Rockschool: Dire Straits – Sultans of swing
Join Rockschool and TG in this fingerpicked Fender frenzy – destined to grace pub-band set lists for evermore
After seeing a swing band in a deserted London pub, Mark Knopfler wrote Sultans Of Swing on a resonator guitar before re-working it into the Fender Strat classic we know today. The song epitomises Knopfler’s characteristic fingerstyle technique; however, plectrum aficionados can start to explore this by using ‘hybrid picking’ – a combination of pick and fingers. Whichever method you use, the key is to achieve a snap to your tone (akin to country ‘chicken picking’ styles) – great for contrast in your phrasing (eg, the gentle harmonics at bar 54 versus Knopfler’s more aggressive attack at bar 57).
Knopfler crafts winding melodies and catchy riffs based around D natural minor (eg, the chorus chords) and D harmonic minor in the verses (shown by the C#’s in bar 9, for example). Take care in preparing your fretting hand positions in order to execute these smoothly, as the direction of these lines can sometimes catch you by surprise.
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