Mark Knopfler Opens Up on ‘Deteriorating’ Guitar Skills: ‘The Musician Part of Me Is Much Reduced, but the Writer Part Is Strong as Ever’

“I should really take steps to spend more time behind the instrument, to just get playing.”

Mark Knopfler admitted that his playing skills have somewhat “deteriorated” since the pandemic broke out, but also noted that his creative juices have been flowing more lately.

With a career as legendary as his, Mark Knopfler could easily rest on his laurels and not worry about playing ever again. And while the British icon doesn’t seem to be the man for that kind of thing, he has been taking things slower as of late.

Knopfler recetnly made the headlines by recruiting guitar giants such as David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, Brian May, Slash, and many, many more to record “Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero”, a cover of Knopfler’s 1983 piece, which also features Jeff Beck’s final performance, and the proceeds of which were earmarked for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

As for his playing, however, Knopfler tells Guitarist in a new interview that although the “writer” part of him remains intact, his playing skills are “much reduced:

“Well, I’ve certainly been writing more songs and I don’t know whether that was [specifically] to do with the pandemic or not, or because I just had more time. But it certainly hasn’t helped my playing any.”

“The musician part [of me] is much reduced, I think, but the writer part is as strong as ever. If a song wants to be born, then I try to let it happen, but I think the playing has deteriorated a little bit… I’d [find I’d] be ready to sit down and look at a song on the computer, but I wouldn’t be playing enough.”

However, Knopfler doesn’t intend to let things go, and seems to have plans to get back on that horse:

“But that’s just something that seems to have happened recently, and I should really take steps to spend more time behind the instrument, to just get playing. It’s not that I’ve forgotten how to play it – I’m just rusty.”

Mark Knopfler’s relationship with guitars

Mark Knopfler also recently raised $11,227,003 by selling 28 guitars from his personal collection, with a quarter of the total price also going to charities. Ahead of the sale, Knopfler noted that guitarists don’t really *need* large collections. While answering a question about whether he thinks certain guitars are better for playing stadiums, the guitarist said:

“I think it would be the same — just the right thing for the song. It’s the right thing for the song all the time. Whatever it is, you don’t need too many.”

“You certainly don’t need as many as I’ve been using. On a gig, I might get through six or seven guitars.”

However, Knopfler is very mindful when choosing the ax for a given song, noting how various guitarists tend to have different “voices”:

“Anybody that’s been unfortunate enough to work in the studio with me will know that you’re looking for characters for songs, you’re looking for a voice in the song. They all have a different voice, so that’s just the funny thing about it. They don’t conform to what you’d think. You’d just think, ‘What is this? Just two bits of wood, isn’t it?'”

“And the guitarists in here will know very well that it’s just not the way it plays at all, that they’re characters, and there will be a song that answers for them, just for that one thing.”