We know he played the guitar, piano, drums. What else ?

Triangle.

Organ.

Clitoris.

Rhythm guitar.
Bass.
Drums.

Piano.
Keyboards.
Xylophone.
Electric guitar.
Flute.
Harmonica.
Bongos.
Congas.
Buttless khakis.
Saxophone.
Keytar.

suomynona said:

Triangle.

Organ.

Clitoris.

Rhythm guitar.
Bass.
Drums.

Piano.
Keyboards.
Xylophone.
Electric guitar.
Flute.
Harmonica.
Bongos.
Congas.
Buttless khakis.
Saxophone.
Keytar.

I assume Lead guitar count as one because some rhythm guitarist can't play lead...?

lol @clitoris

Astasheiks said:

suomynona said:

Triangle.

Organ.

Clitoris.

Rhythm guitar.
Bass.
Drums.

Piano.
Keyboards.
Xylophone.
Electric guitar.
Flute.
Harmonica.
Bongos.
Congas.
Buttless khakis.
Saxophone.
Keytar.

I assume Lead guitar count as one because some rhythm guitarist can't play lead...?

I meant to put casio keyboard. Sorry

Very well then. So I can remember reading magazine articles back in the day of him playing 27 instruments, So u think guitar counted as one instrument? Because its going to be hard to come up with 27 instruments. And from your standpoint I guess piano covers organ/keyboards/sythnsizers or does it? Since suomynona want to play games, I guess we can ignore him/her.

On a more serious note:

1. Guitar

2. Piano

3. Bass

4. Drums

5. Congos

6. Bongos

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

Did he play the Xylophone, Flute, Harmonica as suomynona was saying or is this a joke also?

So who can help fill in 7-27???

[Edited 6/13/16 23:54pm]

Astasheiks said:

Very well then. So I can remember reading magazine articles back in the day of him playing 27 instruments, So u think guitar counted as one instrument? Because its going to be hard to come up with 27 instruments. And from your standpoint I guess piano covers organ/keyboards/sythnsizers or does it? Since suomynona want to play games, I guess we can ignore him/her.

On a more serious note:

1. Guitar

2. Piano

3. Bass

4. Drums

5. Congos

6. Bongos

7. Cymbals

8. Chimes

9. Tamborines

10. Cowbells

11. Organ

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

So Now 12-27???

[Edited 6/14/16 0:18am]

Don't forget Handclaps and Finger Snaps!

He could play Guitar, Bass, drums and keyboards. What else do you want?

I think back in the day they were counting different keyboard instruments seprately, so piano, keyboards, harpsichord, clavichord, whatever.

Astasheiks said:

Very well then. So I can remember reading magazine articles back in the day of him playing 27 instruments, So u think guitar counted as one instrument? Because its going to be hard to come up with 27 instruments. And from your standpoint I guess piano covers organ/keyboards/sythnsizers or does it? Since suomynona want to play games, I guess we can ignore him/her.

On a more serious note:

1. Guitar

2. Piano

3. Bass

4. Drums Acoustic

5. Congos

6. Bongos

I will try and fill in the gaps

7. Clavinova

8. MsPolymoog

9. Linn drum machine (The For You album sleeve lists some of these weird and obselete synths he was using)

10. Dance

11. Percussion

12. Vocals

13. Castanets

14. Murakkas (Those bom tiki bom mambo hand things)

15. Handclapz

16. Fingasnaps

17. Snare drums

18. Fairman drum machine

19. Lute

20. Darbuka

21. Oud

22. One eyed skinflute

23. One eyed piccolo

24. Tap dancing

25. Microphone ramming in the a**

26. Triangle

27. Can't think of it ahh

Did he play the Xylophone, Flute, Harmonica as suomynona was saying or is this a joke also?

So who can help fill in 7-27???

[Edited 6/13/16 23:54pm]

Seriously using the lists on the For You sleeve

.

1. Vocals

2. Background vocals

3. Guitars

4. Orr Bass

5. Ms. Poly Moog (Is that a synthesiser or a female character from a Lithuanian kids show )

6. Syndrums

7. Arp Pro Soloist

8. Arp String Ensemble

9. Synthesizer bass

10. Singing bass (!!!!)

11. Drums

12. Clavinet

13. Oberheim 4 voice

14. Arp Soloist (Standard Arp?)

15. Handclapsandfingasnaps.

16. Slapsticks (?)

17. Fingacymbals

18. Wind chimes

19. Congas

20. Electric guitars (Not sure you can play more than one at a time )

21. Water drums

22. Bongos

23. Fender Rhodes Piano

24. Mini moog

25. Fuzz bazz

26. Acoustic Piano

27. Orchestra Bells

28. Wood blocks

29. Guitar solo

30. Brush trap

31. Tree bell

32. Acoustic guitar

33. Bass Solo

.

Now breaking them down into groups we have

.

1. Vocals (2)

2. Synthesisers and Keyboards (9)

3. Bass instruments (5)

4. Guitars (4)

5. Drums and Drum machines (3)

6. Percussional Instruments (10) includes 3 wtf instruments (Tree bells, wind chimes and Wood blocks and 1 I don't consider an instrument - hand claps and finga snaps.

