Being a musician myself, I was curious about what keys Prince likes to write in. So I checked out some of his albums, and this is what I found...pretty amazing!

For you:
For you (F)
In love (Fm)
Soft and wet (Ab)
Crazy you (Bm)
Just as long as we're together (Em)
Baby (A)
My love is forever (E)
So blue (C)
I'm yours (C#m)

1999:
1999 (F)
Little red Corvette (Db)
Delirious (G)
Let's pretend we're married (Bb)
D.M.S.R. (C#m)
Automatic (Eb)
Something in the water (Ebm)
Free (D)
Lady cab driver (Bm)
All the critics love U in New York (Fm)
International lover (B)

Sign o'the times:
Sign O'the times (Cm)
Play in the sunshine (A)
Housequake (Fm)
The ballad of Dorothy Parker (Em)
It (D)
Starfish & coffee (A)
Slow love (F)
Hot thing (Gb)
Forever in my life (G)
U got the look (B)
If I was your girlfriend (Bbm)
Strange relationship (Dm)
I could never take the place of your man (C)
The cross (E)
It's gonna be a beautiful night (D)
Adore (G)

The "Symbol" album:
My name is Prince (Bbm)
Sexy MF (A)
Love 2 the 9's (F)
The morning papers (Bb)
The max (A)
Blue light (Bb)
I wanna melt with U (A)
Sweet baby (C)
The continental (Eb)
Damn U (A)
Arrogance (Em, kind of)
The flow (Em)
7 (A)
And God created woman (Ebm)
3 chains o'gold (several keys: mostly D and Gb)
The sacrifice of Victor (C)

Emancipation:
Jam of the year (Bm)
Right back here in my arms (Fm)
Somebody's somebody (Am)
Get yo groove on (Eb)
Courtin' time (Bb)
Betcha by golly wow (Eb)
We gets up (F)
White mansion (A)
Damned if I do (A)
I can't make you love me (Bb)
Mr Happy (Am)
In this bed I scream (E)
Sex in the summer (Ab)
One kiss at a time (F)
Soul sanctuary (C)
Emale (Fm)
Curious child (G#m)
Dreamin' about you (Bm)
Joint 2 joint (Gm)
The holy river (A)
Let's have a baby (F)
Saviour (E)
The plan (Am, kind of)
Friend lover sister mother wife (D)
Slave (indefinite)
New world (F#m)
The human body (G#m)
Face down (E)
La la la means I love U (Db)
Style (Ebm)
Sleep around (Bbm)
Da da da (Em)
My computer (Bm)
One of us (F#m)
The love we make (G)
Emancipation (F)

Musicology:
Musicology (B)
Illusion, coma, pimp & circumstance (Am)
A million days (Dm)
Life o'the party (E)
Call my name (Bb)
Cinnamon girl (Bbm)
What do U want me 2 do (C)
The marrying kind (Em)
If I was the man in ur life (G#m)
On the couch (G)
Dear Mr Man (G#m)
Reflection (E)

As you can see, Prince uses a lot of keys - hardly ever the same one twice on an album! Of course, that only confirms his musical versatility. But it's almost too extreme...makes me wonder if he's doing it on purpose, maybe to challenge himself or something?
[Edited 12/3/04 14:46pm]
[Edited 12/3/04 14:47pm]

Well, we know he doesn't read music (by his own admission), so I think he just writes these songs based on how he believe they should "sound" -- pretty cool that they come out in so many different keys. I was hoping you would've included Parade and Lovesexy -- those sound like most major key albums (except for the sad songs like "Cherry Moon" (probably Am?) and "Sometimes It Snows" -- and then "Anna Stesia" probably starts out in a minor and ends in a major). Thanks for giving us this list. Very cool indeed!

Another thing: Some of these songs are obviously written on guitar (for example "The cross", "7", "Reflection"). They are in typical guitar keys.

As a pianist, I also noticed that Prince rarely uses the key of C major, which is often considered the "easiest" key, the one you start with when you first learn to play. But C major is in fact a rather difficult key on piano, especially if you're self-taught and have limited theoretical knowledge - it's often easier to play in (for instance) Eb or F#, where you have black keys that helps you find your way.

thanks this was helpful. Even tho prince doesn't read music i'm sure he has a knowledge of of the keys his songs are in by ear.

RealMusician said:

*****I play piano and guitar.....i noticed that Prince never uses Cmajor.....but Anna Stesia is in Cminor.....I noticed in Lovesexy that Prince uses a lot the key of Bb major and minor.....
[Edited 12/4/04 7:37am]

B flat major is great for funk and dance music...

Either deliberately to make his songs more interesting, or because he doesn't know much about chord theory (i'd say the former), he's got a habit of straying wildly from the original key... Particularly around the ATWIAD/Parade era... For example "Do U Lie": Swings mostly between G and Ab, but then theres C7s and some Gms and some chords with Bb in the bass which suggests F without ever actually playing F, and then the swing section is in Gm.

On the other hand it's weird how some songs suggest a massive shift such as Anna Stesia which is pretty much Cm Fm Ab and Bb (with some variation of course) repeated all the way through.

And his most epic ballads are in Bb major. Like Purple Rain, GOld, adn the morning papers

Oh and for the person requesting Parade and Lovesexy (from what I can hear...)

Parade
Christopher Tracy's Parade - E, Db (Bridge)
New Position - Bb, Db (Chorus)
I Wonder U - Gb (Ends up in E)
Under the Cherry Moon - Em, D Chorus
Girls and Boys - Bbm (with a Bbm/Db/G sequence in the bridge)
Life Can Be So Nice - F (with a F/Eb/G/Gb chorus and chromatic section)
Venus De Milo - Gb
Mountains - G
Do U Lie - G (see last post)
Kiss - A
Anotherloverholenyohead - Intro/Chorus in Am, Verse in F#m
Sometimes it Snows in April - A

Lovesexy
Eye No - Bb
Alphabet Street - G
Glam Slam - Gb
Anna Stesia - Cm
Lovesexy - F, but the sequence is F/Eb/Ab
I Wish U Heaven - Bb
When 2 R In Love - Gb, but with some pretty crazy diminshed chords thrown in
Positivity - Bbm

...truly this one can relate 2 just playing what u hear n your head...
technicality can Bog creativity...the format of music from the spheres rarely conforms 2 man made precepts....i always felt that's y Prince's tunes stir passion n the listener...it reaches & touches u n an uncommon manner.... far Byond the 'paper'(notation)musician...perhaps like B he doesn't compose... But merely transcribes

i like the way he has never changed key near the end of the song just to keep it interesting (transposing it up one key at the end of each chorus, like 'I just called to say i love you' does).

But why does he only use the dorian mode when going into a funk jam at the end of a song, or on some extended versions?

(Another lover holen yo head, Scarlet Pussy, U got the look, Love 2 the 9s, In this bed i scream, Life of the party, Life can be so nice)

I know dorian is a standard funk template but modes, like locrian,lydian and phrygian, are hardly ever used. That maybe because they sound too out of context with the song.

spoida said:

Prince actually uses the lydian mode quite a lot (much more than other pop/rock/r'n'b artists). But it's mostly on ballads or more pop-oriented material, and not so much on funk jams.

If you don't have theoretical knowledge about the scales and modes (which I actually don't think Prince has), you have to use them by ear only. And for people in our time and culture, who have mostly been exposed to western popular music (pure major and minor scales), it's very hard to imagine such unusual sounds as a phrygian mode in your head.