Sultans of Swing Guitar Lesson

In this Sultans of Swing Guitar Lesson, you’ll learn how to play this Dire Straights Classic.

This video walks you through how to play this song. It’s got some fancy strumming, but the video goes slow so you can learn it correctly. Enjoy!

“Sultans of Swing” was the first single release of the British rock band Dire Straits.

It was first recorded as a demo at Pathway Studios, North London, and quickly acquired a following after it was put in the rotation at Radio London.

The song entered the American music pop charts in early 1979. Unusually, the success of this single release came more than six months after the relatively unheralded release of the band’s debut album in October 1978. 

With its Dylanesque lyrics and vocals, along with economic guitar fills, the song was a marked departure from the waning disco style and the nascent punk movement. The song’s unique feature is that nearly every fill is different from the last, and no fills in any of the verses are repeated. The arrangement of “Sultans of Swing” was straightforward: two guitars, a bass, and a straight 4/4 beat on the drums.

The album version of the song featured a critically acclaimed extended guitar solo, reaching #22 on Guitar World’s list of the greatest guitar solos and #32 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of greatest guitar songs. Knopfler improvised and expanded that solo many times during live performances.

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