In this guitar lesson tutorial, we look at how to play Private Investigations by Dire Straits. The song appeared on the 1982 Album “Love over Gold”. The song features Mark Knopfler on a nylon strung guitar, probably a Gibson “Chet Atkins” style classical.
The intro melody uses notes from the E Aeolian mode, with much of the melody based around the chords played by the piano. The verses use the same chord progression as the intro with Mark playing arpeggios and some fills to join the chords together.
The first solo uses ideas taken from the intro and incorporates some fast left-hand legato ideas while the second solo is played against a continuous low E bass note and is mainly based on the E Aeolian mode but also uses the E Blues scale.
The outro section features a two bar progression on the classical guitar alternating between the chords of Em7 and Em6. The Electric guitar comes in with some stabbing chords and unison bends.
Watch the video below to listen to the original.
