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Dire Straits — Sultans of Swing (ver 5) bass tabs



(submitted by SunByrne)
"Sultans of Swing" from _Dire Straits_ (1978)
Dire Straits, bassist John Illsley
Standard tuning
Played with pick, almost certainly a P—bass

Based on the master isolated bass track found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJI3BSkjGnE

All other tabs I've seen for this have MANY fewer ghost notes, in
particular lots of singles where in the isolated track it's clear
they are doubles (quick down—up). This makes the song harder, but
more interesting, to play.

Intro
G |——————————————————|—————————————————————||———————————————————||
D |——————————————————|—————————————————————||———————————————————||
A |—5—xx5—xx5—xx5303—|—5—xx5—xx5—xx5—xx530—||—5—xx5—xx5—xx53030—||
E |——————————————————|—————————————————————||———————————————————||

Verse A.1
G ||———————————————————————————————————||
D ||———————————————————————————————————||
A ||—5—xx5—x53—x31—x10—xx0—xx0—xx0—x3——||
E ||———————————————————————————————————||

G |———————————————|———————————————|————————————————|
D |—3x3————3x3————|———————————————|————————————————|
A |—————35—————50—|—3x3————3x3————|—1x1————1x1—————|
E |———————————————|—————35—————53—|—————31—————30——|

Verse A.2
G |———————————————|————————————————|
D |———————————————|————————————————|
A |—5—xx5—305—11——|3—xx3—xx3—3—————|
E |—————————————3—|————————————035—|

Verse B.1
G |——————————————————————————————————|———————————————————————————————————|
D |——————————————————————————————————|———————————————————————————————————|
A |—5—xx5—xx3—xx1—100—xx0—xx0—xx0—03—|—5—xx5—x53—x31—x10—xx0—xx0—xx0—x3——|
E |——————————————————————————————————|———————————————————————————————————|

G |———————————————|———————————————|————————————————|
D |—3x3———————————|———————————————|————————————————|
A |—————53————————|—3x3————3x3————|—1x1————1x1——3——|
E |————————1x1—35—|—————53—————13—|—————13—————3———|

Verse B.2
G |———————————————|———————————————|—————————————————|
D |———————————————|———————————————|—————————————————|
A |—5—xx5—305—11——|3—xx3—xx3—11———|3—xx3—xx3—x3—————|
E |—————————————3—|————————————3——|—————————————035—|

Chorus
G ||—————————————————|——————————————||
D ||—————————————————|——————————————||
A ||—5—xx—531—1———10—|—3x3—1—3x3—03—||
E ||———————————13————|——————3———————||

Verse B.1
Verse A.2

Verse B.1
Verse B.2

Chorus

Verse B.1
Verse B.2

Verse B.1
Verse B.2

Chorus

Verse A.1
Verse B.2

Chorus

Outro
G |—————————————————|——————————————|
D |—————————————————|——————————————|
A |—5—xx5—xx1x1—————|—3x3—1—3x3—03—|
E |—————————————13——|——————3———————|

Chorus

Outro 2
G ||———x20———————————|——————————————||
D ||——————3——————————|——————————————||
A ||—5——————1—1———10—|—3x3—1—3x3—03—||
E ||———————————13————|——————3———————|| repeat to end


Tablature player for this song:
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (ver 5) Bass Tab

About Dire Straits

Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed by Mark Knopfler (vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion), and managed by Ed Bicknell, active between 1977 and 1995. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock was at the forefront, Dire Straits played a more bluesy style, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s.[citation needed] In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down their sound so that patrons could converse while the band played, an indication of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful, with their first album going multi-platinum globally.

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Other versions of Sultans of Swing

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