This little ditty is from the famous Dire Straits song “Sultans of Swing”. It happens right after these lyrics in the song.
“Check out Guitar George; he knows all the chords. He’s strictly rhythm he doesn’t want to make it cry or sing”
Then Mark makes the guitar cry and sing with this lick.
Mark Knopfler Sultans of Swing Lick Tablature
For more information on how to read this, check out the lesson on Reading Internet Tablature.
Mark Knopfler Sultans of Swing Lick – Audio Fast
Mark Knopfler Sultans of Swing Lick – Audio Slow
Note: Mark Knopfler does not use a pick, but this lick could just as easily be played with one.
This guitar lick is basically out of a combination of an A minor pentatonic and A major pentatonic scale. It is a good lick for a major chord. The red number is the note that you should use as your guide. In this case the red note is an A. So this lick is played over an A. If you wanted to play this same guitar lick in the key of B you would just move everything up 2 frets so the note in red would be a B note.
A Minor Pentatonic with added Major Pentatonic Notes
A Minor Pentatonic |
A Major Pentatonic Scale |