hi,
I was wondering if anybody would be willing to post tips on princes funk rhythm playing E.g chord shapes, typical progressions, Rhythmical structure, tonality etc etc...

perhaps possible examples from songs would be beneficial.

Any advice/contribution would be most welome and very much appreciated.

peace

louis.

Some typical examples...

Kiss: (A)

E---15-14-12
b---13-13-13
g---12-12-12

etc

Housequake: (B)

E---14-
b---12-
g---14-
d---12-

Controversy: (G)

E---x-
b---8-
g---10-

Let's Go Crazy (extended) (B)

E---x-
b---12-12-12
g---13-14-13
d---12-12-12


Typical Prince licks are mostly Dorian in tonality (minor raised 6th). I think the root of this style is Catfish Collins' riff on James Brown's Soul Power (covered by prince in concert by the way!)


tim

howcomeudontcallme said:

The breakdown at the end of Kiss (or middle of the long version) I THOUGHT was different than what you're showing -

well - no, now that I look at it, it's the same as what I do, just written out wierd... you left out the last chord, which is just a return to the second one (I know, picky picky. Sorry).

I always thought Controversy (and Sexuality) were the same chord - not what you're showing but would be this:

e - 3
b - 6
g - 3
d - 5

Which then to jump up to the IV would just change to this:

e - 6
b - 6
g - 5
d - 5

Half the time, I actually use the IV version over a I structure, which adds even more hoopty flang to it.

(right. no, I don't know the technical term, but it do sound funky).

howcomeudontcallme said:

Most of Prince's rhythm licks seem to be blues based. Often used chords are Minor 11th, Dominant 9ths, dominant 7#9 (or minor 7ths) and add9 chords.I read that the E9 chord from the start of "kiss" was a steal from Freddy King's "hideaway".
But anyway! He also does a lot of bass runs with chordal accents on top
eg

-----11-/-12-----|
-----10-/-11-----|
-----9--/-10-----|
--8--9--10-----8-|
-----|


-----18---15---|
-----18---15---|
-----18---15---|
-----17---14---|
-----17---14---|
--9---10-----|
-----|


-----11-/-12-----|
-----10-/-11-----|
-----9-/-10-----|
-----|
--8--9--10-----8-|
-----|


-----|
-----6-/-11---8---|
-----5-/-10---7---|
-----5-/-10---7---|
--9---10-----|
-----|



OR

-----|
-----|
-----|
-----5-h-6-----|
-----5---5---7-----7---5--|
-0-----|


---9-\-8-/-9---|
---9-\-8-/-9---|
---9-\-8-/-9---|
-----|
-----|
-----|


-----|
---repeat-----|
---1st-----|
---bar-----|
---above-----|
-----|


-----|
-----|
---7---6---4-----|
---9---7---5-h-6---|
-----|
-----|



OR


-----6-/-7---7---|
-----6-/-7---7---|
-----6-/-7---7---|
-----5-/-6---6---|
-7---7-----6-/-7---7---|
---7-----|



-----12-12-x--12|
-----12-12-x--12|
-----11-11-x--11|
-----12-12-x--12|
--7---7-----|
----7-----|


Hope that helps a bit!
[This message was edited Tue Jan 21 13:19:39 PST 2003 by daf1999]
[This message was edited Tue Jan 21 13:28:24 PST 2003 by daf1999]

yes, that would be a more 'dressed'version of it.(as is the Let's go crazy 1st chord) However I think that if you listen closely you'll hear just these two notes, on the b and e in your version. I play them higher up so I can get added scratchiness by muting the high e... (also, I play a tele and many of us tele players like to avoid the relatively weak-sounding high e)
However, I think that in the case of Sexuality you're probably right about the position, as there are some little licks in that position in there as well. And since controversy is basically the same...


quote: I always thought Controversy (and Sexuality) were the same chord - not what you're showing but would be this:

e - 3
b - 6
g - 3
d - 5

unquote:

I always wondered about that one.

Freddie goes:

-12
-9
-11
-12
-x
-x

But I think the intro to Kiss is:

-12
-12
-11
-12
-x
-x


what do y'all think?

quote:
Most of Prince's rhythm licks seem to be blues based. Often used chords are Minor 11th, Dominant 9ths, dominant 7#9 (or minor 7ths) and add9 chords.I read that the E9 chord from the start of "kiss" was a steal from Freddy King's "hideaway".

unquote

why does the tab look all wrong in my post? it looked ok when i typed it up and it loks ok in notepad? any ideas how to ..err...right the wrong?

daf1999 said:

When you typed it, it was in a form, which uses monospaced font, courier probably (every letter, and space, and character, is the exact same width).

But once the message is posted, it's no longer in a monospaced font, it's in Verdana.

Just copy the code and paste it into a word processor, set the font to Courier.
[This message was edited Wed Jan 22 17:58:29 PST 2003 by otan]