Hello again everyone!
I've wanted to cover a Police song for so long and I've finally done it. This powerhouse trio is one of those irreplicable groups. I've never heard another band sound even a little bit like The Police. They're right up there with the Pink Floyds and Led Zeppelins, in my humble opinion! In the 5 albums they released, they managed to change the landscape of music, fusing reggae, new wave, punk rock, and avant-garde to create the band's signature sound as we know it. I had the pleasure of watching Sting perform live at the Hard Rock here in Hollywood, FL. a few years ago with the fam! The man is truly a class act. The band wasn't too shabby either!
'Message In A Bottle' showcases all three members' distinctive musical personalities very nicely, which is why I chose to recreate it as best I could, not to mention that it contains what may be guitarist Andy Summers' most recognizable riff. It's quite the finger-stretching workout and it took me years to get my fingers to stretch out this far. I'd recommend taking it slowly and to not get frustrated if you start to think your fingers might be too short (they aren't, trust me!). There is actually a slightly simpler way to play this if you use the open A string for the second chord in the riff (Aadd9). You would then play the last two chords of the sequence on the second fret of the B and E strings. As a result, there's one less "stretchy chord" to worry about. Surprisingly, the rest of the tune is extremely easy rhythm guitar-wise. The pre-chorus is straight up power chords and the chorus is a repeating loop of C(sharp) minor and A major barre chords. The leads that Andy plays behind Sting's singing are entirely based around the C(sharp) minor pentatonic and aeolian scales. The first chorus is shorter than the second two, so not much to tackle there.
I approached this song the same as I always do. The backing track was made from scratch using software emulation for the drums, keys, and other FX. I picked the guitar parts out by listening carefully to the isolated instrument tracks (courtesy of YouTube haha!) and, of course, to the original recording. The tone was achieved with virtual amp sims in Logic Pro X and a few other third-party plug-ins including Bias FX 2 and the Waves CLA Guitars pack.
Hope you enjoy this one guys!!! - J
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Song/Lesson Info:
- General key: C(sharp) minor for the verses, A major for the pre-chorus
- Tempo: ~150 BPM
- Relative difficulty level: Advanced for main riff, easy/intermediate for everything else
- Techniques used: Fast chord changes, arpeggio picking, bends, vibrato, hammer-on's and pull-off's, slides
- Song structure: Intro/Verse/Pre-Chorus/Chorus + leads/Verse 2/Pre-Chorus/Chorus + leads/Short Bridge/Verse 3/Pre-Chorus/Chorus + leads (*NOTE*- I omitted the final section of the actual song (the "sending out an S.O.S." part) so as to not have the video run too long!)
#ThePolice #MessageInABottle #Guitar
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DISCLAIMER - This video in no way shape or form intends to violate YouTube's guidelines regarding copyright infringement. The video and all others like it on my channel were created and published to YouTube without any desire to profit commercially from them or from the platform. While the music featured in this video is not my own and despite the fact that I do NOT own the rights to this song/recording whatsoever, my goal at the time of this upload was and continues to be that of teaching and entertaining. The musical notation (tablature) I display on-screen in these videos was created from scratch by listening to the original song and transcribing it by ear. Sometimes I may have referenced already existing TABs on the Internet, however, the TAB I create is a unique interpretation that does not seek to copy or plagiarize any outside material. Thank you!
