MENU
SEARCH
COURSES
LOGIN

Finger Drumming “Can’t Stand Losing You” by The Police

Story

As a teenager I spent a couple of months listening to a “Best Of” record from The Police. I loved the way it sounded and identified completely with the angsty lyrics about lost and/or unanswered love. 15 years later I discovered them again. This time I did not identify with the lyrics at all, although I did think they were masterfully funny and cleverly written. But the music, oh the music and especially the drum parts… What the actual F***?!? As a teenager I never realised what made the songs so engaging and now, as a 30 year old professional guitar player who recently took up finger drumming, I heard the perfect, minimalist orchestration of the three band members playing together and was totally blown away.

On top of that I found that a lot of Stewart Copeland’s drum parts were perfect study material for my new finger drumming endeavour. Everything he plays is original, musical, fresh and at the same time very playable if you’re just starting out as a finger drummer. So I found some tutorials online by ‘normal’ drummers explaining the parts and tought myself how to translate these parts to a midi pad controller.

It’s safe to say that by studying Stewart’s playing for a couple of months I’ve made the biggest leap forward in my young finger drumming career so far and I highly recommend everyone who’s into (finger)drumming or grooving in general to devote some of your time to study some of his work. It will make you grow as a musician for sure.

How to play

– If you want to learn how to do this yourself, you have to start by learning the basics first (by enrolling in my 100% free beginner course for example).
– At some point you can check out the Master Moeller Technique course, with step-by-step lessons walking you through every part of this song!

Gear / Software used

– In this video I play an Akai MPD218 with Addictive Drums Drumming software and it sounds great! For more info on what gear and software I recommend and/or use myself, you can check out this article.