Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing Pt.2 - Chorus & Verse Two - Guitar Lesson

About Sultans Of Swing Pt.2 - Chorus & Verse Two

The chorus and second verse of "Sultans of Swing" put Mark Knopfler's fingerpicking style front and centre. Where most rock guitarists would reach for a pick, Knopfler plays with bare fingers, and that choice shapes every note: the attack is rounder, the dynamics more elastic, and the string-to-string transitions demand a control that feels unnatural at first if you are a pick player. The key of D minor gives the song its slightly melancholy, late-night feel, and the chord shapes in the verse sit in positions that feed naturally into the lead fills Knopfler weaves between vocal phrases. Getting those fills to sit in the pocket rather than rush is the real challenge here. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the chorus slowed down until your right hand stops tensing up. Dire Straits built this track around that conversational interplay between rhythm and lead, so treat every chord and every fill as part of the same sentence.

• Mark Knopfler plays entirely with his bare fingers rather than a pick, so replicating the tone and dynamics requires unlearning standard pick technique.
• The song is in D minor, and the verse chord shapes are voiced to allow quick, smooth transitions into the signature melodic fills between phrases.
• Practising the chorus fills looped and slowed down in the Practice Toolbar is the most efficient way to lock in Knopfler's behind-the-beat phrasing.