Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing - Guitar Tab

Dire Straits

1978 5:49

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About Sultans of Swing

Few debut recordings announce a guitarist's arrival quite like "Sultans of Swing." Mark Knopfler plays the entire track fingerstyle, using his bare fingers rather than a pick, which gives every note a warm, slightly rounded attack that a plectrum simply would not produce. Learning to replicate that feel is the first real challenge here: your right-hand fingers need to alternate cleanly across strings while keeping the tone even, especially during the chord-melody passages in the verses. The song sits in D minor, and Knopfler weaves between open-position chords and single-note runs that exploit the lower strings beautifully, so getting comfortable with that part of the neck is essential. The outro solo is the piece most players want to learn, and it builds in intensity through several melodic phrases that are deceptively fluid at full speed. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those solo phrases slowed down until the fingering feels natural before you bring the tempo back up. Dire Straits built their entire sound around Knopfler's restrained, expressive approach, and this track is the clearest possible introduction to it.

• Knopfler plays fingerstyle throughout, using no pick, so your right-hand finger technique must be solid before attempting the lead lines.
• The outro solo builds through several melodic phrases in D minor and rewards slow, isolated practice on each phrase before playing it at full speed.
• Open-position chord voicings in D minor are central to the rhythm parts, making clean left-hand fretting across the nut area a key focus.