For all the guitarist or keen observers, would you agree that Prince guitar technique prodominatley consists of alot hammer ons, pulls off.

This mat seem like a general observation but Prince's guitar playing does'nt sound like he is picking as much as say Clapton for instance?

What do you all think?

PBS said:

I think the mother f***er has a more than just hammer ons and pulloffs in his arsenal. Could you imagine Prince putting on a guitar clinic. He would probably blow everyones mind.

I finally got a hold of Crystal Ball, and I'm totally diggin The Truth CD (first in). He is just an amazing everything... btw How the hell does he get his voice to scream like that? I can only imagine he reaches the top of his range and just blows through it, incredible.

ok... I'm ranting.

I don't really agree. I think it depends on the guitar and sound he's using at the time. If you listen carefully for instance to Let's go Crazy, Computer Blue, Get it Up and A Love Bizarre you'll hear Prince doing fast but careful alternate picking. (All Hohner tele with normal distortion). In the Lovesexy/SOTT era (Cloud guitar, lots of effects and echo) he used much more hammers and pulls. The Auerswald guitar w/ sustain bow he used in this era was even build to be playd without picking! In recent years, the hohner and a new blue strat have become more prominent guitars and you can hear him doing more picking.

hectim said:

I totally agree with you Hectim. I glad I not the only one aware of Prince's picking skill.
I personally prefer the attack & tone of his earlier work. I don't care for the really wet over-effected tone he sometimes uses. I watched Prince & the Revolution Live a few weeks ago, I've always thought the overall sound of the concert was not very good. His guitar tone in particular was pretty awful, that over flanged chorusy tone, is not at all appealing to me.

I don't think that Eric Clapton's picking has ever been very highly regarded. He's recognized more for his taste, tone, & phrasing. So, I really don't get the comparison

Has anyone noticed the Hybrid pick & fingers technique Prince used during "Let's Go Crazy"
in Purple Rain? I sort of modeled my own picking on that example, interestingly I can't recall
any other examples of him using this type of picking in any performance clips I've seen.

-K-

kstrat said:

That's because he doesn't use a hybrid finger and pick technique...the reason he does that in the film is because he is MIMING.

mrdespues said:

O.K. fair answer....

Do you play guitar at all? Why the mime guitar parts fingerstyle, when it would be a heck of a whole lot easier just to flatpick them? Because it LOOKS cool? Eh... maybe he could have dropped the pick during the take? Who knows? He's not just flailing away with his fingers.
It looks legit to me plugged in or not. I've played using both fingers & pick for years though not exclusively, and it works for me. You do have to do a fair amount of muting to play the notes cleanly if you are using a overdriven tone.

-K-