Dire Straits Bonus 5-Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Expresso Love - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  In 1980 Dire Straits came out with their third album Making Movies, which included Tunnel Of Love, Romeo And Juliet, and the subject of this lesson, Expresso Love. This song features a killer opening riff, which serves as the accompaniment to the verse as well.
  
  This lesson covers the syncopated strumming patterns with power chords, using double time and single time techniques, and the progressions to the chorus and bridge. It does not cover the lead, although tab to the lead is included. Good command of barre chords is a necessity here.

• Lesson 2: Romeo And Juliet - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  Mark Knopfler is one of the most talented musician’s to have come along in the last 50 years. This lesson is on one of his acoustic masterpieces, Romeo And Juliet. The song first appeared in 1980 on Dire Straits’ third album Making Movies, and remains a standard in Mark’s performances and a fan favorite still today. The song is played in Open G Tuning with a capo at the third fret, and uses what is really a free-form picking/strumming technique.

• Lesson 3: Money For Nothing - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  Money For Nothing features one of the most instantly recognizable opening licks of all time. This lesson goes over the way Mark Knopfler plays it, sometimes, as he changes things with every performance. The lesson also includes the rhythm guitar part that accompanies the verses and chorus.

• Lesson 4: Sultans Of Swing - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  This short lesson on the first hit by Mark Knopfler and friends mainly covers the rhythm guitar part with a few references to exploring the lead.

• Lesson 5: The Man’s Too Strong - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  In 1985 Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits released one of their greatest albums, Brothers In Arms, which included The Man’s Too Strong.
  
  The song opens with a little folk picking melody, which progresses into a somewhat country ballad, followed by an almost symphonic, crashing sequence, before returning to subsequent verses. This lesson covers all the rhythm guitar parts, as well as the unusual outro, really another new section.

• Lesson 6: Money For Nothing - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Max Rich breaks down some of the iconic licks from Money For Mothing.

• Lesson 7: Sultans Of Swing - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Sultans Of Swing is a massive song by Dire Straights from their self titled debut album released in 1978, although it didn't really get popular until its re-release the following year. This song has a ton of material to cover with the solos that I'll show you how to play. There's a lot of techniques to learn in this song that all revolve around finger style playing. Mark Knopfler didn't play with a pick but instead used his fingers so you'll have to get comfortable with the idea of playing with your fingers in a rock setting, as opposed to its typical acoustic usage. This also gave him a unique rhythmic style of playing chords because he doesn't use a pick. The licks throughout the song are all very standard Mark Knopfler style licks as well, incorporating a lot of string bending, grace notes, trills and even harmonics. There's a lot to learn here, so get your chops ready!