From a guitarists point of view, this track has absolutely everything. Incredible chord progressions, amazing licks, serious technique and so much theory you could lose yourself! It's the biggest guitar study piece since "Little Wing", and we break it down for you right here.
To start with, we can take a look at the main scale shapes Mark Knopfler is using for this solo. He pivots between the D minor and F major pentatonic scales for most of the solo, intertwined with some wonderful arpeggios to spell out chord shapes (we'll talk about that below). The good news is that the D minor and F major pentatonic scales are exactly the same, just starting from different root notes. We have shown the D minor shapes below, to play F major simply start from the F note in each position!
Throughout the track Mark Knopfler is also sprinkling in arpeggios from the chords, to really define specific parts of the chord progression. This really adds some focus and clarity to the solo and makes it so special. Below we have outlined all of those arpeggio shapes for your reference as you play through the video.
Just like in solo1, Mark Knopfler pivots between the D minor and F major pentatonic scales for most of the solo. The good news is that the D minor and F major pentatonic scales are exactly the same, just starting from different root notes. We have shown the D minor shapes below, to play F major simply start from the F note in each position!
Let's talk about that bit we all know and love... Those epic arpeggios at the end of the solo! Mark Knopfler is using three shapes when playing this part, starting with a D minor arpeggio, then to a Bb major arpeggio, then to a C major arpeggio. These all perfectly intertwine with the chords. The arpeggio shapes are written out below.
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Congratulations
You've now completed Song Jukebox: Dire Straits and taken a huge step forwards in your guitar playing journey.
Feel free to bask in glory for a while, or go ahead and try another course if you're hungry for more.