.

I don't get put off though, an early marketing gimmick was how many instruments he could play. Prince wa smarketed as this Stevie Wonder typer wunderkind who could play all these instruments, the list on For You is a bit silly, but he was proving his worth. I think it was un necessary becuase I am sure WB, Prince and his first band along with many of the people who dug him at the start, knew he was a genius, as he writing all the songs and producing the album along with the instrumental barrage.

.

Prince was a breath of fresh air at a time when meat and potatoes rock music and synthesised disco was dominating music (Disco was simple, but very funky music I loved - I guess Prince dug the dance sound but he listed those instruments as he was trying to let us know he was serious and more than another funky young Black artist riding the disco/funk bandwagon). With the list Prince proved he was a one man studio and there was more to him than some catchy dance music.

[Edited 6/14/16 4:32am]

Astasheiks said:

I assume Lead guitar count as one because some rhythm guitarist can't play lead...?

No. A guitar is a guitar. The ability to play "lead" or lack thereof doesn't change the instrument. That like saying Itzhak Perlman plays both lead and rhythm violin.

He can play guitar, bass, keys, and drums. That's all. If you can hit a snare drum with a stick then you can hit a timbale with a stick. You can name any percussion instrument you want, but it falls under drums for the purposes of this thread. He played four types of instruments that we know of. That's it.

steakfinger said:

He can play guitar, bass, keys, and drums. That's all. If you can hit a snare drum with a stick then you can hit a timbale with a stick. You can name any percussion instrument you want, but it falls under drums for the purposes of this thread. He played four types of instruments that we know of. That's it.

I think we're forgetting comb-and-waxpaper.

NorthC said:

I think this 27 instruments myth dates back to For You, which lists everything he plays on every track. On So Blue, for instance, he plays brush trap (?), Orr bass (?), electric guitar, acoustic guitar, tree bell and bass solo. So if we start to look at the bass solo as a seperate instrument, then we might make it to 27. On Just As Long As We're Together, even a "fuzz bazz" is listed as an instrument. So I guess this was all part of the plan to hype Prince as a boy wonder.

Bingo. Nothing irritated me more in the wake of Prince's passing than all the disingenuous newscasters acting amazed that he played 27 instruments, two seconds before speculating about the drugs. Obviously none of them gave a shit.

And let's not forget the musical spoons.

NorthC said:

I think this 27 instruments myth dates back to For You, which lists everything he plays on every track. On So Blue, for instance, he plays brush trap (?), Orr bass (?), electric guitar, acoustic guitar, tree bell and bass solo. So if we start to look at the bass solo as a seperate instrument, then we might make it to 27. On Just As Long As We're Together, even a "fuzz bazz" is listed as an instrument. So I guess this was all part of the plan to hype Prince as a boy wonder.

Yep. The 26 instruments aren't 26 actual instruments he can play, they are simply the 26 credits he was given on For You (excluding vocals). WB then said he could play 26 different instruments as promotional hype (The actual quoted number was 26 in the liner notes for 'For You' and 'Prince').

1. Guitars

2. Orr bass

3. Ms. Poly Moog

4. Syndrums

5. Arp Pro Soloist

6. Arp String Ensemble

7. Synthesizer bass

8. Singing bass

9. Drums

10. Clavinet

11. Oberheim 4-voice

12. Slapsticks

13. Finga cymbals

14. Wind chimes

15. Congas

16. Electric guitars

17. Water drums

18. Bongos

19. Fender Rhodes piano

20. Mini-moog

21. Fuzz bazz

22. Handclapsandfingasnaps

23. Orchestra bells

24. Woodblocks

25. Brush trap

26. Tree bell

Adorecream said:

20. Electric guitars (Not sure you can play more than one at a time )

Prince probably could have done tho

Azifwekare319 said:

suomynona said:

Astasheiks said:

I assume Lead guitar count as one because some rhythm guitarist can't play lead...?

I meant to put casio keyboard. Sorry

HARMONICA? YES! Watch "Thieves In The Temple" Vid and he goes into a harmonica solo!

Astasheiks said:

Very well then. So I can remember reading magazine articles back in the day of him playing 27 instruments, So u think guitar counted as one instrument? Because its going to be hard to come up with 27 instruments. And from your standpoint I guess piano covers organ/keyboards/sythnsizers or does it? Since suomynona want to play games, I guess we can ignore him/her.

On a more serious note:

1. Guitar

2. Piano

3. Bass

4. Drums

5. Congos

6. Bongos

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

Did he play the Xylophone, Flute, Harmonica as suomynona was saying or is this a joke also?

So who can help fill in 7-27???

[Edited 6/13/16 23:54pm]

Prince learned trumpet in high school.. so i assume he still knew a few things on it..

the 27 listed in the For You notes are mostly variations of other instruments.. there are basically 7 or so... but if you include 8 different drums and it looks better....

TheEnglishGent said:

I think back in the day they were counting different keyboard instruments seprately, so piano, keyboards, harpsichord, clavichord, whatever.

Cool!!!

[Edited 6/14/16 13:17pm]

CherryMoon57 said:

And let's not forget the musical spoons.

I can play the spoons