Knopfler plays lead without a pick. His thumb handles the bass strings, and his index and middle fingers pluck the melody. Two moves give his sound its bite.
- Pinch: thumb and a finger pluck at the same time, squeezing toward each other, so the bass and melody notes sound as one.
- Snap: hook a finger slightly under the string, pull it away from the guitar and let go. The string slaps back against the frets with a sharp, percussive attack. Use it to accent key melody notes.
We're in A major, using the open A string as bass and A major pentatonic notes (A B C# E F#) on the B and e strings.
How to practice
- Rest the side of your palm lightly near the bridge; it steadies the hand.
- In the first exercise, pinch on beats 1 and 3 and pluck the single notes on beats 2 and 4 with your middle finger.
- In the second, the thumb alternates between the open A and the D string while the fingers play the melody. Snap the pinched notes on beats 1 and 3.
The usual mistake is snapping too hard and pulling the note sharp. Pull outward, not sideways, and only a few millimeters.
Tone: a clean amp, neck or middle pickup position, a touch of compression and a little reverb. Fingers give a warm attack; let them.