| Lesson Subject:
Mark Knopfler Style |
| What you learn:
Lesson 3 |
| Teacher:
Rusty Cash |
Rusty: Tonight we will look at some of
Mark's country licks and recordings. Since the early 90's, Mark has recorded and
worked with several country artists. He also has a long list of session
recordings that he played on.
Lesson Example
Looping Sound Clip 1
Rusty: Here are a few suggested
recordings that may relate to our lesson:
"Walk Of Life - Live" from
Dire Straights - On the
Night
"Poor Boy Blues"
from Mark Knopfler/ Chet Atkins - Neck and Neck
"Cannibals" from Mark
Knofpler "Golden Heart"
Rusty: The rhythm of the example
will be closely related to all three
songs. The lead work should sound similar to
"Poor Boy Blues. I got carried away with the
example, so it will probably sound too far on the country side. It's not that
Mark couldn't play these licks, but he probably wouldn't over play like the
example.
Rusty: The live version of "Walk Of
Life - Live" has some good solos at the end. Most of the lead work was played by
Paul Franklin on pedal steel but tonight's lesson will show you some of the
licks we can play on the guitar to emulate that instrument. Mark's tone on "Neck and
Neck" is very clean and colorful. Part of his tone can be contributed to the EMG
pickups. They would be the first thing I would invest in if I were going to try
and emulate his tone. For this example I used my guitar through a compressor and
straight into my computer.
Blocking
Blocking
Video
Rusty: "Blocking" is a technique that pedal
steel players use and typically country guitar players. It's not limited to just a country style, but it really stands out in that type
of playing. When you "block" a note that means you
dampen the note out with a finger minimizing it's sustain. Normally you'll play a note on one string, when you skip to the next string you
dampen or block out the note previously played with your thumb or index finger.
This will particularly stand out over bends.
Blocking Double
Stops
Rusty: The next lick shows you an example of
some double stops. As I move through the notes, I block the previous ones out. You don't have to do it everywhere and sometimes you want be able to. I went
overboard all through the lesson example so you could hear what I'm talking
about.
Blocking Video Ex
2
Rusty: There is no tab symbol to show blocking.
It would be too confusing if there were, so pay close attention to my right hand
in the videos. Mark will use blocking to some degree.
Again, when playing with you fingers it tends to come naturally.
Bends
Rusty: All through the song I use regular
bends, pre bends, bend and hold, an pre bend and release. Sometimes the tab gets confusing so I made a midi example to show you what I
mean by the symbols. You will see these throughout the licks.
Chords
Rusty:
Our chords are pretty basic. Here are the chord voicings that we will either
play at once or play through as a lick.
I'm putting these here as a reference
for the licks. Most of the time we will not play the root note of these chords.
Rusty:
When you get to the licks, you may be curious of how they relate to the backing
progression. Most of the licks are country licks, and
we either bend or slide into a triad which makes the same notes of the chords we
will play against. We will use some scales but I'll post them before the lick.
Rhythm
Rusty: We will
break the rhythm up into two parts, the chorus leading (4 bars) and then the
verse which repeats twice (8 bars). That will give us 12 bars in all. The
progression is tabbed in midi format, but I would use them like a chord chart so
you can follow along.
Rhythm
Guitar
Rusty: For the rhythm guitar, I used one of
Mark's many rhythm progressions. The (*) on the tab indicates playing
with thumb. The video is slowed down showing just my right hand.
Rhythm
Video
Rusty:
The rhythm lick is a shuffle rhythm lick that follows the changes of the chord
progression. Count 1 2 & 3 & 4 & letting the
first note receive a quarter note. On the & of 3 you will cross over
with your thumb. That and a brief sustain on the notes will get close to the
feel behind his rhythms. It almost sounds like a delay or
"hiccup". Chet Atkins had a lot of rhythms like this.
Licks
Rusty: The
first 2 licks do not have a video. The example could make it without the licks
added. I put them there so you could hear some the chord voicings we will be
playing out of.
Rusty:
This lick just plays the chords to the chorus and emphasizes the chords over the
first part of the verse.
Rusty:
Finishes up the verse and plays the chorus once more.
_lick3
Rusty: This lick falls out of the E Major
Pentatonic lick. It uses some blocking over the bends. Think of it as the melody
notes the singer might use.
_lick4
Rusty: This is another E major lick that
will incorporate some blocking through the double stops.
_lick5
Rusty: Lick 5 uses some double stops to
work down the neck from E to A. Notice the first part of the lick uses
some of the D chord at the 7th fret. While that is being played it makes
the E chord sound like an E7. You could consider this to be an example
of blocking. More characteristic of the way Mark would play. While moving down the neck you should constantly block the notes. That's what
makes it sound choppy. There is a lick sort of like this on "Poor
Boy Blues". Lick 6 is something I made up that uses
blocking over the bends.
_lick6
Rusty: The tab example doesn't sound that
great. I would pay closer attention to the video. Notice the more you block with bends, the
"countrier" it sounds.
Lick 7 is a "pedal steel lick". Notice the first part highlights the high E triad at the 16th fret. It also
comes in early so that the example would sound like two people playing.
_lick7
Rusty:
The bends will work along with the chord changes. During the lick, look for the
notes E, F#, A, and E again. Lick 8 and 9 finger pick through the E,
A, and B chords around the 7th - 12th fret. If you forgot what they look like scroll to the top and look at the tab that
displays the chords. All along we are suspending the E, A,
and B to make a nice finger picking pattern.
_lick8
_lick9
Rusty: Again lick 10 follows the chord changes.
We bend the third string which is the 2nd tone of the chord up to the major 3rd
and then pick the rest of the triad.
_lick10
Rusty: This lick uses a lot of blocking. It is
similar to the first example I gave you explaining blocking. When we get to the B chord, hold the bend the entire time while playing the
notes out of that scale. Next we slide from the B up to the E using thirds. Most of the remaining licks will use this E minor blues.
Rusty: Here is the old "Rock 'n Roll" lick. I
wanted to put something up like this to show you that rock licks can incorporate
some "blocking" if you prefer. Pre-Bend the second bend at the 2nd fret
3rd string while playing the open B and gradually release it. The last part is a hammer on at the 2nd fret 4th string that may be similar to
"The Bug".
_lick11
Rusty: Lick 12 consists of some slides and
bends that use blocking over E. Once we are in A and B we use the same
pull off lick sort of like Sultans Of Swing but notice I have to make the triads
major. Last, a slide into the E triad an the
12th fret.
_lick12
Rusty: Lick 13 is another E minor blues lick
that is very similar to a lick in Calling Elvis but you would need to transpose
it to B, add distortion, and pick up the tempo. The lick ends with another bend in E minor.
_lick13
Rusty:
I don't have the last lick I played on the example tabbed out. I was just having
fun. If you've heard "Poor Boy Blues", there
is a lick in the ending solo that I believe was played by Chet. It's really cool
and fast. I was just poking fun at that idea and tried something similar here. That's all for lesson 3. I hope you'll find some of this stuff valuable. I
exaggerated on a lot of the licks moving away from Mark's style just to emphasize
a few techniques.