where your middle finger was. It looks like this:

Then you’ll keep your fingers in the same formation and move them up a whole step, which is two frets. That is your third placement.

Now you can move your index up another half step (one fret), remove your ring finger and replace it with your middle finger just like how you began the pattern. That’s how the fourth placement goes. After that you just move up a whole set, keeping the same formation and start the pattern again.

Here’s how it looks in the key of C.

First Position

Index: D string second fret

Middle: A string third fret

Second Position

Index: D string third fret

Ring: A string fifth fret

Third Position

Index: D string fifth fret

Ring A string seventh fret

Fourth Position

Index: D string seventh fret

Middle: A string eight fret

Fifth Position

Index: D string ninth fret

Middle: A string tenth fret

In the key of G, try out this pattern too. Instead of playing the two middle strings, use the bottom two strings. Try it again in the key of F on the top two strings. It’s just like the chords for La Bamba in the key of C.

That pattern works great when your root note begins on the first frets, the first position of the pattern. What about if that’s not the case? For example, if you’re trying to play in the key of D. No problem! All you do is begin the pattern as you would in the key of C, but just move up a whole step. That’s because D is a whole step up from C. The pattern now begins with your index on the fourth fret of the D string and your middle on the fifth fret of the A string. The key of A is a whole step up from G, so you’d do the G pattern but begin two frets up. Once you learn the pattern it’s easy!

Tip:

If you’re starting the sequence up a whole step, as you are for the keys of D and A, you’re able to move back a move. That won’t be the root of the pattern, though. You’ll still begin the pattern perusal, but you have access to a lower tone. Here’s what it looks like for the key of D:

It’s just like the second position of the pattern, behind the root instead of afterward. It’s like position -1.

The Pattern as Zest

Doing that pattern isn’t necessarily noodling though. It’s essentially a scale, which isn’t too interesting other than for practice. To liven up your playing try mixing up the pattern to produce different sounds. It’s a great map to know because as long as your in the right key, all you do is try playing the different positions of the pattern over the song.

Now that we know the pattern to use, let’s discover how to figure out what key the song is in.

Discovering the Key

If the sheet music is provided with the song then finding the key is as simple as counting the number of sharps or flats in the key signature. To help with this is none other than the circle of fifths. As you see, a C has no sharps or flats, a G has one sharp, and so on.

With your mandolin, there is seldom the moment when you will have sheet music in front of you. Instead what I tend to do is check out what chords the guitar player is playing. If she’s playing G, C, D then I know she’s in the key of G. If she’s playing those chords but the capo is on the second fret then I know she’s playing in A. What about if you aren’t too familiar with guitar chords? What works every time is trial and error.

Use the patterns described earlier and figure out what sounds the best. Pick a key to begin with, how about C. If the arrangement blends then you know what key the song is in. If not, then you just try the pattern in a different key. You’re bound to play some wrong notes, but that’s part of the deal when you’re jamming with other people. It’s not the end of the world! Music is fun.

Practicing with the Legends

What I like to do is open up Spotify and play the randomized radio for a classic rock band; The Band, or Grateful Dead. The chord progressions are nothing too wild, and you’re bound to discover what key the tunes are playing in. Between singing try out some riffs on your mandolin, just like the blues singer noodling after they sing a line. I love this way of practicing because you always have someone to jam with, there’s no pressure to get all the notes correct, and you’re playing along with legends!

Playing by Ear

It’s no problem if you don’t have anyone around to jam with or you’re outside and you can’t play along to the stereo. Use this time to train your ear. Pick out a song that’s in your head, or a nursery rhyme, and try to play it with double stops. Try out Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The simpler the better. You can always get more complex when you’re more comfortable.

The first non-nursery rhyme song I learned my ear was Mandolin Orange’s intro riff for Poor Boy Poor Me. It can be played entirely with the shapes we’ve covered in this lesson. Here’s some help for you to create the tune. In the next lesson, I’ll share the answer with you!

Since you’re playing along to a recording you’re going to have to decide on which key is being used. Take a moment to listen to the song and test out which key you think the song is in. Once you know that hum the riff to yourself. Note which parts of the humming get higher and which lower. This is going to help you decide how to pattern the double stops. Now try to transpose your humming to your mandolin.
You can also learn to spice up your chord progressions by sandwiching in some double stop licks within the sequence. Go ahead and play a chord progression, La Bamba in C, why not. While thinking about how the melody would go, try noodling instead of playing the F chord. Strum the C, play a double stop lick for a measure, and then end by strumming the G chord. Think about how many new sounds you can make.