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The Police - Every Breath You Take - Guitar Cover

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Key G major
The Police - Every Breath You Take guitar cover video
Kfir Ochaion
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
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The Police Pop Rock G major
Capo Advisor 0 G major · Original key

About Every Breath You Take

Few guitar parts in Pop Rock are as deceptively simple as the arpeggiated chord pattern that drives this track. The Police built the entire song around a clean, picked arpeggio figure in G major, and getting it to sit correctly is harder than it looks. The picking hand needs to stay relaxed and absolutely even at 117 BPM, because any hesitation or accent in the wrong place breaks the hypnotic feel the song depends on. Playing in D Standard means every string sits a whole step lower than concert pitch, so double-check your chord voicings against the tab before you start. The chord sequence moves through some less common shapes, particularly around the bridge, and those transitions are where most players stumble. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the bridge section slowed down until the hand changes feel automatic, then gradually bring the tempo back up before playing along in full.

  • The signature part is a clean fingerpicked or hybrid-picked arpeggio pattern in G major, requiring a very steady and even picking hand throughout.
  • The song is played in D Standard tuning, so all open strings sit a whole step below standard pitch.
  • The bridge introduces chord changes that disrupt the repeating arpeggio pattern, making it the section most worth looping slowly to practise.

How to Play Every Breath You Take

Tuning: D Standard · Key: G major · Tempo: 117 BPM

Tuned a whole step down to D standard, the lower string tension makes bends feel looser, so keep an eye on your intonation.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 117 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Andy Summers used the Strat on select Police tracks for its smooth, singing sustain and contoured body comfort during intricate fingerpicking passages. Its versatile pickup switching complemented his hybrid Tele's spiky attack, offering warmer mid-range tones for atmospheric arrangements.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Summers' modified 1961 Tele Custom with Gibson humbucker in the neck and Fender single-coil bridge became his signature weapon, delivering both cutting reggae arpeggios and warm, sustained chords that defined The Police's distinctive sonic character.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

The ES-335's warm, woody tone and semi-hollow body resonance gave Summers jazzier options in the studio, adding sophisticated harmonic depth to Police tracks that required softer, more organic textures beyond the Tele's angular attack.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Summers pushed the JCM800 just past breakup for crunch rather than full distortion, pairing it in stereo with his clean Roland to create The Police's signature wide, layered guitar image with grit and clarity coexisting.

MXR Phase 90
Pedal

MXR Phase 90

This swirling phaser added jet-like, psychedelic textures to Summers' clean tones, occasionally used to enhance the shimmering, otherworldly quality of Police arrangements without overwhelming their reggae-influenced rhythmic precision.

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
Pedal

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay

The MXR Carbon Copy's warm analog delay provided rhythmic slapback and lush atmospheric repeats essential to Summers' compositional approach, where effects functioned as fundamental song elements rather than decorative flourishes.

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