Latest / Barracuda Breakdowns / 42 - Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits)

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42 - Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits) · Barracuda Breakdowns

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to Barracuda Breakdowns.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're breaking down Sultans of Swing by dire straits.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's about time we get to some Mark Knoffler.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna try to demystify the song a little bit, break it down to the bare bones.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Got my Stratocaster, no pick.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: The song is in D minor, and we'll go over the different chord progressions, but it starts off like hanging around D minor, and it's the only time in the song that it only really does this, where it goes like just D minor, and then I love little solo.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna cover both solos in this song.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk about his technique too, like right here when he's like the those mutes are so essential to his playing.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: And just like his plucks, the way he plucks the strings.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: So the song has essentially four chord progressions.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: So here's the first one.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the first line.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's like it's the first part of the verse.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: You get a shiver in the dark, and it's raining in the park, but meantime.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then he outlines that five chord like he's like, he does a lot of like ending licks that I didn't learn, all his different uh nuanced licks and things like that.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: But he's always like hovering around that A major, which is the major five, the dominant five chord in D minor.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: So this this first chord progression is really interesting because it's the Andusian cadence, big and flamenco music.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's like minor one, seven, six, dominant five chord, right?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Gives it a nice eclectic kind of edge, this song, right?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then we got south of the river, you stop and you hold everything.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Now watch, here's the second part.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: This I guess you can call this the pre-chorus.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is the next chord progression, chord progression B or two.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: And then it goes to the relative major, D minor.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: The relative major of D minor is F major.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what it goes to.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's a nice lift.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: A band is blowing Dixie, double four time, and then it goes to the sixth chord, okay?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that is the second chord progression.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's very brief, okay?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like a band is blowing Dixie, major three chord, and then the seventh chord, double four time, little leg, and you feel alright when you hear when you hear the music ring.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now it enters chord progression C, and that's this.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then I love this part because it's like we go back to the minor, and then the rhythm that we enter this sixth chord is really nice.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's like watch.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: And he outlines that with like he adds like a little like like the movement is so nice of those chords.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: And he does a lot of like inversions, like instead of playing C like this, he'll play it like this or like this.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: He'll put that pinky in the bottom.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it's the exact same thing of doing this.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: And he'll do that in the main riff, which we'll get to.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: But just to recap, chord progression A is you gotta shiver in the ballot with the mean time.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Again.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Chord progression B.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Nice major lift.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's still chord progression B.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then here's chord progression C.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the Sultans, and then the second time around of the whole thing, he'll double it.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: He's like way on down south.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Way on down south.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Back to it, London Town.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: So that so the first time he'll play it once.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Back to it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then after that whole thing, he'll be like Way on down south.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Way on down south London.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now here's so this is the fourth chord progression.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: This is the main riff, okay?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: The fourth core progression D or chord progression four is the main riff, and that's he's outlining this chord, these chords.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: But it again, it's the way he's doing it.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's so signature, Mark Knoffler.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: He's like this is just essentially just like playing around with that C major right there.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that's the same thing as going right, but he's just doing like the top strings.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because you know, you get the bass taking care of it, the rhythm guitar taking care of those lower notes.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: He doesn't have to play those notes.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's like perfect embellishments, right?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: And by the way, if you want to go even deeper into music with me, I invite you to join the breakdown room.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's where we rediscover the songs we love and start to hear music a little bit differently.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, here's a tutorial for both solos of Sultans of Swing.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Softly and then So if you want to join me for live breakdowns and exclusive content, definitely check out the link in the description.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: Or you can just head to dambarracuda.com slash the breakdown room.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'd love to see you in there.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Real quick recap.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: Core progression A Core progression B is like the major lift.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a happier moment.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: Core progression C.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Core progression D or chord progression four.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: Now, this is important.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Solo one is being played over chord progression A, B, and C.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: And solo two is being played over only chord progression D.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So it has more of an epic feel.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk about it, but these chords are like very epic sounding.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas solo one has the first three chord progressions, and so it's more of an it's more of an emotional adventure.