Knopfler’s Advice To Newbies
I’ve always been a fan of Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits’ frontman) and his music — in fact, some critics put his axe-wielding second only to Slowhand (Eric Clapton) in effectiveness.
One of my faves is their first hit, Sultans of Swing (1978). It recently came in at #22 in Classic Rock mag’s Top 100 guitar solos … but, more importantly, Mark had some great advice for new bands as he described the song:
“ ‘Sultans of Swing’ was originally written on a National Steel guitar in an open tuning, though I never performed it that way,” he said. “I thought it was dull, but as soon as I bought my first Strat in 1977, the whole thing changed, though the lyrics remained the same.
It just came alive as soon as I played it on that ’61 Strat—which remained my main guitar for many years and was basically the only thing I played on the first album—and the new chord changes just presented themselves and fell into place.
It’s really a good example of how the music you make is shaped by what you play it on, and is a lesson for young players. If you feel that you’re not getting enough out of a song, change the instrument—go from an acoustic to an electric or vice versa, or try an open tuning. Do something to shake it up!
As for the actual solo, it was just more or less what I played every night. It’s just a Fender Twin and the Strat, with its three-way selector switch jammed into a middle position. That gives the song its sound, and I think there were quite a few five-way switches installed as a result of that song.”
SO WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?? HERE YA GO:
Okay … it’s 6 AM here, 11 AM there and 5:00 somewhere, so I’m gonna get outta here and catch some zzzz’s for about 300! But stay tuned … there’s more to come in 24 or less! ‘Til then …
see ya on the flip side!
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