A smear on two notes — bleeding a 3rd / 6th double-stop

Yesterday you smeared with one note. Today you lay a smear onto a double-stop, two notes held together. Keep one note still and push only the other from b3→3, and the two notes bleed together.

First, the 3rd double-stop. Hold b3 (F) on the 4th string with the 5th (A) on the 3rd string. The two notes sit a 3rd apart. Leave the 5th alone and raise only the 4th string to F# with a hammer-on. While the lower note bleeds, the upper note holds its place like an anchor.

Today's goal is one double-stop smear. Slowly at BPM 72, hear two notes ring together while only one climbs a half step. When the balance of the two notes lives, the thick color unique to neosoul appears. Learn the hand shape first.

▶ 3rd double-stop. Hold 4th string fret 3 (b3) with 3rd string fret 2 (5), and hammer only the 4th string to the green fret 4 (3rd).

Now the 6th double-stop. Hold b3 (F) on the 4th string with the root (D) on the 2nd string, skipping the middle 3rd string. A 6th with one string skipped opens the sound wide, and neosoul loves it especially.

▶ 6th double-stop. Hold 4th string fret 3 (b3) with 2nd string fret 3 (root), mute the 3rd string, and hammer only the 4th string to the green fret 4 (3rd).

Now link the two hand shapes by ear. Smear once as a 3rd, once as a 6th. In both bars the lower two notes ring together and only one bleeds to the green 3rd.

▶ BPM 72. Bar 1 is the 3rd double-stop, bar 2 the 6th double-stop. Leave the upper note and let only the lower note bleed a half step.

0–10 min · Warm-up At BPM 60, form both hand shapes silently. The 3rd is strings 4·3, the 6th is strings 4·2 (3rd string muted). First check that the two notes ring cleanly at the same time.

10–20 min · Brain training (hammer smear slowly) Keep the lower note pressed and raise only one finger a half step with a hammer-on. If the upper note gets dragged and wobbles, force is leaking. Feel each finger's force separately.

20–40 min · Real double-stop smear (BPM 72) Repeat the two bars below, alternating a 3rd and a 6th smear. Watch just one thing: that the upper note doesn't wobble in either bar.

▶ BPM 72. Loop the 3rd → 6th double-stop smear twice. The upper note is the anchor; let only the lower note bleed.

40–50 min · Recording / self-feedback (recommended) Record both double-stop smears and listen back. Check that the two notes ring together and the upper note doesn't wobble.

Done when: You can sound the 3rd and 6th double-stop smears once each at BPM 72 without the upper note wobbling.

Here are just the mistakes that show up most in the double-stop smear.

▶ The green dot (4th string, the 3rd) is where both double-stops land together. The 3rd-string 5th and 2nd-string root are the anchors ringing along.

• The upper note gets dragged up. Keep the lower-note finger in place and move only the hammer-on finger.
• The 3rd string rings in the 6th. Lightly touch the skipped 3rd string to mute it.
• The two notes ring separately. Pick both notes at exactly the same instant so the double-stop sounds as one.
• You raise speed first. Drop to BPM 60 and build the balance of the two notes first.