Murder By Numbers
The Police
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Andy Summers plays a fingerpicked arpeggiated chord progression throughout this song, weaving clean, jazz-inflected voicings that give the track its sophisticated, sinister atmosphere. The pattern rewards close attention to right-hand fingerpicking control and left-hand chord transitions through a series of extended and altered shapes.
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Rock — Murder By Numbers by The Police is mapped into sections so you can loop what falls apart and slow it down. Dial in Fingerstyle, Arpeggios, and Harmony. The map includes Intro, Verse 1, Pre-Chorus, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 2, and more. Sign up free to keep the map, track your confidence, and come back tomorrow.
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This track stands apart from the rest of the Synchronicity album as a slow, finger-picked showcase built almost entirely on harmonic sophistication. Where most Police recordings charge forward on reggae-inflected energy, this one breathes and lingers, making it an ideal study piece for anyone who wants to explore jazz-influenced chord movement in a rock context.
Released in 1983 as a bonus track on Synchronicity, the song was co-written by Sting and Andy Summers. Summers's guitar work is the defining voice of the arrangement, drawing on his classical and jazz background to construct a performance that feels intimate and deliberate rather than band-driven.
The harmony moves through a sequence of richly voiced chords that outline a descending progression, giving the piece a brooding, inevitable quality. The form is relatively simple, which means the ear has nowhere to hide: every note choice and voicing is exposed. The eighth-note pulse stays unhurried, and the challenge is maintaining evenness and tone rather than negotiating complexity at speed.
Approaching this piece, the priority is listening to how each chord resolves into the next before attempting to play anything. Internalising the harmonic motion first, then focusing on clean articulation and consistent touch, will pay off on any instrument. Dynamics matter enormously here: the recording never rushes or forces, and neither should the practice session.
- Artist: The Police
- Album: Synchronicity (1983)
- Co-written by Sting and Andy Summers
- Feel: slow, fingerpicked, eighth-note groove with jazz-influenced harmony
- Guitar performance by Andy Summers draws on classical and jazz technique
- Originally released as a bonus track on the original vinyl and cassette editions
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