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: It has a happy moment, it has like a more epic moment, it has like a more like flamenco kind of moment, okay?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: So let's dive into solo one.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So that's when it goes those plucks, man.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I'm gonna hum the solo and play it over it.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Watch.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then when the solo ends, now we answer chord progression D.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: Which is the same thing as okay, so that's what's going on in the solo, okay?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: So let me tackle the solo again.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like Woo, I love how that's perfectly that's the perfect note over right?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Over the dominant five chord.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: The last chord in the Andeleucian cadence, A major.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: So and then just like going over all six strings.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about those it's it's everything.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then so that's over the major chord, chord progression B.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds so happy here, like in that moment, like makes the solo like way more adventurous.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: And the fact that he plays it three times is so nice.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Instead of right, three times he's singing right there that's when it goes D minor, back to the relative minor.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's like darker.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: That pluck is everything.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just love how like we're like all over the place, right?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like we were just we were mainly centering here, but then like the the jump down is like a beautiful moment.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Dynamics, it's a quiet there.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Quiet again.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's how you close the book, right?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's just like it's the whole leg, it's the it's so final just but like the bend up to it, everything about it.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: I like really adore this closing lick.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: So epic and then we kick back to the next verse.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: And says that last just as the time bell rings.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, then we got corporation B.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: Good night! Now it's time to go home.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then corporation C, then he makes it fast with just one more thing.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: We all the sultans.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: We all the sultans of swing.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Corp progression D.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Now watch Final Solo Do do do do do do do do do same corporation throughout.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then we got same chor chord progression.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right after it goes, We o The Sultans of Swing.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: It never changes again.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the rest of the song from like the final solo onward is chord progression D.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it's very epic.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like anytime you go from the minor one to the six, that's deep and dark.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: I always call it the deep and dark six chord, but then when you bridge up, like the C major, it's the seventh chord, it's like hope.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: And and it's always resolving back to the minor.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like dark, even deeper and darker, and then it's like hope.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: And holding it on to ba ba da ba, it's like lingering on, and then it's only to it's only more epic to go ba ba it like holds on there the longest.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's the transition point.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: This is like pain point to another pain, and then hopefully, and to play to solo over these chords, like these epic three chords, it just makes for such like an awesome palette of of like a landscape to solo over.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because like it's already like emotional, so now you get Mark Knopfler playing over this, and it's just like timeless, you know what I'm saying?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: So you got so that lick that comes later, okay?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we got I love those like hamron pull-off dis that dissension and you slide up, and then that's so crucial though.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just it's right very quiet there and then Oh my god, like that part is so awesome! Like that's so crucial and then the amazing, like right here.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like slowly it's so vocal.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: This part is so awesome, like these little sweeps.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sweeping the C major triad.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like he's like Well, he's sweeping the C major triad.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so much tension with that note.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: I can't get enough of that.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like that that little moment is like amazing, right?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like you go and then the next that's oh, and then bending down like and then This is iconic, right?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone knows this moment.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: This is like the encapsulation of all the emotions of the song.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like a huge like release right here, just now No, what he's doing here, it's it's all he's doing here is like the notes here that's just that's just fifth root minor third, which is just He's just doing D minor, and then when he goes That's just like He's outlining B flat, which is a sixth chord, and then just even even this That's just just like a different inversion of that, but it's that's all he's doing.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: He's like It takes a little bit to get down with your fingers, right?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like and not using a pick here, and then when he gets to the top, it goes like that second bend is everything.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like listen to the solo isolated, it's amazing.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: Just go on YouTube, isolated Toltons of Swing guitar.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing, amazing tone, obviously, but it's so cool to hear it isolated.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that's the same lick as the intro lick, just with a little bit more flavor, because the intro, I mean the intro of this solo, it goes right right.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, he goes so there when he gets to the top, it's like bringing us back full circle, so nice, and then what a payoff to like go back to the main rift after that, just after all that epicness.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: And that really kind of like broke things down for you for this song.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: The song has always like intimidated me, but like once you like see what's actually going on, you see like the repetition of like kind of the same things and like the subtle differences that they make, but it's nice to simplify like what's going on and be less intimidated by things musically.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hope you enjoyed that, and I'll see you in the next episode.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: And definitely check out the breakdown room, like I mentioned before, if you want to dive deeper into music with me.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you in the next episode of Barracuda Breakdowns.