Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler has revealed he got his guitar playing style from strumming tennis rackets with his sister as a child.
The 74-year-old said he had always been left-handed, but said while he was pretending the racket was a guitar in his youth, his older sister had turned it round and told him 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the way you play it鈥.
Knopfler was speaking on BBC Radio 4鈥檚 Desert Island Discs, during which he explained his family had played a big part in his music career.
鈥淲e had these dodgy little tennis rackets that you could get for not very much money, we used to use the tennis racket as a guitar.
鈥淚 was playing it, I was pretending it was a guitar, and she turned it round so that I was holding it right-handed, and she said that鈥檚 the way you play it.鈥
Knopfler explained that, as he was a left-handed man playing a right-handed guitar, this meant his stronger hand was forming the notes.
He said his sister turning around the tennis racket had given him 鈥渁 little bit of flexibility鈥, and allowed him to do a vibrato (bending the strings vertically) on 鈥渢wo or three strings at a time鈥.
The guitarist began his career with Dire Straits in 1977, and continued with the band until their 1995 break-up.
He has also had a solo career which has seen him record the film score for 1983鈥檚 Local Hero.
With the band, Knopfler has had five UK top 10 singles and four number one albums and as a solo artist he has had three UK top 40 singles and nine top 10 albums.
Some of his most famous songs include Money For Nothing, Sultans Of Swing and Going Home: Theme Of The Local Hero.
Knopfler went on to explain that his mother and father 鈥渘ever stood in the way鈥 of his music career, and added he 鈥渃ould not believe how patient they must have been鈥.
He said: 鈥淭hey never stood in the way (of his love of music), I played shockingly bad boogie woogie piano, taught by my uncle Kingsley in the house.
鈥淚 played it and played it and played it, but I don鈥檛 think it ever improved.
鈥淚 could not believe how patient they must have been because as well, my brother David had a drum kit.
鈥淭he drums were in the garden shed, just in the little back garden there.
鈥淭he poor neighbours, and the poor parents with the boogie woogie, and then later on when I got a guitar I鈥檇 be stomping and stomping on the floor.
鈥淏ut they never stood in the way of it.鈥
The Glasgow-born star said his early career as a journalist on the Yorkshire Evening Post had also helped to 鈥渁ccelerate鈥 his songwriting abilities.
He added: 鈥淭he first job I got was on the Yorkshire Evening Post for under 拢10 a week.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know anything, but I think it grew me up quite a lot, the good thing about that is, it does give you a clue that you鈥檝e got to get yourself organised.
鈥淚 think in some ways the songs got accelerated that way.
鈥淚 was sent to interview the cast of this pantomime in the theatre in Leeds, and I鈥檇 find myself talking to (people saying) we鈥檙e the oldest ugly sisters in variety.
鈥淎nyway, I saw those lines in my notebook, years later and started thinking maybe this could be a song.
鈥淎nd that became a song, and as I said I鈥檓 very slow, years later I wrote this song, and years after that it got on an album. It actually got on the Sailing To Philadelphia album, called One More Matinee.
鈥淚 started to call them portrait songs.鈥
Mark Knopfler will appear on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 at 10am on Sunday, August 4, the show will also be available on BBC Sounds.
