# How good of a guitar player is Mark Knopfler?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 16, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581 "2008-03-16T20:57:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/1 "2008-03-16T20:57:56Z")
I’m spending today listening to some Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler is an amazing guitar player in my opinion.
So, what says the more educated guitar experts among the Dope?
---
### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/2 "2008-03-16T22:21:45Z")
You do realize that he’s a lot more than just a guitar player? He wrote the music for _Princess Bride._ Personally, I’m more impressed by that.
---
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/3 "2008-03-16T22:39:29Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat]
You do realize that he’s a lot more than just a guitar player? He wrote the music for _Princess Bride._ Personally, I’m more impressed by that.
[/QUOTE]
Congratulations on completely failing to address **dalej42** ’s question, while cultivating an annoying sense of superiority. The OP might be well aware of Mark Knopfler’s other endeavors; he was specifically asking about his guitar-playing ability.
---
### Author:  [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/4 "2008-03-16T22:46:51Z")
I would rate him as a very good lead guitar player. He is no genius, but he plays a very original and distinct style of lead guitar. He also has excellent taste.
His rhythm playing is just average.
---
### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/5 "2008-03-16T22:52:06Z")
Mark Knopfler is one of the very best guitar players alive today. His sense of tone and melody are fantastic, and in contrast to a lot of very technical players out there, his sense of “taste” - knowing when to play, and sometimes even more important, when _not_ to play - is almost unequaled.
Which is not to say he’s not a technical player. He released a few guitar albums with Chet Atkins, and Atkins was one of the greatest guitar players to ever grace this planet.
Knopfler is a beast. I can’t remember who said it, but a famous musician said, “Mark Knopfler can say in one note what it takes Yngwie [Malmsteen] a hundred notes to say.”
---
### Author:  [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/6 "2008-03-16T23:47:43Z")
Not a guitarist (I just play the daughter of one on tv) but I definitely love Knopfler’s style. He’s got more skill than people give him credit for; just because he isn’t the flashiest doesn’t mean he’s not one of the best.
---
### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/7 "2008-03-17T00:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo]
Congratulations on completely failing to address **dalej42** ’s question, while cultivating an annoying sense of superiority. The OP might be well aware of Mark Knopfler’s other endeavors; he was specifically asking about his guitar-playing ability.
[/QUOTE]
And thanks for being so snarky to someone who was just trying to expand on our collective knowledge about an artist who I admire.
---
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/8 "2008-03-17T00:07:01Z")
He’s got a fairly permanent spot on my “top five favorites ever” list, for what that’s worth.
---
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/9 "2008-03-17T00:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat]
And thanks for being so snarky to someone who was just trying to expand on our collective knowledge about an artist who I admire.
[/QUOTE]
Whatever. When you start your observation with “You do realize…?” it makes you sound like a jerk.
Maybe you could have tried something like:
> [@](#):
>
> Mark Knopfler is great. He’s not just an amazing guitarist, but he’s also written a bunch of great movie scores, including the music for _The Princess Bride_.
Happy to help.
---
### Author:  [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/10 "2008-03-17T01:38:09Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo]
Whatever. When you start your observation with “You do realize…?” it makes you sound like a jerk.
[/QUOTE]
Mr. Pot? Or is it Mr. Kettle?
---
### Author:  [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/11 "2008-03-17T02:34:22Z")
No expert here, but I enjoy his playing, and I know he’s renown for being a fingerpicker.
---
### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/12 "2008-03-17T02:40:53Z")
I love his rhythm work on _Speedway to Nazareth_ and _Who’s Your Baby Now_, and _Sailing to Philadelphia_ is one of my all-time favourites.
---
### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/13 "2008-03-17T03:48:24Z")
This kind of question inevitably inspires another question: how do you define “good”?
Many fans (not necessarily the OP, but a lot of people) judge a guitarist by criteria like “How wickedly fast are his solos” or “How hard is it for an ordinary guitarist to duplicate what he does”? That’s why guys like Eddie Van Halen top so many “Best Guitarist” surveys and why a guy like Mark Knopfler rarely does.
Knopfler is a skilled guitarist, but he’s not a lightning fast soloist, and freely admits that. His greatest talent is knowing what a song needs, and providing exactly that. He couldn’t play “Eruption”… but then, Eddie Van Halen has never done a solo that moved me to tears (as Knopfler frequently has).
---
### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/14 "2008-03-17T05:12:51Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre]
Mark Knopfler is one of the very best guitar players alive today. His sense of tone and melody are fantastic, and in contrast to a lot of very technical players out there, his sense of “taste” - knowing when to play, and sometimes even more important, when _not_ to play - is almost unequaled.
[/QUOTE]
Very well said. I always get the feeling that Knopfler extacts the most he can out of each note – bending in and out, sliding, whatever. He expresses what he wants succinctly and the space in-between adds just the right emphasis.
[QUOTE=astorian]
His greatest talent is knowing what a song needs, and providing exactly that. He couldn’t play “Eruption”… but then, Eddie Van Halen has never done a solo that moved me to tears (as Knopfler frequently has).
[/QUOTE]
I suspect Knopfler has the chops to play the Van Halen catalogue. After a lifetime of playing professionally, I think most A-list rock guitarists can play just about any rock guitar. Maybe not the insane shredding of the neo-classical stuff of the '90’s, but all of the rest.
---
### Author:  [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/15 "2008-03-17T05:35:40Z")
Gotta quote Douglas Adams for this:
> [@Douglas Adams](#):
>
> Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff drink(…)
From _So long, and thanks for all the fish._.
I don’t even know what song he’s referring to, but I’ve felt he could have spoken about “Telegraph Road” or “Tunnel of Love”
---
### Author:  [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/16 "2008-03-17T05:53:06Z")
Mark Knopfler rocks. Great style and ability.
About speed, chops and versatility: I’d be willing to bet that Knopfler can play most any of the speedy things out there if he put his mind to it. I’ve found that most accomplished players, even guys (and gals) you wouldn’t expect, can wail when and if it is called for. To get to the level that Mark Knopfler is at requires a ton of practice and playing. That practice usually leads to quite a bit of speed even if the player doesn’t go there all that often.
Slee
---
### Author:  [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/17 "2008-03-17T06:20:09Z")
If you think Knopfler’s slow, listen to “Lady Writer” off “Communique”. I don’t know if it is as fast the other guys you’re talking about, but it’s not slow.
“Communique” is absolutely superb if you haven’t heard it, by the way.
---
### Author:  [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/18 "2008-03-17T07:08:17Z")
I only like about a quarter or so of Knopfler’s songs, but the ones I do like are among my favorites. I agree with the others above: the man is _efficient_, and manages to be extremely expressive without battering us over the head with a thousand and one notes. He’s probably the most tasteful and elegant guitarist I’ve heard, and he’s the model that I aspire to as a guitarist.
---
### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/19 "2008-03-17T07:10:24Z")
I am no fan whatsoever of his music, but I’d place him firmly in my top five all time greatest guitarists. Since you asked, the others are, in order, Jerry Garcia, David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, and Stevie Ray.
---
### Author:  [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581/20 "2008-03-17T08:12:57Z")
I have been a fan for a long time, and am in awe of what Mark Knopfler can do with a guitar, but just as important is his ability to tell a story. He used to work as a journalist, and it is that sort of tale-telling and lyricism that makes his work so attractive to me. I guess it is also why his movie soundtrack work (Cal, Local Hero, Princess Bride) is so evocative.
Si
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-of-a-guitar-player-is-mark-knopfler/441581.md?page=2)