What are the most difficult songs by Prince to play?

Purple Rain... u'll get arthritis with some of those chords.

Well, that's not a very easy question to answer...if not impossible.

First of all, a song can be "difficult" in so many different ways - technically, rhythmically, harmonically, difficult forms, tempos, passages etc... The same song might be very difficult in one aspect and quite easy in another.

Secondly, it usually differs a lot between different instrument parts. A song might be hard to play on the drums, but easy for a guitarist, etc...

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it depends on the individual. What's difficult for one person might be easy for the other, and vice versa.


I will elaborate more on this subject, but I have to go for now!

RealMusician said:

That pretty much sums it up.

RealMusician said:

I understand what your saying but,I was hoping for whoever to give a personal example.Maybe a recent one with their instrument of choice.

rainbow children whole album

ocadv said:

I know

Arms Of Orion,
because it just sucks so freakin' much.

If you watch the "Purple Rain Extras" video of Wendy playing PR, you'll notice how many fingers you'll need. However, it's playable.

Xplanet said:

It looks painful... I still can't play it Maybe because I don't know the actual chords

oooh, I've been meaning to post a similar question Sitruk7 , so I'll add it here.
Was his performance during While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the 04 RRHOF really as impressive as it sounded to us non-musicians?
And- since he is off camera for the whole first half or more of the song, and there were at least 4 guitars playing that song, can he be heard on the audio playing rhythm prior to his lead? Meaning, I know he was playing but can you as a P fan/guitar player pick him out when he isn't seen? And if so, how?

thebanishedone said:

i agree with u

I read an interview somewhere where some of P's bandmembers were discussing some of the songs they had to learn. They thought that strays of the world was quite a hard one to learn. I guess that indeed it poses some technical challenges here and there.

I play a little keyboard, but I did it mostly from memory, not from reading music.

I can do a little Purple Rain... but only a little...

if you excercize your fingers and practice stretches nothing is difficult

I don't play guitar, but I can lift a lot of his songs by ear for piano.

So, I'd say his guitar heavy ones are nearly impossible to play, since I can only play an E Major scale, and a couple other notes on guitar. I'm awesome!

Seriously tho, I'd say songs from TRC era are the hardest because of the bold modulations and changes in rhythm.

Great responses. Let's keep it going, you musicians out there.

I'm curious to know as well, how his songs rank in terms of difficulty to play.

The RRHF is killer to me, a layperson, what about y'all? It looked like Tom Petty was about to have his eyes pop out of his head.

Discuss!!!

altavista said:

yeah, I've been waiting all afternoon for someone to answer my similar ? in post #10...

Not nowadays, but when I was learning guitar (years ago), my Prince challenges that helped to shape my playing were:

"Why U Wanna Treat Me So Bad" - probably my favorite Prince guitar solo. It was something to aspire to at the time. It had a theme to it, which made/makes it so cool.

The fast run he does at the end of "Another Lonely Christmas"
"Into the Light/I will" - there was a beautiful ascending run he did which gave me great joy when I learned it.

There's a fast, hammer-on type lick that he does on "If You Feel Like Dancing" from the 94 East compilation and "I'm Yours" that I just HAD to learn. It's one of his "Princisms" - a big part of his soloing style. He does it on "Purple House" on the RAVE Concert DVD.

The stretch on purple rain is the "add 9" part of an add 9 chord. That chord is one also used by Andy Summers of The Police.

From a guitarist's perspective, I thought the RRHOF performance was cool from an all around perspective (showmanship, cool licks). He didn't play anything earth-shattering, but it was a great performance, nonetheless. I was just glad that the general audience finally recognized that Prince is a great guitar player.

Wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane

Some further comments:

For a professional musician, I'd say that most of Prince's songs are actually not that hard to play - in the sense that they contain few technically difficult passages, and they're not rhythmically or harmonically advanced either.

There are, however, some difficult aspects of Prince's music (compared to other pop, rock, and R&B acts). I'm a skilled keyboard player, and if I were to join Prince's band, I think the greatest challenges would be:

1. Memorizing the book
To go on tour with Prince, you would have to learn much more tunes than with any other artist. Also, a lot of his songs have unusual forms and structures - not just simply Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus, but with all kinds of different parts in between, which makes them hard to remember. Plus, Prince tends to change the arrangements, so each time you play a song, there might be something new to it that you'll have to learn.

2. Playing "in the pocket"
Prince often comes up with unconventional grooves and rhythm arrangements, that most musicians might not be used to. It would be really important to know your place in the arrangement and have the right "time feel" together with the rest of the band.

3. Being spontaneous
Despite his perfectionism and complex arrangements, Prince works very much like a jazz musician - constantly improvising and making little changes within the given framework. As a musician it would be a great challenge to find an appropriate balance between discipline and spontaneity, the way Prince would expect from you.

RealMusician said:

U know, I've been thinking about that. I can't remember offhand many (or any) Prince songs that modulate (change key). When I'm playing gospel gigs, seems like every song has a modulation. (or two, or three...). Especially contemporary gospel (Fred Hammond, John P. Kee, etc.).

So much of Prince's music is about groove and staying in the pocket, which I dig

Well there's a huge number of Prince songs "that are the hardest to play", because you most likely can't play them properly at all. He has hundreds of songs based on pure sounds and beats and it would be pretty much an empty exercise trying to recreate those for a single instrument.

It just doesn't really work that way.

JesseDezz said:

yeah isnt in "Message in a bottle"

My main instrument is guitar, but I also play bass, keyboards and drums. As a kid, by the time I got into P, I was already hip to and learning from Hendrix, Santana, Isley, Hazel, Bootsy, Queen, P-Funk, Zeppelin, etc. I was also into Shuggie, Stevie, Sir Paul, Todd because they played the instruments that I played. So when I got into P, I "understood" where he was coming from. Prince, along with Hendrix, taught me about having the freedom of being expressive in your playing. So as a kid, I would play along with a Prince song, on each instrument. For example, I would put on Lady Cab Driver. The first thing I would learn was the guitar solo. Then I would hop to the bass and learn the bass guitar line, then the keyboard part and then the drum pattern. I would do this on all of P's albums.

Real cool and interesting answers here people! Thanks!

blackguitaristz said:

One thing that I dug about P's musicianship is that, when he's recording, he never plays anything "plain" or basic" or "straight". He always puts a flair to it. If it's just a little twist of the wrist of vibrato on the bass, he's going to put a little extra something on it. The little nuances. That goes back to what I said earlier about what I learned from him and Hendrix. The freedom of being expressive in your playing. I remember learning the guitar solo on the instrumental version of "God". That was something to learn. Actually, all of the instruments on that one is something to learn. It's goot schooling and good practice.

That's one of the main reasons I favor P's 1999 album over his others. Because he showcases his musicianship to the hilt. That is highlighted just as much as his songwrtiting. It's the perfect blend and it's all there in that whole album. The 1999 album and the first Time album are very similar in this regard. P's musicianship on these two are off the hook.

RealMusician said:

All very good points! #3 is one of my favorites and one of the things I admire most about him. Imagine being able to to do that...

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Maybe if you bought a big keyboard you could manage a proper sized Purple Rain!

fathermcmeekle said:

when I said "little", I mean a little... my keyboard is actually 88 keys long. I can only play a little of Lisa & Wendy's version... and then a little of the sing-along chorus... that's about it for right now.