I recall seeing him on The View (morning talk show in the US) back in the Rave time frame. They introduced him as a musical prodigy... yada yada...

Well, when Star Jones began gushing over him, he said..."with synthesizers you can play almost anything." And I was like... wait a minute. Maybe I'm dumb, but I was thinking he actually know how to play a whole bunch of instruments themselves.

Am I the only one who was thinking that? I guess that means the only real instruments he plays are piano, drums, guitar, and bass.

Somebody, correct me if I'm wrong. I just think that including synthesized instruments is cheating.

altavista said:

The rhythm section instruments are the main ones he plays, but I'm sure he plays a few others. I think a lot of that "Oh, he plays x number of instruments" was to get press. I know he doesnt' play horns at all though. He DOES seem to use the symths a lot especially when he's the only one playing on the track.

guitarslinger44 said:

I recall Candy Dulfer saying he does play sax, just not very well. I think there was also a L4OA Q&A once in which he mentioned it.

I think you may be missing the point. With synthesizers, there's no need to learn how to play a bunch of instruments. Prince isn't trying to build character by learning to play the harpsichord or violin. He's trying to jam...have a good time via sound....

3121

Where you at Handsclapsfingersnaps?

ummmm...a lot.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

BananaCologne said:

1213

well its true what he said, with synths u can play anything

Moonwalkbjrain said:

- It´s true, but Prince actually plays drums, percussion, piano, bass and guitar, and with a voice on each one (piano as a pianist, guitar as a guitarist, etc)

23

i know becuase i my mother asked him

When Prince speaks of playing X number of instruments, he is primarily taking it for granted that we, as the study of his music, know that he means those normally played by full pop/rock/soul band not to include horns and strings. It has been written by his camp (one of the Leeds brothers) that Prince plays primarily non-wind instruments that include bass, guiters, percussion, drums, and keyboards (synth/piano/all keys). Bobby Z acknowledged his comptenence on several occassions as did Matt Fink on various instruments. So when I hear Prince on "whatever," I am taking it to mean the aforementioned instruments, which most of us have personally witnessed him play in concert and/or on video. There are several other singers that play several instruments with some level of competence that can get them in the studio: George Michael and Lenny K. immediately come to mind; however, Prince has been witnessed on several occasions as being able to "jam" on the bass, guiter, drums, and keys. He is in fact the eptiome of a one-man band in my opinion when compared to most of his multi-instrumentalists peers.

Do instruments like harmonicas, finger cymbals, maracas, and tamborines count?

xpertluva said:

Even my cat can play finga cymbals...

Cheek said:

napoleon370 said:

- Yes, it´s true. There are lots of artists who play more than one instrument well. For example: most guitar players know how to play the basics of bass, and most jazz sax players and bass players usually know how to play at least one instrument to learn harmony (usually piano or guitar).

For me, the difference between Prince and Lenny or George Michael is that Prince is more skilled and sophisticated on them. Lenny is very good on his rythm stuff, but I never heard him making a piano jazz solo, for example. Or George Michael playing a furious guitar solo like ´Glass Cutter´. And Prince is still more skilled on guitar than Lenny. Like I said before, he has a voice on each instrument, although not being the best on none of them.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Look how sweet and cute he was!

calldapplwondery83 said:

Mo' cuteness here

BananaCologne said:

It is just ridiculous for someone to be that good looking.. good grief...